Internet Marketing Mecca - 3 Viral Advertising Tips For Small Businesses

Written by Webmaster
Thursday, 01 January 2009
By Jonathan McCulloch There's no doubt that even with all the hype surrounding it, viral advertising is not only effective but is also cheap and easy to do. Really, it's nothing new. It's just a new and trendy name for the oldest and most powerful form of marketing there is: word of mouth marketing. All they do is capitalise on natural human behaviour patterns which make us want to share news and experiences. It's that simple. And now, with the advent of free social media sites like Facebook, the free media sites like YouTube, and how fast and easy it is to blog, viral marketing campaigns are so easy to implement they're really a no brainer for any business - local ones too. Although like so many things in marketing, viral advertising not quite as simple as it seems and we get to hear about only the winners. For every viral campaign that kicks off, 99.9% of them never get anywhere, even though there are plenty of people out there who'll sell you the "secret techniques" the self-styled "gurus" use. But because it IS so cheap and easy, and if the public does "bite", the rewards can be so huge, it's something all businesses should have in their marketing toolbox. So, here are 3 tips to point you in the right direction of getting your viral campaign off to a good start. There are no guarantees, of course, because we're dealing with the independent actions of your readers, listeners, and watchers, but if you stick to what's worked for others in the past, you maximise your chances of getting the results you want to use these 3 simple tips as a foundation. Make It Easy To Spread The Message The ease with which you can send people messages these days is what's made viral advertising really take off. Even those irritating chain emails you get are viral because they "self replicate", with a little help from you. They work because you can forward them to all your friends with the click of a button. More recently sites like Facebook, YouTube and most blogs make it easy to share webpages direct to your social media accounts. It's even easier than sending email! In a more recent twist, ads and other snippets appearing on the TV and in the news turn up very rapidly on YouTube and news websites, meaning even small local businesses with "local interest" stories can suddenly find themselves global phenomena. Give It A Human Interest Element The mistake I see most people making with their viral advertising is they make it all about their products or, at a pinch, about themselves. This is NOT what people are interested in sharing. In the main they want a story, and this is one of the rare times in marketing and advertising where humour and being funny actually works. By a strange quirk of human nature, what's "funny" is also "bad" for someone. All humour is at someone else's expense. One of the funniest recent viral campaigns which shows this well is the one for diamonds where the guy gets stuck in the doghouse by his wife for buying her a vacuum cleaner as a present. Note there how the ad hardly mentions diamonds at all (only right at the end), but concentrates on the story. Ensure It Plays On Commonly Understood Human Behaviour This is not an obvious one, and it's something most people miss. Some behaviours are almost universal and we all recognise them. They turn up in all human societies. And effective viral advertising uses these traits and behaviours to its advantage. This is why, for example, although it's completely inadvertent, several email in judiciously sent by ex-boyfriends about their girlfriends, and vice-versa have suddenly "gone viral", with disastrous results (for the guilty parties... everyone else finds it all rather hilarious). It's no accident some of the best viral advertising is somewhat risque and politically incorrect. So there we have it. Three simple tips any small business owners can use to kick off their own viral advertising campaign. Remember: keep it simple, keep it about PEOPLE, and keep it funny (don't be afraid to push your luck a little: controversy is good for business). Jon McCulloch, The Small Business Saviour, is Europe's leading direct marketer. His sole aim is to grow YOUR business by 50% to 250% in the next 12 months, regardless of the economy or the downturn. Discover the truth about viral advertising and marketing here: www.small-business-marketing-tips.com Internet Marketing Share Your Opinion. (0 posts) Tag it:
Last Updated ( Thursday, 01 January 2009 )

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