Have you ever experienced something so special that you just had to tell someone? I recently heard a story that I just had to share with someone. I must point out that I can’t remember where I heard it, but it certainly left an indelible mark on my personal outlook.

All day, I thought about how I would deliver the story for the best theatrical effect.  On my way home, I went over the important details so I wouldn’t forget anything. I wanted my girlfriend to feel the same way I did when I heard it. I wanted her to get the most out of this emotional and uplifting story of humanity at its best. I walked into the house wearing my best “had a great day” face, sat down on the couch, and launched into my narrative.

I was in all my glory laying down the progression of facts that would lead to the heart- wrenching conclusion. I saw the corners of her mouth start to turn upward as a smile formed on her face. It was at that I point I knew I had her; she was being sucked into the emotional tornado I had experienced when I heard the story. I saw that gleam in her eye that only comes when she is truly feeling joy. I swear I could see a tear forming at the base of her left eye. My story went on, emotions building, my girlfriend nodding as I reached the climax of my extraordinary tale of self-sacrifice.

Upon my conclusion, I asked, “Isn’t that the most amazing story you ever heard?” “Yes,” she replied, “almost as amazing as when I told it to you last night!” Well, at least she let me finish my story.

You may be asking yourself what does this have to do with web marketing, while knowing that I must have some point I’m trying to illustrate. Of course I have a point. Today’s Web Marketing 101 topic is one of the oldest concepts of marketing known to the human race. Many of you are looking at the title of this issue and saying, “I’ve never heard of viral marketing.” Perhaps not, but I assure you by the time you finish reading this you will understand that you are already well-versed in its foundational principles.

What is Viral Marketing?

At some point a cave person (my attempt at political correctness) determined that a circular object rolled smoothly and made it easier to move heavy items around. He looked at his friend and said, “Ugg make wheel.” Ugg’s friend went from cave to cave telling the other cave people about Ugg’s discovery and before long the first wheel dealership was probably formed. What this story demonstrates is a form of marketing that has been around as long as the human race, Word-of-mouth marketing.

Essentially, in its most simplified form, that is what viral marketing is. An article on Wikipedia contained this definition: “The buzzwords viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness, or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating processes…” Let’s break that down….

Pre-existing Social Networks and Self-Replicating Processes

If I go to a restaurant and the food is great, who am I most likely to tell? Well, for starters, I would tell my immediate family, and I would probably rave about it to co-workers. Also, I would be sure to share the information with my close friends. If the people I tell go and try the food at the restaurant and it’s still great, who are they going tell? I think you get the point. This is an example of a pre-existing social network. It also illustrates the concept of a self-replicating process. If I tell five people about the food, and they each tell five people about the food, and those people each tell five more… and on and on it goes.

Marketing Techniques

So we’ve already talked about word-of-mouth, but what other marketing techniques work as viral marketing media? Last week’s issue of Web Marketing 101 focused on email marketing which definitely has viral marketing potential because the recipient can forward the email on to as many people as they choose. However, it doesn’t matter if the media used is a blog, a video, a multi-media ad, or an email. What’s important is the content you are delivering. It needs to invoke a response in the recipient, some enthusiasm that will create an urge to share it with everyone they know. It also needs an easy method of delivery. Emails obviously have a built-in method for forwarding. I’m sure many of you have seen web pages with “Forward to a Friend” options that allow you to send a link, and share what you are viewing with others.

What? Check. How? Check. Why? Check. What about who?

Who should you send too? Does it matter? The simple answer is no, from a cost perspective it doesn’t matter. Viral marketing can be very cost effective and therefore, you don’t have to be as worried about directing the marketing effort as much as you would with traditional marketing such as direct (mail) marketing, TV or radio advertising. This doesn't mean that you disregard targeting an appropriate audience. It just means it won't necessarily be your budget that determines the 'who'.

The complicated answer is yes, it really does matter who you send to, if you want to get a significant impact from your Viral Marketing efforts. You need to target an audience that will spread your initial efforts. There is a concept called SNP (Social Networking Potential) which according to Wikipedia represents the size of an individual’s social network and their ability to influence that network. SNP is actually a numeric value derived from some algorithms that probably don’t have practical applications for many of us. Yet, the concept of targeting people with large social networks can be seen on social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you have seen the movie Captain Ron with Kurt Russell and Martin Short you may remember a scene where the two characters argue about whether or not there are gorillas on the Caribbean island they have landed on. Martin Short’s character is adamant that there are in fact no gorillas on the island since gorillas are from Africa. Eventually we find that Kurt Russell, as Captain Ron, meant guerrilla, not gorilla. If you haven’t seen this movie… rent it today, it’s funny!  Where I’m going with this is that Viral Marketing is rooted in another marketing concept known as Guerrilla Marketing, a term that was created by Jay Conrad Levinson, and focuses on creativity rather than an endless marketing budget.

The great thing about many Web Marketing techniques is that they allow us to use our imagination and creativity while not necessarily expending our entire marketing budget. If what we create strikes the correct responses from our audience, then they will share that information with other and it can spread like a potent virus, albeit an innocuous, friendly virus.

Until next time… I’m John W Svoboda, Web Marketing guru, a known carrier of the Web Marketing virus (and yes, I’m contagious!)