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11 Simple Viral Marketing Techniques

1. Word-of-Mouth

This is a no-brainer. You get people talking about it. How? Have loads of quality. And I mean LOADS of VALUE-ADDED QUALITY. Some people tend to focus on many other matters, but they forget the fundamental essence - the quality.

If you produce a product or service of genuine quality, the word will get out. Introduce funny, innovative and unique elements - you get a winning mix.
Any time you've recommended a product to a friend, you've engaged in word of mouth advertising. Word of mouth advertising relies on personal recommendations to promote a product or service. Companies often rely heavily on word of mouth advertising to sell their product or service, because it produces good results at a very low cost.
Word of mouth is also valuable because it tends to produce good results. A word of mouth testimonial from a friend can be trusted, and it's more likely to produce results.
Even more valuable are the word of mouth endorsements given by people who are presumed to be experts. Companies often offer free products or services to experts in an effort to gain free word of mouth advertising.
If someone hears something about a business, even if it's something bad, they will remember the name. They will likely be curious about the business because of the news. This is word of mouth at work. Any time someone hears about a company and what they sell from a friend or from a news story, word of mouth is helping the company become more familiar to people.

2. Viral videos

Video marketing is hot. Youtube is hot. According to Alexa, Youtube's traffic is ranked a heavenly 3rd with only the mammoth Google and Microsoft standing in it's way.

The term "viral video" refers to video clip content which gains widespread popularity through the process of Internet sharing, typically through email or instant messages, blogs, and other media-sharing websites, such as YouTube.
The proliferation of camera phones means that many videos shot these days are shot by consumers on these devices. The availability of cheap video editing and publishing tools allows video shot on mobile phones to be edited and distributed virally both on the web by email and between phones by Bluetooth. These consumer shot videos are typically non-commercial videos intended for viewing by friends or family.
So as you can see, the audience and traffic is already there. The fruit is ripe for the picking.
Put up a buzz-worthy video, packed with solid content, and watch your influence and presence spread virally.

3. Newsletter/E-Newsletter

Newsletter are one of the very best ways to reach out your audience.

Just take a look at Early To Rise and Daily Reckoning - two of Agora Publishing (300 million dollar business, mind you!) flag ship's newsletters. Over a million subscribers in total. Ton of value-added content. Need I say more?

They are cheap to produce and have massive reach. Include a call to action which can be a tell-a-friend to kick-start the viral effect. If the tell-a-friend mechanism is incentivized, or the content is genuinely good, people will tell.

Better yet, include a soft copy PDF report version of your newsletter whereby readers can download to their computer for their reference offline. Again, include a tell-a-friend call-to-action in the PDF report. Use every single opportunity to get your readers to refer a friend. Works powerfully.

Benefits of E-Newsletter Strategy

Constant touches with customers/prospects
Immediate distribution, timely
High-end professional look and feel
Integrated with other marketing programs
Excellent for promotions
Very low cost

Without question, E-Newsletters are the lowest cost, most effective method of communicating with prospects or customers. An E-Newsletter is an email campaign that is built on one or more databases of contacts/email addresses. These contacts are normally comprised of people who have given “permission” or “opted-in” to your newsletter.

4. Free Report

Come out with a free and useful report and have it made available to your readers for download in exchange for an email address.

If you are very confident of your content and that you want to build up a strong trust factor with your readers, you may want to make the download available - without the opt in.
If you think they will really find it useful, then have a message to prompt them to download at the end of the report. You will be surprised at how well this may turn out.
What will be even better is if you make your report re-brandable with their names and affiliate links. That will provide an incentive for them to give away your report.
Your readers will be happy to give value to others by providing a high quality report, and yet at the same time, they stand to gain monetarily if their referees decide to buy through their affiliate links.

Here are a few tips for writing a good, free special report.

Know who your ideal customer is. You cannot write something for everyone. Your report needs to be focused toward your niche market. Know what problem, issue, or concern your ideal customer is facing.
What do they need help with? Offer help that is specific to their issue.
Give examples so people can relate. People feel good knowing they are not alone.
Give practical ideas not just theory. People won't want it unless they are going to get specific advice.
Find a way to get people involved. Offer an exercise or ask questions they can ponder. An interactive report is much stronger than an article. It will be more fun for the reader and will help build the relationship as well.
Offer something of real value. No one will trade their e-mail address for a report unless it is really good.
If you feel you are not a good writer this is not an obstacle. Jot down your ideas as best you can and then hire a copywriter or editor. I guarantee it will pay for itself.

And oh yeah - have a look at their website before you hire them. Kill two birds with one stone right?

5. Article Marketing

Article marketing is one of the most powerful ways of boosting your online presence - virally! There are loads of article directories you can submit your articles to, such as ezinearticles.com

Imagine. Someone with a high traffic site decide to publish your article. They look at your bio profile, and they come clicking to your page.
Free, targeted and potentially huge traffic that can go on a period of time. All these with just a one time effort.
Again, the quality of your articles will be a crucial factor towards how successful the viral impact of your articles will be.

Here’s how to create a good article marketing article:

The Title

The title of your article is the most important part, because that’s what will grab the reader. The golden rule is to tell readers what the article offers and tell them quickly - within the first three or four words if possible. If you’re writing about buying a second home, then use this:

Buying A Second Home: Five Tips For Success

rather than this:

Five Tips For Success When Buying A Second Home

The first tells readers straight away what they will get from your article; the second focuses on the number of tips.

The Body

Article marketing articles are used on websites and blogs, so follow the rules for writing good web articles. Put the most important information at the top, keep sentences and paragraphs short and make good use of subheadings. And if you promise five tips, make sure that’s what you deliver.

