Quite often viral marketing is referred to as a trend and lumped in with other online marketing tactics that are here today and gone tomorrow! Well as true as it may be that some of these novel online advertising techniques may not have a very long 'shelf life' due to various reasons, this is NOT the case with viral campaigns! This type of promoting has been around for many decades and its effectiveness is as undisputed as its particular marketing tactics are trend proofed! In fact if the internet and any other forms of communication were to be rendered useless, viral campaigns could and would still be as effective!
Here is a look at 3 compelling reasons this particular promotional tactic continues to be so effective and remains untarnished by time or the introduction of any new advertising techniques.
Exposure
Viral campaigns, hands down simply just can not be beat in terms of the degree of exposure you can generate. Being that people are sharing your promotional message by 'word of mouth' there is no telling where it may end up. Most advertising techniques used are more targeted and structured so it is fairly predictable as to who may be exposed to your message. Once your message goes viral it is much like starting a fire that is left uncontrolled, it can and likely will spread, and quickly!
Validation
It is only human that when making decisions, in most cases, people tend to seek out opinions and/or assurance as to what is the right decision. Social proof is used as often as possible when promoting anything since people are being offered the 'reassurance' they will likely seek. When someone spreads a promotional message around by word of mouth it generals comes with their opinion and this usually helps to validate the product claims. Marketing tactics like this are tough to beat in terms of their effectiveness due to the validations that tend to piggy back on the promotional message being spread about!
Efficiency
Working smarter and not harder is the best way to save time, energy and expense! In most cases viral campaigns are merely initiated by you but the results are a culmination of the efforts of others, usually many others! In effect you have a large scale work force spreading the word for you and at no expense in terms of time or money to you or your business! It would seem you can not promote your goods and services any more efficiently than by using any marketing tactics that tend to go viral! You just start the ball rolling and then step back and watch it takes its course!
Viral marketing is one of the most effective and efficient ways to promote just about anything imaginable. In fact this is possibly one of the only marketing tactics we know of that has continued to be used, consistently, through the years! The discussion above looks at 3 very compelling reasons why viral campaign are so very effective and likely why they will continue to be so for years to come!