Marketing On The Internet: What Is Viral Marketing and Will It Make Online Money?
Viral marketing has become a buzzword, but it is more than that: it is an effective way of marketing on the Internet by using the power of people-to-people recommendations. It is an ideal way of spreading the word about your product or service, particularly since the rise of social media. If you can use the power of social media, others will spread the word about your product, which is an effective, low-cost way of marketing and of making online money.
In the beginning, items that spread rapidly through the Internet were described as spreading like a virus, hence the word viral. We often hear that something has gone viral and we know that means it has spread very quickly. Even people who are not Internet savvy now use the term and understand what it means. How does this apply to marketing?
People-To-People
In today’s social media world word of mouth is a powerful force, because it can be spread so quickly through the Internet. We have seen instances of this with the so-called Arab Spring, when so much unrest occurred in the Middle East. A lot of this was spread by word of mouth through the social media. So much so, some commentators say it would not have happened without social media.
We see it all the time on YouTube, where an event captures the attention of thousands, sometimes millions, of people in a short period of time. It works for marketing in the same way, but you need the marketing know-how and the product make it work for you effectively.
How It Works
The principle is simple: a person visits your website and tells another one or two people and those people tell others, and so on. You can see how this multiplies and if enough people pass the word on to enough other people, you can see how it would grow rapidly – or virally.
The idea of promoting products through others’ recommendations has been a part of selling for a long time. In fact, that is what most marketers of goods and services have always strived to happen. If they can please their customers or clients they hope these satisfied people will recommend them to others.
When you think of the day-to-day things we do – going to the hairdresser, going to see a movie or buying our bread or meat – we often go to the places that other people have recommended. If we want to know a good dentist or doctor, we will ask others. If we are pleased with our experiences we are likely to tell others.
Have you noticed how often online competitions or give-aways ask you for friends’ email addresses so they can build their mailing list through recommendations? The concept of viral marketing is not new but the name and the way it works in the social media age is.
A Concept You Cannot Afford To Ignore
While viral marketing is a simple concept, it is not so easy to put into practice. If it was, all Internet marketers would be making a fortune, and they are not. But because of its power and potential, it is a way of marketing you cannot afford to ignore.
To make real money on or off the Internet, you only need to know how to market one good product or service effectively. In fact, there are products that are not all that good but sell well because of good marketing. The combination of a good product and good marketing is hard to beat. If you can find the right product and learn how to use viral marketing effectively you will make real online money.
