In the beginning, e-mail was the one and only way to carry out a viral marketing campaign. Since that day long ago, viral marketing has gone from a marketing strategy to an art form and there are many ways to accomplish the objective of creating a successful viral marketing campaign. Seven of those ways are:



1.E-mail: It was first but it is still around and still used. It is, however, getting a little harder to use as more and more government restrictions are placed on it. Still ... it does work.

2.Newsletters: This is an extension of e-mail but it a very effective tool. If you include enough timely and valuable information, a good newsletter can drive up the number of visits to your website.

3.Blogging: Providing the tools on your website to enable bloggers to interact with one another is a terrific way to get the message about your product or service out there and being talked about. Bloggers always have their ears to the ground for new products and services.

4.Chat Rooms: A chat room on your website can, and does, encourage interaction among your customers and that can't be a bad thing. Also, you can use the chat room to schedule special events like having an expert available to answer questions on a given day at a given time.

5.Tell-a-friend Script: If you add this with a statement saying that e-mail addresses supplied will never be shared with third parties, you can increase your potential customer list greatly.

6.Video Clips: Including cool video clips on your website will keep the interest up and increase traffic.

7.Flash Games: Although they are a little costly to start, they are an extremely effective tool to get your viral marketing campaign going. Once they are launched, they require nothing more from you.

Visit our web sites for more in-depth information on the tools to make these, and other, viral marketing techniques a reality.

And here's a BONUS - compound your success by using forums to do viral marketing. Here are some things that are required.

Do Your Homework: Prior to joining any forum, you must do some research.

1.Join relevant forums that are in some way related to the promotion's primary sales market. For example, someone involved with a health related product, many types of forums could apply ... everything from holistic medicine to stay-at-home moms.

2.Choose popular forums. There is no point in wasting your time and energy on forums that few members and few posts. Page raking and the amount of active members are two good ways to check for this.

3.Choose forums that allow sig tags. If it's possible read the rules before joining and pay attention to them. Your time is important, too. It is better to find out that a forum doesn't allow posts with sig tags before you go to the time and trouble of joining.

After You Have Joined: OK ... you have chosen two or three forums that meet your requirements ... now what?

1.Keep your sig tag short and update it regularly. The ideal thing is to limit yourself to one link, preferably to your main website.

2.Never create posts that are nothing more than an advertisement. This all but a universal rule and only displays the marketers lack of experience if he does so. At best this kind of post will be deleted by the monitors ... at worst, it is grounds for being banned.

3.Work the room. Be an active member on the forum. Plan to spend at least an hour each day there and take the time to get to know the users. Take the time to introduce yourself with intelligent questions depending upon the forum's topic.

As a marketer becomes a regular member, they will hopefully develop a good reputation and without saying a word about their promotion, those who are interested in their product will approach them.