Here you will see some viral marketing examples that are considered effective by Business Week and other experts.The several techniques used are unique and they were effective for many different reasons.Some inspired curiosity.

In 2001, Business Week cited advertising for the Blair Witch Project as a striking example of viral marketing.  The advertising campaign insinuated that the footage was “real”, filmed by a group of college students that had disappeared, presumably leaving only their video camera behind.

Teasers were first seen on TV and then posted on the internet.Viewers were highly encouraged to share the footage with all their friends.The film grossed over $248 million and cost only $35,000 for the production.Who wouldn’t want to see sky high profits like that?

Burger King’s “Subservient Chicken” was listed in Wired as a highly successful example.Although it is quite difficult to assess the amount of new customers that Burger King has attracted with this specific campaign, it is a popular website.

Some more “down to earth” viral marketing examples for those of you that may be trying to grow your own business are newsletters and automated e-mails campaign.With very minimal software, you can drive visitors to your website to sign up for your newsletter.  That gives you their e-mail address.

With each newsletter, you might ask for the e-mail addresses of friends that would also be interested in your products or services.  You can see how this could increase your contact base relatively quickly.  You don’t have to worry about being called a spammer, because the customer requested the newsletter.

One of the most effective viral marketing examples, according to many experts, is the single line method used by “Hotmail”.They offer people to sign up for free e-mail.At the very bottom of every complimentary email a person sends, there is a single message that reads “Get your private, complimentary email at http://www.hotmail.com”.The website address is essentially a link.

All that they had to do was stand back and wait for thousands and thousands of people to sign up.  People love free stuff.  The most effective campaigns always offer something free, whether it be playing with a virtual chicken or reading a newsletter relevant to their interests.

When you are able to get people to tell their friends about your product or services, the ripple effect spreads like a virus, which is why the phrase was originally coined.There are many viral marketing examples.  Anyone that is not at least trying to do it is not growing their business as much as they could.