SEO with a Viral Marketing Campaign

By admin • February 10th, 2009

Viral marketing, also known as viral advertising, is a hot SEO topic, especially since the web is one of the most effective catalysts for getting the word out about something. Wikipedia defines it as marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. The simplest definition is â€œword of mouthâ€ advertising. Itâ€™s just taken to a much larger level when you do it over the Internet, and itâ€™s extremely effective if you know how to do it.Â Once the viral marketing takes off, the search engines will do their thing and with a well-though out SEO marketing strategy you should be in business.

Did you just recently launch a website or blog? Do you have a new product that youâ€™re looking to sell? You should consider launching a viral campaign to boost your exposure.Â Partner with related businesses - this strategy can be low-cost with significant rewards. The trick is to find related sites and arrange a mutually beneficial deal. Perhaps you will cross-promote their site, or offer their users a discount. Look for websites with a large newsletter, forum, blog or general readership. Extend an offer to those websites something of value like, banner space or editorial mentions in exchange for them spreading the word about your viral campaign. Or offer their viewers and subscribers a discount or something of tangible value like, free shipping or free subscriptions. But, also remember the following two important tips:

Give Your Recipients Something to Keep

A message is said to be 4 to 5 times more effective coming from a trusted source such as a friend or colleague than from an advertiser. A recent study found that 9 out of 10 internet users in the United States share content via email. Eighty-one percent pass viral messages on to at least one other person. So, the key to your campaign is to give the recipients of your message something of value to keep like video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, or even text messages that they wouldnâ€™t be able to readily get elsewhere. This will increase the likelihood of your message being spread.

Track Where Your Target Audience Browses

With Quantcast, you can view other sites a person is likely to visit. Quantcast is a Web site that is based on viewing the statistics of other Web sites. Like Alexa, Quantcast rates Web pages by ranks. However, unlike Alexa, it doesn’t require you to install a toolbar. nstead participating websites voluntarily insert Quantcast HTML code inside Web pages they wish to have included in statistics. This code allows Quantcast to keep track of the traffic directed towards those Web sites. Seeing what sites your targeted audience visits can help you determine their buying habits.

Kelly Media Group is a full-service marketing company that offers search marketing, direct mail marketing and IVR technology.Â