Viral Marketing is a popular term that describes a trend where users share and pass on a message to others. With social media platforms, a piece of content has further capability of going viral due to the concept of sharing it from one person to another.

The content should be creative, helpful and business-related- Conrad Bugeja

Such social media platforms enable shared content to be seen by hundreds and thousands of persons, if not millions!

Similar to word-of-mouth, where people share ideas and talk about different topics, viral marketing creates new opportunities for exposure of ideas. However, viral marketing can reach many more people in a less expensive manner, where in addition, the content is spread much more quickly – something that is not achievable with traditional advertising using print and media. A simple video posted on YouTube can capture the attention of hundreds of users overnight without spending a huge advertising budget.

Using social platforms for marketing give the opportunity for content to be shared and to reach a wider audience inexpensively. Online users have the facility to easily share content and reach an audience on a global scale with the usage of platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. When a piece of content is shared on Facebook it is simultaneously shared among the user’s whole network including their friends and family. Interested users who are also part of their network will subsequently share the content creating an exponential effect where it is shared from person to another across the internet.

Of course, this is a great opportunity for businesses to gain some free publicity which builds a lot of exposure and brand awareness both for the website and for the company. A promotional marketing message could be passed on and on and seen by a large audience. However, on the internet, with promotional stuff one will not get the content subsequently shared to go viral.

The content should be creative, helpful, and business-related, such that the users concerned can benefit from it. The key factor behind successful viral content or ideas is that it must drive persons to share the content on the internet. This means that one must not neglect to facilitate user sharing and of taking sufficient time to create good ideas. The more interesting the product or content is, the greater the response will be. Hence, it is worthwhile researching what people are interested in. Putting irrelevant material together would result in a waste of time.

A helpful e-book about car maintenance created by a clothing company would not result in being beneficial for the company, even if high quality content is compiled. One can research ideas by finding what users are saying online by visiting forums, social networks, and by requesting user feedback. Nonetheless, getting your content go viral is a mixture of being creative, creating high quality content, timing, and sometimes, of sheer luck.

A simple example of content would be that of creating a helpful resource about a particular topic such as an e-book which can result in being shared on. The business name being shown in the document will thus gain indirect exposure. Your business and website will start to get more popular online and search engines will start to love your content. Besides, getting a flow of traffic from mentions your site will also acquire inbound links and shares on social media sites. So everything will start to add up and your website will be further found online resulting in an increase of search engine traffic.

Depending on the industry and market one must research what potential customers may be looking or in what they are interested. Taking the time to generate new ideas can give birth to mastering a channel that can provide endless opportunities.

www.alert.com.mt

Mr Bugeja is an online marketing consultant at Alert Communications, a local web and e-marketing company.