Viral Marketing 2007 | Email, Video, Audio Make the List

Marketing Sherpa’s Special Report: Viral Marketing 2007 gives insights into how experienced viral marketers think.

Marketing Sherpa is a leading resource for marketing knowledge, case studies and forward thinking about what’s working in marketing today. Reports like this one get posted online for a limited open access period before they go on sale online. After reading the report, I chose these excerpts to share with you.

According to the report,

“They [experienced viral marketers] see growing their email list and viral as a very good match of a tactic/goal.
They [experienced viral marketers] are much less likely to use viral for attempts at direct sales and see it as a better tool for branding/awareness.80% of marketers say viral builds awareness — with ‘very experienced’ players leading the numbers. That group also says ‘growing email list’ is the second-best reason with lead generation in third. On the other hand, ‘somewhat experienced’ players say lead generation (27%) is the best way to use viral tactics with branding in second (23%) and site traffic third (19%).”

Viral Marketers’ Planned Campaigns and Tests for 2007, in order of popularity:

– encouraging email forwarding

– tell-a-friend boxes on site [sweeps, coupons, etc.]

– video clips

– cool microsites [not your own URL or brand]

– online games/quizzes/polls

– audio clips

– offering e-cards

In all, the report presents 15 charts that cover everything from high impact introductions [blogsphere mentions lead the pack] to estimated price ranges by tactic. For example, the results say that $5,000 is the estimated expense for a video clip campaign.

My advice? Test out a few low-cost, low-risk viral marketing tactics before investing thousands. And, focus on the goal of lead-generation instead of sales.

Three to try . . .

Encouraging email forwarding is as simple as adding a call to action in your email message. Keep in mind that people will forward messages they like that appeal to their need for more information, entertainment or curiosity.

When you visit the CoryWest Media site, you’ll hear me talking. Recording messages using Audio Acrobat, which costs $19.95 per month, is just like leaving a voicemail over the phone. You talk, save your message, publish the recording and then post the code or drop in a link to the audio online.

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