Search Engine and Marketing News Roundup - Bad News for Viral Marketers from Jupiter Research
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Finally, Jupiter Research put out a report recently that just might make you want to hit the pause button on your viral marketing campaign plans. "Viral Marketing: Bringing the Message to the Masses" looked at viral marketing campaigns over the past year, and discovered that only about 15 percent of them managed to get consumers to promote the marketer's message. In other words, 85 percent of these viral campaigns never became truly viral.
Part of the problem could be that marketers are not appropriately segmenting and targeting their audience. "Viral marketers often send one campaign to all influentials," noted Jupiter analyst Emily Riley. "Different influential groups not only respond very differently to advertising campaigns, but also influence others in very different ways."
For example, the study points out the different ways that "relatively older" and "relatively younger" online users take advantage of the Internet. Older users are most comfortable with email and watch videos; younger users are more likely to be interacting on social sites. It's the older users that are more likely to forward ads to their friends, or at least tell them about ads, so it makes sense to target these users for viral marketing campaigns. Jupiter believes that they "should be absolutely incorporated into viral marketing campaigns -- especially because they are the traditional target audiences for brands or products."
This does not mean you should rule out younger users. It does mean, however, that anyone targeting their viral marketing campaign to this group needs to work on understanding what makes them tick. Such marketers can start by trying to understand the unwritten rules of online social networks and how they work. David Schatsky, president of Jupiter Research, notes that "While these sites may appear to be the most effective manner of delivering a message regardless of brand appropriateness, by failing to truly understand the audience, viral marketers stand to alienate as many consumers as they interest." When you're dealing with social networking and a viral marketing campaign, it is NOT true that "any publicity is good publicity." There have been enough fiascos to drive this point home. Don't be afraid to do the research; you don't want to become part of the 85 percent.
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