Viral Marketing, Information Diffusion and Influence Maximization

4/12/2024
Social Networking Problems
Anupam Biswas
http://cs.nits.ac.in/anupam
Anupam Biswas, NIT Silchar Viral Marketing, Information Diffusion and Influence Maximization 1
Viral Marketing
Viral marketing is a marketing method that relies on
users to spread a message or content piece from a
brand.
Viral marketing is often unpredictable and never
guaranteed, but, when done right, it can be a huge
boost for business.
Viral marketing can take many different forms, from
videos, social media posts, announcements, stunts,
and memes.
It’s important to note that virality doesn’t necessarily
mean positive.
Going viral implies a certain level of risk.
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Challenges in Viral Marketing Campaign
1. Unpredictability
You cannot predict virality. No matter how much
creative, visual strategy, and “out-of-the-box-ness”
you infuse into your campaign, there is still no way
to forecast its success.
2. Audience Reliance
No viral campaign can ever be forced, simply due to
the simple fact that users spread the content, not
brands
3. Timing
Viral content, especially when it comes to
viraljacking, is nothing if not timely.
Eg. Posting of Narendra Modi’s invitation to
“The Kashmir Files” team----- Positive
Eg. Emergence of “Aam Admi Party” ---Positive
Eg. Surgical Strike and Proof mangnewala Gang
---Negative
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4. Risk
No viral campaign has ever been conducted without a little
bit of risk. As a brand, you must be willing to stick your
neck out a little in order to develop a successful and
attention-grabbing campaign.
5. Context
As consumers get savvier, viral campaigns need to
incorporate a sense of nuance and context.
6. Patience
If you are determined to have a campaign go viral you will
need a heavy dose of patience. Be patient and try many
different methods.
Key to Success of Viral Marketing

In the book, Contagious – Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger
mentions, social influence and word-of-mouth transmission are far more
essential to drive “virality” and ultimately account for 20-50% of all
purchasing decisions.
Berger explains that “regardless of how plain or boring a product or idea

may seem, there are ways to make it contagious…” if you know the right
way to do it.
Six key ingredients:
1. Social Currency
2. Triggers
3. Emotion
4. Public
5. Practical Value
6. Stories
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1. Social Currency – “We share things that make us look

good”
What we talk about, inevitably determines what others perceive of us,

which leads us to share things that make us seem more entertaining,
clever, smart, and/or funny. The human brain is hot-wired to use this so-
called “currency” to make a good impression on others.
2. Triggers – “Top of mind, tip of tongue”

While social currency gets people to talk about things, “triggers” keep
ideas and products fresh in the minds of consumers, ensuring that they
keep talking about your idea.
3. Emotion – “When we care, we share”

Emotional content evokes feelings, both positive
and negative, that drive people to share and act on
those emotions.
4. Public – “Built to show, built to grow”

“Making things more observable, makes them
easier to imitate, which makes them more likely to
become popular,” writes Berger.
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5. Practical Value – “News you can use”

People like helping and feeling useful to others.
Practical value is all about sharing useful
information that will help others save time, energy
and resources.
6. Stories – “Information travels under the

guise of idle chatter”
Stories are the most effective way to share ideas
and information.
Viral Marketing: Global Scenario

• The 2008 U S President Election displayed successful implementation of
viral marketing technique by Barak Obama who skillfully used the social
media like Face Book and Twitter to connect with young generation.
• On July 14, 2010, Old Spice (the brand famous for shaving cream, after
shave lotion and many more products for men) launched online viral video
campaign.
• Gangnam Style Dance is a dance style popularized by PSY, the pop star of
South Korea.
• 2021, Manike Mage Hite Song’ Sri Lankan Singer. No campaign, popularized
by Public globally.
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Viral Marketing: Indian Scenario
• ZOOZOO commercial of Vodaphone.
• Kolaveri Di’s amazing viral popularity.
• Narendra Modi in the Parliament Election of 2014

used the social media effectively to win the election.
With the powerful use of You Tube, Face Book, Twitter
etc., Narendra Modi and his team of information
technology experts concentrated and wooed the
techno-savvy young generation.
Network Aspect in Viral Marketing

