Although it sounds like the spread of disease, viral marketing is actually digital word-of-mouth advertising. It's a strategy that encourages consumers to pass on a marketing message to others, making exponential growth possible. Like viruses, such strategies take advantage of rapid multiplication to spread the message like wildfire. Viral marketing makes use of the tendency of consumers to trust their friends' and family's opinions about products and services. And it takes advantage of the ease with which the Internet can enable you to get the word out about your business quickly and inexpensively.
The term "viral marketing" originated around the birth of Hotmail, one of the largest email providers in the world. Hotmail is the perfect example of the power of digital word-of-mouth. They offered free Internet email through their site. In return, a single line of text would appear at the bottom of each message sent using their free email. It said simply, "Get your free email at Hotmail." Whenever a user sent an email to a friend, the message would appear at the bottom. And each time that user forwarded a joke to their entire address book, twenty or thirty people would learn that they could "get their free email at Hotmail." This type of mass exposure enables exponential growth with little effort on the part of the business -- the essence of viral marketing. Let your customers sell your product.

The Benefits of Viral Marketing
When your customers are doing your advertising, you are free to concentrate your resources elsewhere. Many of the viral marketing tools are inexpensive and widely available, relying more on shrewd placement than technical or entrepreneurial prowess. If you use viral marketing, you are taking advantage of the natural tendencies of human nature, and while the results are priceless, the investment is modest.

Elements of a Viral Marketing Strategy
Most successful viral marketing strategies share common characteristics. While the line of business, target market, product, and clientele may vary, there are a few consistently dependable approaches.

• "Free" is music to the consumer's ears
  You can generate interest and activity around your products or services if you first offer a little something free to attract attention. Software companies frequently offer free trial versions of their software. You may offer free clipart, free Internet service, or free newsletters. You could even further the advertising by giving free t-shirts with your business' logo and Web address on it.
  
• Your marketing message must be easy to pass on
  Viruses only spread when they are easy to transmit. As is the case with Hotmail, the best viral marketing works without the consumer even thinking about it. The message is easy to propagate and therefore circulated quickly and extensively.
  
• Work with human nature, and it will work for you
  People want to be cutting edge. People like to be the first to know. People have a tendency to want to share interesting things they encounter with their friends. People brag to others about what they got for free. You can use these characteristics to your advantage.
  
• Don't rely solely on your own resources
  Explore the possibilities of symbiotic relationships. Get links to your site on other sites, get mentioned in top 10 lists, and be reviewed on trusted Internet news sources. Wherever your site is mentioned, there should be a link that takes the reader to your site.

Types of Viral Marketing
There are two approaches to viral marketing. One relies on the natural tendencies of consumers, while the other entices them with rewards for certain behaviors. Keeping your business and clientele in mind, think about which approach you prefer, or if you'd like to make use of both.

• Unobtrusive viral marketing allows the customer to circulate word about your business simply by using it. Others learn about it mainly through coming into contact with a user (just like a virus). A Web page you visit may endorse this site "best viewed with Netscape." A message from someone enjoying free email might ask you, "Do you Yahoo?" Both of these messages can be found in the vicinity of their products, passed on from one consumer to another unobtrusively.
  
• Aggressive viral marketing requires active participation of a customer in recruiting new customers. Your business may offer a product or service that only members can use. If someone signs up for an instant messaging service, for example, they have to get their friends to also download the software in order for it to be useful. Once they use it, they may tell their friends and so on until everyone is using it. And while most of these types of services are free, ads scroll across the window while the member uses it.

How Can You Use Viral Marketing in Your Business?
People trust the recommendations and referrals of those within their social circle. No matter how good your marketing campaign is, it will never be as reliable to consumers as the word of their friends and families. If you can convince a few consumers that your products and services are fantastic, and encourage these satisfied customers to spread the word, the possibility for exponential growth begins. If you want to capitalize on the desire of friends to share a good thing amongst themselves, you might find that straightforward, unobtrusive incentive can stimulate viral marketing growth.

• Recruit
  The "Send This To a Friend" button is indispensable to some companies for recruiting new visitors to their site. If a visitor finds something on your site that they want to pass on, like an article, cartoon, news alert, or special offer, they can click on the "send this page to a friend" button. When the friend receives the useful info, they're bound to be curious about what else you have there. And lucky for them, there's a direct link to your site in the page they were forwarded. If they use it and find something they'd like to pass on, you've begun a successful chain of viral marketing. Congratulations! Now sit back and watch the snowball effect begin.
  
• Refer
  Active referral programs are a more aggressive approach in which you offer rewards to customers for the successful recruitment of their friends. Many businesses offer 10% off to both the customer and the recruit, while others opt for giving the customer free merchandise or other benefits for getting their friends to visit your site or sign up for membership.
  
• Team up
  Sites that sell complementary products or services can be a valuable resource if you team up with them. For example, a company that sells greeting cards might form an alliance with a flower delivery company, offering one-stop shopping for their customers.
  
• Sign here
  A signature is the optional text message at the bottom of an email. You can personalize it to say whatever you like -- and what better signature than a link to your business' Web site? You can also include a brief description of services, and you can advertise any special offers you may be running. "Click here to receive 10% off" and other teasers are a great way to draw traffic to your site. Then if anyone who receives this mail forwards it to a friend, your link and advertisement will likely be sent along as well.
  
• Spread the news
  Newsletters are also an excellent way to gain exposure. If your newsletter focuses on the culture surrounding your business, you can encourage recipients to either forward the newsletter to friends or send them an invitation to sign up for it. If the newsletter contains useful and pertinent information relating to your line of business (as well as a link to your site), it's possible to cultivate numerous potential customers using this method.

Viral marketing can be a valuable tool for your business, allowing you to distribute your message to consumers far and wide. Free up time, money, and resources and let the magic of word-of-mouth marketing speak for you.