History And Viral Marketing

Sep
25

Perhaps due to the fact that the Internet is new, most people
think that “viral” marketing is very recent and doesn’t have much
of a history on which to draw.

In fact the concept of viral marketing is actually ancient. Only the
term and its modern application are new, though not as recent
as you might think! The modern incarnation of viral marketing is
normally attributed to Steve Jurvetson, a managing director of
Draper Fisher Jurvetson, the founding VC investor in Hotmail and
Kana, and previously an R&D engineer at Hewlett-Packard.

The term “Viral Marketing” is over ten years old now, and refers
to a new incarnation of “word of mouth” advertising, a technique
that’s existed since time began.

How does “word of mouth” advertising classify as “viral” marketing
you ask?
Well think about it.

The concept of viral marketing is that it perpetuates itself though
existing (low or no cost) media: word of mouth is exactly that in
its purest form.

Since Cain heard how much Abel was loved and got jealous, this
type of advertisement has been generating reactions from others.
You can review a lot of history, human nature and past campaigns
to see what has worked and what has not worked.

Most importantly is having or gaining an understanding of
personalities and people so you can learn how to influence them
to spread your message when you want them to-and that’s
without doing anything that can harm you or your business.

It is a well-known axiom that word of mouth can either kill or
make a company, and that bad news seems to travel much further
and faster than good news.

Studies have shown that people are much more likely to speak out
when they are upset than when they are happy with a service or
company. Simply put, people expect to get good service and don’t
react when they get it.

Viral Marketing – http://cashincome.com/VM/

If they get poor or insufficient service or goods, they feel that
they HAVE to respond to “get even.” The facts vary from research
groups, but the consensus is that between two and eight people
will complain about something that is upsetting for every one person
who will speak out about good service.

This is why it is so important to understand customer relations and
what makes people happy and what can make them upset in any
interaction.

While viral marketing is more about getting the customer to come
TO you, you also need to do a good job once you get them and
make sure you meet (or preferably exceed) all their expectation.

Otherwise, you may find your own viral campaign being used
against you, sabotaging the results you hoped to achieve!

Viral Marketing The Next Generation
http://cashincome.com/VM/

To Your Success
Joseph Vaughn