Viral marketing is something I get asked about a lot. It’s actually pretty easy to understand.
Every piece of viral marketing consists of two things. Two things that all marketing, including yours, needs in order to go viral.
- It goes to someone. (They received it).
- Then it goes through them. (Through them, it’s shared with one or more people).
For both of those steps to happen, your marketing message needs to be easy to share and remarkable in some way.
Allow me to explain.
Viral marketing is easy to share
As I have written previously, the Kentucky Fried Chicken strapline is an excellent example of an easy to share message. It’s just 3 words long. Finger lickin’ good. That’s easy to remember and share.
The marketing message from Apple is even easier to share. When someone is using one of their products in public, there’s a highly visible Apple logo pointing at everyone who can see them. Until 2015, the Apple logo on MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models was illuminated on the lid. Today, those logos are highly polished mirrors. The illuminated Apple logos and the mirror logos both work extremely well.
Viral marketing is remarkable
What makes viral marketing viral, is that it doesn’t spread from the business owner (or vendor) to the marketplace. After the initial push from the business owner, it spreads from person to person.
This means viral marketing not only reaches a lot of people, but unlike advertising, the people sharing the message are those we know and trust. That makes it far more powerful.
Here’s an example from my friend Jennie. Jennie knows I take lots of notes. So, when she discovered a note-taking app that blew her away, she emailed me with a link so I could see it. Within 10 minutes, I’d bought it too. Jennie’s remarkable experience with the iA Writer app provided her with the motivation to share what she’d found with her huge circle of friends. I’ve now shared the app tons of times, too. Plus, I blogged about it.
Greg uses 7 words
And then there’s my former client, Greg. I regularly get client enquiries through his recommendation, and the prospects are always very motivated. I asked Greg what he tells people. He said that he recommends my services to his friends and contacts by telling them; ‘Jim doubled our turnover in 5 months’.
Greg’s remarkable sales results are what motivates him to tell people about me. And his recommendation is just 7 words long, making it easy to share. There’s a lot of power there. Think about it: Imagine you are a friend of Greg’s and your small business wants, or seriously needs, to get great sales results, fast. His recommendation would be highly compelling to you.
If you want to go viral, or you want to attract massively more word-of-mouth referrals, your message needs to do the same. To go to people and then through people.
What about you?
If you want to attract massively more word of mouth referrals or go full-on viral, your message needs to do the same. To go to people and then through people.
Take some time to review how clear, easy to share and memorable your message is. Then look for ways to improve it as much as you can. The more remarkable it is, the more widely it spreads. If you don’t already have one, create one. The fewer words the better. Greg’s is 7 words long. KFC did it in just 3 words.
This is not an easy marketing project. So if you can hire expert help, I recommend you do. It makes absolutely no sense to ignore the power of viral marketing.
Photo by Melissa Askew
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