Is it really possible to let other people market your site for you? Because the main principle of viral marketing seems to be that it’s possible to let other surfers/readers/webmasters promote your site, purely because they like a piece of your content you have created. So how is viral marketing created and why are some webmasters good at it while others fail to generate anything more than a few visitors?
It’s important to be different when hoping to go viral as the internet really has no time for ideas that have been done before. That doesn’t mean you have to complexly re-invent the wheel, some of the most successful viral campaigns have been a new slant on an old concept. Mostly you will have to experiment to until you find the right formula.
A mistake that people often make when they create some kind of viral content is “overselling it”. For example if you create a great info-graphic but your corporate branding is too prominent it’s going to put people off. We don’t mind being sold to but do it under the radar.
Unless you get the ball rolling with your viral campaign it will more than likely be going no-where fast. Even if you do have something that people feel compelled to share you have to get the ball rolling in some way, the easiest method is to contact a blogger with a large readership to talk about what you’re doing.
It amazes me how many people start a viral marketing campaign but have no real idea how well it worked by the end of it. You may be getting more sales/readers/visitors on your site but is this as a direct result of your marketing? It’s important to track what works and what doesn’t in order to improve in any kind of marketing environment.
Creating content that people simply have to share is definitely not easy. I suppose the toughest parts is coming up with a unique idea that hasn’t been done before and also not overselling the commercial aspect of what you’re doing. There are big rewards if you can crack the secret to web marketing though.
If you enjoyed this article then check out my new blog which has lots of marketing articles. There’s lots more marketing advice for webmasters there.
