Viral Marketing OrWord-Of-Mouth Advertising On Internet- ATheoretical Framework

Viral marketing describes any strategy that encourages people to pass on a marketing message to others, demonstrating an important potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence. Viral marketing has become one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways to create a “buzz†about firms’products and servi- ces. Like viruses, viral marketing strategies take advantage of rapid multiplication to exp- lode the message from thousands, to millions. On the Internet, it is any marketing techni- que that induces web sites or users to pass on a marketing message to other sites or users. Word-of-mouth techniques are vital to marketing on the Internet. Consumers tend to the primarysource of credibility. On the Web, viral marketing has been called also “word-of- mouse†or “word-of-modem†. Viral marketing on the Internet is the simple technological extension of word-of-mouth marketing. On the Internet, an effective viral marketing stra- tegy includes six elements: gives away products or services, provides for effortless trans- fer to others, scales easily from small to very large, exploits common motivations and be- haviors, utilizes existing communication networks and takes advantage of others’resour- ces. Successful viral marketing campaigns arecomprised of engaging message that invol- ves imagination, fun, easy use and visibility, credibility, encouragement and customizati- on.