Viral Marketing 101 Let Your Customers Promote Your Online Business

Writen by Manish Chowdhary

A good virus

Everything that we've been taught online and off says that we should prevent rather than spread viruses…right? Well, when it comes to creating a buzz about your online business, spreading a virus—or more accurately—leveraging the power of viral marketing, could be just what the doctor ordered. Like a sneeze transmits the common cold, viral marketing entices Web sites or users to pass along a marketing message, escalating the growth of the message's visibility and influence. This type of "stealth" marketing can be very cost effective in reaching a large number of people about your website, product, or service

Already an epidemic

Chances are you've already been exposed to one or more viral marketing methods. Countless organizations have already put a wide variety of innovative strategies to work. The ground-breaking example of a viral marketing success story is Hotmail, the Microsoft-owned company that promotes its popular email service by appending an advertising teaser to the end of its user's email messages. Amazon.com, another great purveyor of viral marketing, uses many tactics. For example, the site's order confirmation page let's you input the email addresses of your friends/family and invite them to save 10 percent on an item you just bought. If they go to the site and buy the item, not only do they get a discount, but you get an Amazon store credit for the dollar value of their 10% discount!

Common tactics

Thankfully, you don't need a Microsoft- or Amazon- sized bankroll to deploy viral marketing tactics in your e-commerce site. Many leading e-commerce vendors have begun bundling some of the more popular features into their online store offerings. (GoECart has offered these features for some time.)

Email-a-friend (e.g., "Recommend it" links)   Electronic gift certificates   Gift wrap (i.e., encourages customers to present gifts to friends)   Customer reviews (e.g., ability to provide recommendations right on the order page)

Asking customers to enter the details like birth date or important events upon checkout can also aid in personalizing viral marketing messages and building customer relationships.

Credibility is key

Viral marketing is becoming increasingly popular because of its low-cost (especially when compared with traditional advertising methods), high response rate from targeted users, and ease of execution. The obvious advantage is its ability to obtain a large number of interested people at an affordable cost. Its main weakness is that some tactics and/or overuse can come across as "spam," risking damage to your brand. To avoid appearing as spam, companies should limit the number of techniques they use and choose the ones they do employ wisely.

Here to stay

With its proliferation on many popular e-commerce sites, online shoppers will use (and even come to expect) relevant viral marketing features. Online storefronts should be ready with the features that are most appropriate to their business.

Manish Chowdhary, heads a growing ecommerce solution and offshore outsourcing company – MachroTech LLC. MachroTech specializes in eCommerce Consulting, and Custom Application Development. Visit MachroTech at http://www.MachroTech.com

MachroTech also offers a super-friendly ecommerce solution for merchant willing to sell online. Visit http://www.GoECart.com to learn more