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The Power of Viral Marketing

February 2009

Did you “Elf Yourself” last Christmas? If you did, you experienced the power of viral marketing that brought 193 million visits to the Elf Yourself Office Max website. Did you sit in amazement at the Dove “Evolution” videothat has received over 6.7 million views on YouTube? Viral marketing is the concept of creating something that is compelling and can easily be passed along to friends and colleagues. It can be an email, a photo, a video, an e-card, even a text message.The more compelling something is, and the easier it is to share, the more viral it becomes. The Elf Yourself website was compelling because it was personalized, letting you upload your own photos and record a voice message. Plus, it was really, really funny.

So how does this apply to us, Mompreneurs without million dollar marketing budgets? The good news is, anyone with a great idea can create viral marketing. The bad news is, not everyone can come up with great ideas so you might need
some help. YouTube videos are a great place to start. They’re inexpensive to create if you have your own camera, and you can probably edit them yourself.

There are two main elements that seem to lead to “virability”: extremely funny, and highly topical at the moment. When I say extreme, I mean extreme. It needs to be over-the-top funny to stand out. Get your craziest friends together and brainstorm ideas that almost scare you. Craft your one key message and make sure the viewer is left with that message, even if it’s just a call to action to visit your website.

An example of being topical would be the best damn blender I have ever seen, pulverizing an iPhone into dust on YouTube. This of course was created and posted right when iPhones were released in the States. I could not help but think how clever it was and…what an amazing blender it was! Perhaps there is a way to tie in your company viral video with this craze that is sure to have people talking.

On a serious note, if your product or service is safety or health related, you might want to take a different tact, using the video as educational, but emotive enough to compel people to pass it along. I saw a great video demonstrating a swimming technique that can be taught to toddlers to help them if they ever fell into water when no one was looking. I won’t get into the details; it was hard to watch but compelled me to share it with other moms because it was an amazing demonstration video that showed how to prevent drowning.

Like all marketing, viral marketing is a gamble. There is no guarantee that it will work, so you need to make sure it is not the only marketing you do. Very large companies that use viral marketing often create dozens of versions and then see which ones take off. There is little to lose in viral marketing because if no one watches, nothing is lost. So try it, take risks and have fun. You may be surprised how far your marketing efforts can go.

Small Business Marketing Consultant and Marketing Manager of Mac Copy Design & Print, Natalie Alaimo wants your business to be a success. If you are looking to kick start your small business, get your FREE e-book now at www.maccopy.com.au.

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