National Seminar on New Paradigms of

Marketing Management

Viral Marketing: Pitfall or

Windfall?
Authors:-
Neha Singh
 
Preeti Sehgal
 
Dr. Jai Prakash
 
 
Viral marketing
The term viral marketing formed by
venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson in 1997
to explain the exclusive referral-marketing
program produced by Hotmail, one of the
primary free e-mail services

Viral marketing exploits existing social

networks by encouraging customers to
share product information with their
friends.
Viral marketing describes any strategy
that encourages individuals to pass on a
marketing message to others, creating the
potential for exponential growth in the
message's exposure and influence. Like
viruses, such strategies take advantage of
rapid multiplication to explode the
message to thousands, to millions
Modes of Viral Marketing:
Newsletters
Chat place to stay
Video clips
Games
Blogging
E-mail
Tell-a-friend Script
Some examples of different Viral

Value Viral
What it is: People share quality experiences
with others.
How it works: Harish tries product X and
finds it to be very good. He then tells Manish
to try it.
Product examples: Hotmail, PalmPilots,
Harry Potter books
Web site examples: Amazon, Yahoo
Vile Viral
What it is: People warn others of negative
experiences.
How it works: Harish tries product X and
finds it very bad. He then tells Manish to
avoid it.
Product examples: Many failed dot-coms,
Apple Newton, Olestra, "Plan B" book, Crystal
Pepsi
Web site examples: Real.com (for the
RealJukebox fiasco)
Advantages of Viral Marketing
 Viral marketing is one of the cost-free methods
for promoting a business transaction
 The time and resources are easily available in
this type of marketing
 Viral marketing enables businesses to remain
buoyant within the competitive business world,
 This marketing strategy enables business
propositions to reach out to a global audience
 The word-of-mouth concept ripples on to peer-
to-peer recommendation of the product or
service
Potential Pitfalls of Viral
Marketing

Nuisance Factor
Negative Buzz
Ethical Considerations
Hard to Measure
It's Usually Unsustainable
Less Control on what people says
Association with unknown groups
 
Recommendations:-

firms should assess relevance to brand,

objective and audience before viral
campaign.
Firm can integrate with traditional/ongoing
marketing efforts with viral marketing.
They should develop a resolution or
measurable call to action.
Viral marketing must spread from person to
person voluntarily.
A person who spreads a viral message must
do so without any financial incentive to do
so.
Conclusion
As every coin has two faces likewise, this
new marketing strategy i.e. viral
marketing also has advantages with some
disadvantages. Companies should know
how to leverage the power of viral
marketing. When a firm is planning to go
for viral campaign, they have to think on
their target group and how they should
penetrate them with the campaign.