viral marketing vs. general marketing

[Ryder]

I think people mix the two up. viral marketing is a certain type of marketing, and its not as easy as just creating a video and putting it on youtube, or using twitter and getting alot of followers.

its more about HOW it spreads. for example, creating a video of something really controversial, interesting or funny, and the viewers pass it along, thats true viral imo. i don't think using any software to get things viral, or just putting something up on social networks is viral. you've gotta be UNIQUE! correct me if i'm wrong here?!

[GregK]

i think you are right ryder. Viral marketing is about people telling a few other people and each of them doing the same. Its an exponential growth which can be much greater than any traditional marketing channel.

[Coderea]

True that..it's just about creating a buzz and people would speak about your product or site but you need an idea or an effort to create the buzz..There are tons of web2.0 site build everyday and see twitter a year ago ... twitter.com - Traffic Details from Alexa - it's a perfect example..to go viral..the reason because we are talking here and there about this site.

Now inside twitter there are successful stories as well..recently I saw that one guy sells a complete accounting package which costs $400..He twitted a message to his followers that he would give a free one weak trial to first 10 users who would register for his product..This was again re-tweeted by his followers and the chain began...Now his story is published in major news sites, bloggers are writing about his accounting package and from 100 daily uniques..he is recieveing 10k uniques daily with a 40% increase in his sales..so this is what viral marketing..

[Ryder]

That example of the accounting software is perfect - absolutely viral. great example!

It seems that viral marketing can always be done using a low budget guerilla tactic, instead of some huge marketing budget with pr spend, content spend, etc.

[GregK]

Although some of the big viral campaigns had big budgets. The Dark Night viral campaign started with a big scavenger hunt in San Diego at Comic Con. Lots of money, lots of people involved and they got a ton of press.

[GregK]

I haven't heard of any viral marketing bottlenecks. Most viral campaigns I have seen are very simple and usually require nothing but expanded internet bandwidth as they grow. Did you have anything in mind that might bog down when it gets popular.

[gissele.smith]

Originally Posted by Ryder

I think people mix the two up. viral marketing is a certain type of marketing, and its not as easy as just creating a video and putting it on youtube, or using twitter and getting alot of followers.

its more about HOW it spreads. for example, creating a video of something really controversial, interesting or funny, and the viewers pass it along, thats true viral imo. i don't think using any software to get things viral, or just putting something up on social networks is viral. you've gotta be UNIQUE! correct me if i'm wrong here?!

Yeah. You are right Ryder. Viral marketing is an idea that spreads and an idea that while it is spreading actually helps market your business or cause. Viral marketing only works well when spreads.