I start with a rough plan which outlines my main points and then I expand on each of those points in a single paragraph. Don’t make these too long, as the average article marketing article is between 250 and 500 words long.

The Resource Box

The resource box is where you get to sell your product or service. It needs to contain your name, the address of your website, your elevator pitch and a call to action. The elevator pitch is a couple of sentences that say what you have to offer. It briefly answers the question ‘what’s in it for the reader?’ The call to action aims to get readers to your site to buy, join, signup or whatever you want them to do.

Other Important Information

Once you have completed the article, write a summary of between two and five sentences to hook the reader. This may be a repeat of the lead or something completely different that points out what the article has to offer. If you like, include an invitation to the reader to read on. Finally, craft an author bio that shows your expertise and you’re ready to submit your article.

6. Tell-A-Friend script

You want someone to refer a friend? Then make it easy for them. Have a script for them to fill in the relevant details in the form.

The basic concept of a tell a friend script is a script is a person may input their name, e-mail address, the recipient’s e-mail address and send the resource to the intended recipient much like an e-mail with an attachment. As the recipient receives the e-mail they wouldn’t think of the mail as spam mail because he would see the sender’s name as someone he or she knows and trust.
Tell a friend script greatly eliminates the chances of being blocked because they use the information submitted by the sender. This makes this marketing method easy, maybe a little sneaky but it is very effective.
With the e-mail sent and opened the sent resource will either be read, viewed or played. Also along with the mail would be a brief description of the company or site that sponsors the resource sent. This allows for the introduction of either the site, company name or its products. Then along with it is another tell a friend script.
Then the process can begin all over again. As more people use the tell a friend script, more and more people will know of the existence of your company or site. People who read the ads inside the mail who liked what they see would go and click on the link and visit the site. This drives traffic into the site resulting in a great number of potential customers.
Have the form included in whatever pages you can think of at the end of each posts in your blog, article, website, etc. Your thank-you page after someone has brought your product. Your 404 error page (make use of this!). Your download page.

Think out of the box!

7. Signature

Have your signature with a link in your email or forum signature. Back that up with a call-to-action incorporated with a benefit statement, and watch traffic rush through to your site.

You can! Add a signature file to your emails. A signature file is quick and easy to make, but the potential to reach many eyes is great.

How to set up a signature file:

The majority today use Microsoft Outlook, but most email programs have a similar signature feature. Under the Tools menu, choose Options then Mail Format. At the bottom of the Mail Format menu, there 'Signature' button. When you click on the button, you are provided a text box to create your signature, then click on the 'New' button, and you will be guided to creating you signature file.

Keep your signature limited to only a couple of lines. Otherwise, it will scream advertisement and people will automatically ignore it. Remember, subtle is the key.

Start out with your name and website address, then add a tagline or your latest sale or giveaway. There must be a reason for the recipient to click through to learn more about your business.

8. Master Resell Rights

Conceptualizing a profitable idea and formulating a marketing plan to sell a product is a relatively exhausting task. Not everyone is gifted with the creative juices to come up with a cutting edge concept. Fortunately, there's resale rights marketing. Many internet marketers actually sell their created products either because they have squeezed them dry of all possible earning potentials, or they feel that they'll earn more by selling the master rights to the same. This has paved the way for resale rights marketing, which is an ingenious method of making profit out of others' works. Think of it first in the point of view of the creator. He'd come up with an e-book that he feels is worth $60. But his sales would depend on the success of his marketing campaign. What if he'd sell the master rights for the e-book instead to a hundred of his fellow marketers for $25 each? He'll earn an instant $2500, which is a surer profit than the uncertainties involved if he decides to market his product himself.If you want to grant master resell rights, first, you need to have a product. Giving master resell rights allows that person to sell to someone for 100% profit, whereby the buyer can then in turn sell to another.

Needless to say, the resell license have to be bought, but the content inside cannot be changed, unless stated so. That means your logo and your branding can all be kept intact.

You have someone spreading your influence for you. Without you having to do all the hard work.
If your product is a hot selling one, you will get many resellers beating down the door to sell your product for you.
The buyers become sellers. The seller's buyers become sellers themselves. And the viral chain goes on and on - to your profit!

9. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is when one Web site (an affiliate) promotes another Web site's products or services (a merchant) in exchange for a commission. The merchant provides ads for the affiliate to place on their Website, and if an ad or simple link (which links to the merchant's website) results in a sale, a sign up or a click, then voila! the affiliate earns a commission.Similar to the above point. The only difference is that you get someone selling for you and you give them a cut for the sale they bring in.

Zero marketing cost. Zero risk (financially-wise). But very rewarding. Affiliate marketing will ensure huge amount of brand and product awareness leverage for you.
Some people give out 100% commission to motivate their affiliates. And they get all the profits at the back-end.
Not a strategy that fits every business. But still a powerful one you can consider implementing.
Importantly, you may want to make it easy for affiliates to sign up and provide all the marketing materials your affiliates need.

10. Contest

Contest are very good for creating buzz. Especially so if your contest involves very attractive prizes tied in with a tell-a-friend element.

If done right and enough creativity is exercised, contest can be a great publicity generating machine.

11. Giveaways

FREE.

Oh yes. The magical word to most people's ears.

Mention that and you will get many interested.

FREE + Quality giveaways + Incentive for referral (e.g. affiliate link for back-end product) = MASSIVE exposure!

11 Steps to get you on your way! Crystal Wind WebworX can help you with Viral Marketing Warfare and help you craft your Battle Plan Today! Fill in our form and E-Mail US Today! Just say "Gimme the WorX!"