Saturday, June 23, 2012

Top 10 Viral Marketing Mistakes - Computers - Software

Viral marketing can be done in both offline and online setting. The word-of-mouth method is one example of viral marketing. Information is transmitted from one person to the next through casual conversations. For instance, a new movie being screened in theaters may attract viewers by merely being retold many times from one friend to the next, from one group to the next, and so on. This phenomenon can either arise from meticulous planning or from natural interactions of circumstances. To assure the success of a viral marketing campaign, either in offline or online setting, the ten marketing mistakes listed below should be avoided.

1.) Seeding neglect This refers to the failure to properly initiate the viral marketing campaign by not investing on mailing lists, pay per clicks, press releases, and banner advertisements. Without these initial investments, a viral marketing campaign will not have enough impetus to start.

2.) Lack of incentive or hook Some marketers and website owners have over-reliance on automation tools. However, without proper incentive or hook, the customers cannot be expected to participate in the campaign. An incentive could be just a simple discount or a chance to win in a raffle.

3.) Failure to capitalize on initial success If the campaign took-off very well, the initial success should be optimized by capitalizing on it. It should be used to further enhance the campaign and bring more visitors and revenues.

4.) Forced retrofitting of other campaign models Some marketers commit the mistake of forcing a marketing model to fit to a particular campaign. This is a failure to recognize that every type of product and situation requires different approach.5.) Lack of marketing synergy All marketing efforts must be well-coordinated and properly utilized. The failure to use other marketing methods in consonance with the viral marketing strategy will only result in the waste of resources. The campaign must also be flexible enough to adjust to contingencies.

6.) Over-sophistication Sophisticated marketing strategies does not guarantee success. Simple techniques such as email signatures work better.

7.) Lack of SEO value This mistake is similar to lack of synergy. The SEO aspect of viral marketing campaign should not be ignored. Keywords and links used in the campaign must promote search engine optimization.

8.) Deficiency of user participation A viral marketing campaign must encourage visitor participation through different means such as newsletter subscription and email submissions. 9.) Inconvenient referral system A referral system must be simple and fast enough to avoid irritating the subscribers. The referral system must be as convenient as possible. Ideally, it must simply require the email address of the subscriber.

10.) Interchanging the message and incentive This mistake is committed when the hook or incentive is overemphasized. It is good to provide some incentives but the message should never be neglected or understated.

Viral Inviter is a PHP and HTML tell-a-friend script that facilitates viral marketing by allowing web visitors to easily invite email contacts and refer a friend to the site. To know more about this tell a friend software, please visit





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