Viral marketing is like a sneezing into a crowded room without covering your mouth. The idea is to get people to pass it on. Viral marketing can be done in many ways…..email was the first way that viral marketing was used but since the beginning other ways have developed that encourage people to pass along to their friends and relatives information about products, services and internet sites… even jokes and video clips.

Viral marketing can be a very good thing for internet businesses, especially small ones that are just starting up. It can, also, sound the death knoll for those same businesses. You cannot force a product to “go viral”. If it is good enough…or bad enough, that just happens. You can, of course, use viral marketing but you can’t force the viral thing to happen. People love to share good things with their friends and families…but they will be just as quick to share an unpleasant experience or the name of the company they think ripped them off…..maybe even quicker.

Should you try to capitalize on viral marketing? You certainly should! You would be the worst kind of fool not to use everything at hand to market your product or idea. Without one doubt, you should reap the benefits of reaching more than just your target audience and stretching those advertising dollars as far as they will go. It is important, though, for you to realize that viral marketing is a strategy….just one tactic. One, however, that does work toward achieving your campaign objectives.

Oh….and just one more word of caution. You can craft a brilliant offer and a great message, and follow all the rules of Viral Marketing 101, but if a consumer visits your site and has a bad experience or even a not-as-good experience as expected, you will defiantly achieve viral marketing….the kind you don’t want.

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