What Are Viral Marketing And Its Strategies?

It is not surprising that every day we hear about viral marketing even if we do not know what exactly it is or how it is that the content of certain people or companies goes viral. That is why we usually ask ourselves, how did it go viral? Was there some kind of strategy behind it or does it just happen by luck and chance?

When talking about Traditional Marketing vs digital marketing, it should be noted that virality is only possible at the digital level. And the truth is that viral content is usually built with that intention, however, no one can control virality, although in part it is due to factors such as creativity, preparation, and luck.

Next, we are going to see what exactly viral marketing is, how it works, what are its advantages, examples, strategies, and how you can adapt it to your business.

What is viral marketing?

Viral marketing refers to the type of content that spreads quickly and organically like a virus, as people share it with their friends and through their social networks.

Although this content can start as paid advertising, the basis of virality is that it is the users themselves who choose to share the content and that are how it grows organically.

Usually, this type of marketing is native to social networks due to its ease of sharing. Generally, the format that causes the most virility is videos as they can have an emotional, funny, and surprising connotation.

Keep in mind that virility can be very beneficial but it also has its risks. For example, by going viral you lose control of it and its content can be parodied or misinterpreted.

Who can implement viral marketing?

Viral marketing can be implemented by any person or company regardless of size. You don’t need to have millions of followers or have a great track record for your content to go viral. Remember that it is largely a matter of creativity and luck.

Viral marketing in social networks for companies is a tool that can come out on its own or be the complement of a campaign with different types of marketing. Remember that viral Marketing is used to be used with other marketing methods to enhance the entire campaign. 

How does a viral marketing campaign work?

A viral marketing campaign starts like any other campaign and how to create it is simple. Create a video or content in another format that captures attention and is attractive to your target, upload it to the internet and promote it.

Keep in mind that there is no magic formula for your content to go viral, from the moment you publish your content anything can happen, what you should do is wait and see if the sharing pattern increases or not.

In most cases, virility happens by accident and the only thing you can control is whether or not to show branding on your content.

This is known as the dispersion strategy, so you can choose between making the user aware from the first moment that they are seeing advertising or brand content. Or you can do it in a hidden way, that is, upload that content without the participation of the brand and only reveal it when it goes viral.

Keep in mind that if you apply covert marketing techniques, you must be careful that later the user does not feel cheated because if that is the case, viral marketing can turn against you.

What is the difference between Buzz Marketing and word of mouth?

Mouth to mouth

When we talk about word of mouth, we are talking about an organic reach through referrals from one person to another. What word of mouth marketing achieves is that a consumer’s interest in a product or service is reflected in daily conversations.

You can better recognize it when we talk about an example that applies to your daily life.

For example, has it ever happened to you that you have ever gone out with friends and they start talking about a product or service that they love without the need for an ulterior motive involved? And then you, who already took that information, replicate it to other friends and family. This is known as word of mouth and it is what most businesses aspire to.

But it does not necessarily have to take place in a person-to-person environment, now the internet has made it much easier for word of mouth to happen in social networks, with people who are increasingly able to leave reviews, testimonials, and talk about their experiences about a certain product or service.

Buzz marketing

Buzz marketing takes word of mouth to another level and consists of encouraging people to talk about your business, products, or services. In other words, through buzz marketing, you do not wait for people to suggest your business but rather encourage them to do so. 

Buzz marketing works with any type of marketing, such as content or social media marketing, and is a great way to highlight your business in moments of high short-term impact. 

Viral marketing

Viral marketing is like the combination of word of mouth and buzz marketing on digital platforms. The difference is that here only users have the power to viralize the content or not about its quality / creativity / emotionality.

Leave a Comment