Employing E-Mail to Achieve Viral Marketing Objectives

Viral marketing is an integral component of a campaign strategy that is used to accomplish objectives. It is not the objective itself. If the primary objective of an e-mail campaign is branding, in order to attain greater branding success exposure you craft your message or offer in a way that it encourages people to pass-along the message.

Creating a message with a quality offer or an incentive for pass-along is what viral marketing is all about.

Simply advising that e-mail recipients forward your message to their friends and relatives is not viral marketing. A message at the bottom of your e-mail that says “Feel free to forward this message to a friend” is nowhere close to viral marketing at its most effective.

On the other hand, if something worthy of sharing, such as a valuable discount, critical information, further entries into a sweepstakes, an added discount or premium service, a joke/cartoon, or a hilarious video, is included in the e-mail, viral marketing happens naturally and quite successfully.

The bottom line is that your message must be sensed as having actual value. Relevant or timely information, research, or studies are all effective examples of content that may be deemed potential pass-along material. Interactive content like a quiz or text can prompt forwarding, particularly if it is amusing. Personality tests, fitness quizzes, or compatibility questionnaires are all things that have been passed around by several people numerous times. Why? Because they are entertaining and entertainment has value.

A multimedia experience is always going to attain some pass-along. Somebody is always touting the benefits. It is a little more of a time and money investment but the messages have a great appeal and rich media has the reward of being new. The technical element alone is frequently enough for the message to be perceived as valuable.

Related posts:

1. Viral Marketing: What Works and What Does Not
2. Why and How E-mail Viral Marketing Works
3. How to Get and Use E-Mail Addresses for Viral Advertising
4. The Many Faces of Viral Marketing
5. Six Ideas for Viral Marketing