Viral Marketing Tips

INTRODUCTION

The concept of viral marketing is simple…

Implement an entity that is so compelling, so interesting, so valuable, that anyone who comes in contact with it immediately has the desire to share it with someone (or everyone) they know.

In other words, it’s viral.

But only in the sense that once that entity is out there, it takes on a life of it’s own, spreading and multiplying like some powerful yet non-threatening virus.

VIRAL MARKETING TECHNIQUES

Adhering to the following guidelines will help you achieve the most benefit from viral marketing.

First and foremost, you need to provide something that’s both original and interesting. If you want the best viral results, you can’t distribute ebooks that have little or no value in terms of content.

Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it can be inferior. Instead, you should view ebooks (or any other viral entity) in the same light as you would a product that you intend to sell. As something worth putting a price on.

ARTICLES

Articles are one of the few things that can perform two different and equally effective viral tasks…

They can either be the viral marketing product or they can be the tool that promotes your viral marketing products.

THE VIRAL EBOOK

Of all the viral methods available, distributing free ebooks is still the most popular. And oftentimes, it’s still the most effective.

The first, and most common form, is the basic free distribution ebook. It contains valuable information about a specific topic and can be easily and immediately downloaded from a web page.

Some webmasters require that a person give up their name and email address in order to have access to the download.

Although this might be a good method for increasing the size of your mailing list, it can seriously diminish the number of people who take possession of the ebook.

RSS FEEDS

Most people think of RSS feeds in terms of adding content to their websites. It’s fast, it’s easy, and it allows for content to be updated on a regular basis. Definitely a must when you’re trying to please the search engines.

But RSS feeds can be an excellent form of viral marketing as well. Assuming, of course, it’s your RSS feed that’s being distributed throughout the internet.

If you publish a newsletter, operate a blog, write articles, or update your website content on a daily or weekly basis, you have the perfect foundation for creating and distributing your own RSS feeds.

For every webmaster that places your RSS content on their web page, you have yet another link back to your own website. Plus, you’ll be able to submit your feeds to RSS directories. Places like…