How To Be Successful With Viral Marketing

The word "viral" has become pretty commonplace on the Internet. It has been applied to many different media types, from viral videos to e-books. It has now grown into being applied to a marketing type called viral marketing.

What is viral marketing? A general misunderstanding of what "viral" means has raised a huge question mark over the subject. Many companies have launched what they think are viral campaigns, only to not be successful at it.

To understand the concept of viral marketing, let's look at that key word. In the context of communications and marketing, it means that it spreads quickly, or even more appropriately, it's contagious. Being contagious is the key element in this definition.

Way back in the beginning of the history of home computers, Apple's home computers were wildly popular. This was largely due to Steve Jobs' managerial technique spilling into their advertising, making it a form of viral marketing. He created a corporate identity of being pirates and rebels, and this showed in their commercials. This experiment in advertising blew IBM's serious and stodgy approach out of the water. It was catching.

The same idea holds true in the modern concept of viral marketing. Many companies that don't know better think that it's just about having easily replicated media that can be passed around from one person to another. While that is part of it, it's not the whole equation.

As with the example of Apple computers, a truly successful viral marketing campaign can't just be an easily and inexpensively copied medium. People have to want to send copies to their friends, relatives and business associates. Otherwise, the spread of the material comes to a screeching halt.

As an example of successful viral marketing, there are a series of videos on YouTube called "You Suck at Photoshop." Each video is about three minutes long, and it shows a person demonstrating how to use the Adobe Photoshop program. Along with this demonstration, you get an entertaining story behind the technique. The viewer stats of these videos number in the millions.

Now, you can contrast that with Adobe's personal efforts in viral marketing. They simply uploaded old Photoshop commercials on YouTube. Their viewer stats are significantly lower than "You Suck at Photoshop." The difference is about as clear as the difference between the Apple and IBM commercials. Infectious vs. Stodgy.

The true secret of successful viral marketing is how contagious it is. It can be funny, sappy, or otherwise striking a sympathetic chord in the receiver. The reaction you want is for them to think, "Oh my God, I have to share this!"

Another moral of the Apple story's early marketing scheme is this. Steve Jobs fancied himself a pirate. Microsoft became more successful because Bill Gates was more cutthroat than the pirate. Take care in your viral marketing that if you portray yourself as a pirate, you'd better be ready to deal with real ones.