Information flows through users
Users get influenced by other users who are
their friends, relatives, colleagues etc.
How does information flows or propagates in
the network?
How users get influenced by others?
The process is called information diffusion.
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Information Diffusion (or Cascade)

An action or idea are adopted one by one due to
social influence
cascade through social relationships
Nodes influenced by a node are termed as “cascades”
Influence Diffusion Models

Independent Cascade Model social network
Linear Threshold Model
Epidemic Models
Independent Cascade Model

When node v becomes active, it has a single
chance of activating each currently inactive
neighbor w.
The activation attempt succeeds with
probability pvw .
The deterministic model is a special case of IC
model. In this case, pvw =1 for all (v,w).
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Example
0.6 Y
Inactive Node
0.3 0.2 0.2

Active Node
Newly active
X 0.1 U
0.4 node
Successful
0.5 0.3 attempt
0.2
Unsuccessful
0.5 attempt
w
v
Stop!
Linear Threshold Model
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Node activation
Example
Y Inactive Node
0.6
Active Node
0.3 0.2 0.2 Threshold
X Active neighbors
0.1
0.4 U
0.5 0.3
0.2 Stop!
0.5
w v
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Influence Maximization Problem

Influence spread of node set S: σ(S)
expected number of active nodes at the end of
diffusion process, if set S is the initial active set.
Problem Definition (by Kempe et al., 2003):
(Influence Maximization). Given a directed and
edge-weighted social graph G = (V,E, w) , a diffusion
model m, and an integer k ≤ |V |, find a set S ⊆ V ,
|S| = k, such that the expected influence spread
σm(S) is maximum.
Solution to Influence Maximization problem
f ( A)  f ( B )  f ( A  B )  f ( A  B )
A  B  f ( A)  f ( B)
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Property of Decreasing Marginal Value
1. ( f is submodular) if and only if

A  B  xf ( A)  xf ( B) for x  B
2. ( f is monotone nondecreasing) if and only if

A  B  xf ( A)  xf ( B) for x  B
where  x f ( A)  f ( A  {x})  f ( A)
Modularity of Social Influence

Let σ(A) is the # of nodes influence by seed A
Then σ(A) is monotone decreasing and
submodular
A  B   v ( A)   v ( B )
A
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Greedy Algorithm for Influence Maximization
Influence Maximization for Viral Marketing

Objective function
Influence spread σ (S) : expected number of activated
(influenced/adopted) nodes
Maximize σ(S)
Input:
A social influence graph G=(V, E)
An information diffusion (or cascade) model
An integer k, |S| ≤ k
Output: A seed set S
Use the nodes in set S for Viral Marketing campaign
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Word-of-Mouth strategy for Viral Marketing

To promote a product by seeding a few users;
users adopting the product will recommend it
Advantages: efficient; cost-effective
Company seed users follow-up activated users
How to select the optimal seed users?
free product/
discount influence
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4/12/2024

Social Networking Problems

Challenges in Viral Marketing Campaign

Key to Success of Viral Marketing

Berger explains that “regardless of how plain or boring a product or idea

1. Social Currency – “We share things that make us look

What we talk about, inevitably determines what others perceive of us,

2. Triggers – “Top of mind, tip of tongue”

3. Emotion – “When we care, we share”

4. Public – “Built to show, built to grow”

5. Practical Value – “News you can use”

6. Stories – “Information travels under the

Viral Marketing: Global Scenario

Viral Marketing: Indian Scenario

• ZOOZOO commercial of Vodaphone.

• Kolaveri Di’s amazing viral popularity.

• Narendra Modi in the Parliament Election of 2014

Network Aspect in Viral Marketing

The process is called information diffusion.

Information Diffusion (or Cascade)

Influence Diffusion Models

Independent Cascade Model

0.3 0.2 0.2

Linear Threshold Model

0.3 0.2 0.2 Threshold

Influence Maximization Problem

Solution to Influence Maximization problem

Property of Decreasing Marginal Value

1. ( f is submodular) if and only if

2. ( f is monotone nondecreasing) if and only if

Modularity of Social Influence

Greedy Algorithm for Influence Maximization

Influence Maximization for Viral Marketing

Use the nodes in set S for Viral Marketing campaign

Word-of-Mouth strategy for Viral Marketing

How to select the optimal seed users?

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