Viral Marketing Offers Risks, Rewards - What Works?
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Viral marketing and linkbaiting are basically cousins. So what works for one, generally speaking, will work for the other. Tyler Reed, a young South African college student and self-described “entrepreneur, social media strategist and blogger” got it right in an early April entry in his blog. He talked about what advertisers should and should not do when attempting a viral marketing campaign.
The things you should do should come as no surprise. First, you need to target your audience. The very nature of social media means you aren’t trying to reach “everyone” because the people who participate are self-selected; they all but display their interests on their sleeves. This means you can focus on a smaller group.
Once you know who your group is, do your “focus group testing;” choose several members of that group, show them your marketing material, and get their feedback. Thank them for their feedback; don’t get defensive if they tell you that your original plan is not going to work. They’ve just saved you a ton of effort.
After your campaign is released in the wild, watch it like a hawk. Most of the commentary about your campaign is going to happen on the blogosphere. Be prepared to engage with these people and respond to comments, whether they’re positive or negative.
At the top of Reed’s “don’t” list is “Don’t trick or mislead.” That’s what got Wal-Mart and Sony into trouble. Norelco’s site and spokesman for the Bodygroom didn’t get the company into trouble because he isn’t really trying to pretend he’s something he’s not; nobody is surprised to find out that he’s an actor. Those who participate online in social media have finely tuned BS detectors; set those off and the response from the community can be very unforgiving.
Above all, don’t wing it. If you want to get someone to pass something on, it has to be of genuine interest. That typically means a certain amount of work has to go into its creation. It also means not insulting people’s intelligence. A viral marketing campaign is like an invitation; make sure it’s the kind of invitation your target audience would want to receive.
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