Although most any computer user has been conditioned to back off quickly at the word virus, viral marketing is actually a good thing! Vital marketing, for the uninitiated, is the methodology by which potential consumers of a company's product are led to willingly share personal information about an interaction with that company or its affiliate marketers without there being any monetary incentive for the consumer to do so. In other words, it is akin to the old model of word of mouth marketing, only this time it takes place online.



Of course, what are the odds of a consumer telling another to go to a certain website to buy a product? The odds are slim overall. Especially if the two consumers do not have a need for exactly the same product! On the other hand, if the company were to include a fun game - maybe a video game, a crossword puzzle, or an oldie but goodie like Solitaire with a twist - on its website, the chances of one consumer passing on the information to another are much greater!

The goal of viral marketing for the uninitiated is to create sticky content that can be passed on from one consumer to another or, in the alternative, will encourage one consumer to suggest the website to another. Such games will have customers come back time and again even if they are not planning on buying anything, yet it is the visit that creates the potential for a sale and if savvy marketers are able to build the web traffic, before long the sales will increase quite dramatically as well.

Viral marketing may also be done via email and this is the thought behind the cornucopia of free newsletters that are being sent out by a plethora of websites. Consider the mandatory newsletter creation requirements of the Bella website or the various free newsletters that several major stores and also television shows put out, and it is obvious that with the useful information the incentive of passing on the information to someone else who might find it useful is quite great!

Yet the only way that viral marketing will be truly successful for any company rests heavily on the portability of the information. Generally speaking, if a customer has to copiously preface an email or link, it will not get sent, while an email that is fairly self explanatory or requires only a sentence or two in explanation will be passed on much more readily. If you are creating viral marketing campaigns, remember to observe the spam laws! Consumers will not pass on unsolicited commercial emails even if the information contained therein is quite useful.

On the flipside, if you offer free sign ups and perhaps promise money savings downloadable coupons with your newsletter, finding willing consumers who will look forward to your emails is an easy proposition indeed. Add a little known fact, memorable quote, or word of the week, and you are sure to have found something that will be passed on quickly and quite possibly to a large number of future customers!