25 September 2007, 434 words used, by Charlaine Scholten
When companies want to sell there products or services quickly, they’re putting a lot of money in advertising and promotional material. But which promotion style is the most effective? Traditional media like television, radio or newspapers? It is effective and traditional media will always reach your focus group, but it is very expensive. And what if a company hasn’t got enough money for a TV-campaign, a radio spot or an advertisement in a popular newspaper?
Traditional media is decreasing. On the other hand increases the Internet fast. A lot of individuals use this medium for buying, searching, blogging and entertaining. So the Internet has a lot of consumers and public. All focus groups are present. Therefore, Internet is an appropriate medium for selling a product or service, and also very inexpensive!
Viral Marketing
And then Viral Marketing came. It is a cheap way to make your focus group aware of your product or service. Companies pick a few consumer data from there database and send there campaign or other promotional material to them. Most likely the buzz is funny, entertaining or has a shocking effect. It can be a photo, a game or a film. The promotional material or campaign encourages individuals to pass the message to others. It spreads the word of the product or service. Word of mouth is a method that is the most effective way to sell. When somebody heard it from his friend, he believes it and becomes familiar to it, most likely to buy it. And that was exactly the purpose of the company.
A company like O’Neill could try Viral Marketing. It is a company with lot of money probably, but it is also a company that is trying all kinds of promotions styles. To make it clear: O’Neill is a brand that has his focus on the surf and board sport. The competitors aren’t using VM and the focus group of O’Neill (girls in the age of 17 to 20 years) is a frequent internet user. A funny film, an entertaining game or a shocking picture will attend them on O’Neill, and hopefully they will buy something. Or maybe the friends she sent the mail.
So way aren’t all companies using Viral Marketing? Are there cheaper ways of promoting? Or isn’t it that popular yet in the businessworld? Maybe businessman don’t understand they effectiveness of the word of mouth. They think that it takes too much time, time they can’t afford. But if there are businessman and –woman who are seeing it, there sales will increase a lot.
Sources:
Value of Viral Marketing, by Laura Lake; http://marketing.about.com/cs/viralmarketing/a/viralvalue.htm
Use Viral Marketing, by Ana Rincon; http://onlinebusiness.about.com/od/marketing/qt/viral.htm
Viral Marketing, by… (Upcoming)
1 Comment
September 27, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Weblog Article Peer Review Form A – First Review
Writer’s Name ___Charlaine Scholten________________________________
Assessor’s name ___Kiran Singh__________________________________ __
Date ___ September 25th 2007______________________________
Rating Scale: 1 = Yes 2 = Somewhat 3 = No
Rate the article by giving a 1, 2 or 3 for each question. Read the article once to get a general idea of what it is about, then read it a second time to rate it.
1. Is the topic interesting? __1_
2. Is the title original and appropriate? __1_
3. Is the introduction complete? __1_
4. Is the body of the article complete? __1_
5. Is the conclusion well-developed? __2_
6. Is the article well-organized overall? __2_
7. Is the article easy to understand? __1_
8. Is the article interesting to read? __1_
9. Has the writer plagiarised material? __3_
Finally, read the article a third time and check it for spelling, grammar and punctuation. Mark any corrections on the article itself then complete the rest of the form.
Name three things you like about the article.
Good explanation of Viral Marketing________________________________________ Easy to read language____________________________________________________
Blends O’Neill into the story well___________________________________________
Name three things the writer should improve.
Try giving an example of Viral Marketing, like an already performed and succesfull_____ campaign_
What is the gist of the article?
Viral Marketing is an inexpensive yet succesfull way of marketing, which can reach a____ greater audience than marketeers expect