Newsstand

July 20, 2011
Exploring Your Advertising Options through Viral Marketing [DMA11]

The first thing that you should know about viral marketing is that succeeding in it can be about as hard as catching lightning in a bottle. If it were easier, more companies would have success at it and viral marketing wouldn’t be such a hot topic of discussion at web marketing seminars and advertising schools across the globe. But just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean you can’t pull it off.

If there’s anything that we’ve learned about viral marketing in the past several years, it’s that company size and name recognition has nothing to do with it. Neither does budget. The nature of social media platforms has made it possible to post a video to YouTube for absolutely nothing and get it seen by millions of people without spending a dime on advertising – only the effort to cross-post the video to your various social media profiles.

Of course, not all viral marketing campaigns are videos. Other types of viral marketing include:

• Free interactive games playable on a computer or mobile device. This is called “advergaming” which represents a blend of gaming and advertisement.
• Humorous images that can be shared far more easily through email and mobile devices than video.
• Free ebooks that contain valuable information, usually published in exchange for visibility and to promote brand awareness.

The DMA2011 Conference and Exhibition is a web marketing seminar where you can take part in one-on-one conversations with social marketing leaders and attend workshops focusing on a wide variety of digital marketing techniques, including how to increase your chances for success in viral marketing.

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