Much like a virus, viral marketing is also spread from person to person. This technique uses social networks to promote brand awareness. This can be done a variety of ways, including word of mouth, email, text messages, video clips, an interesting fact or a joke. A good example of viral marketing would be a company that provides a product at no cost to a consumer to test. The company does this in hopes that the product is well received by the consumer, and in turn the consumer will spread the word to friends and family praising the effectiveness of the product tested.

Viral Marketing is extremely effective and very direct. It builds a personal relationship between the company or product and the customer. There are basic rules to abide by to launch an effective viral marketing campaign. The information must be widely appealing, it should also be timely and it must be easily portable and transmittable. The product should easily scale from a small audience to a large one. It should use existing communication networks and take advantage of others’ resources. Capitalizing on common behaviors is also a good practice to use in an effective campaign. When a product is marketed in this way there is potential to spread the word very quickly.

When viral marketing is used to build brand awareness there is no specific target audience. Negative comments are one of the problems that could arise and damage control must be provided to avoid ruining the reputation of the product or service provided. This could cause a snowball effect and the marketing campaign could work against your brand instead of for it. These aspects of viral marketing could be very time consuming and require constant supervision.

Viral marketing is a good way to set your product apart from the competitors. The pros of viral marketing outweigh the cons by far. In this day and age of advanced technology the means for getting your product out there are unlimited.