Introduction
I think that every day it is easier to observe how the Internet has revolutionized and evolved everything (or almost). At the same time, the arch-recurrent "increase in competitiveness", as well as the shortening of the life cycle of products, among other conditions typical of today's markets, have led (congratulations) to the "abandonment" of the old marketing of offer, so that marketers can once and for all focus on the needs, motivations and desires of our customers, leaving aside, in the best of cases, our apprehended "myopia" and the odd vice.
In this context, the appearance of new tools or technologies tending to help us in the arduous task of increasing the value of brands is very welcome.
In this sense, these days "viral marketing" appears as the "novelty girl" that awakens sighs, jealousy and misgivings, here and there… Why is it?…
"Look what they sent me!"
Who among us has never participated in an email chain?… Yes, yes, I know… it seems that it has nothing to do with marketing… or does it? Let's see…
Long before Seth Godin “enlivened” us all with his book “Unleashing the ideavirus” in 2000, the viral effect of the Web as a means of communication had possibly already been experienced by much, if not all. email users. How did it work? Easy: we received an email with something entertaining-curious-funny and we forwarded it to our contacts… and they did the same… and their contacts the same… and the contacts of their contacts the same… and so on… Let's think about the exponential form (viral) in which that email was expanded (propagated) with "something" that attracted attention… Well, that's what it's about.
Viral but marketing
Now let's imagine this same viral effect but within the framework of a marketing action… if we found a way to make the message of our brand or product achieve such an effect, the scope of an action would tend to "infinity" and the cost per contact It would be close to zero… it would be good, right?…
In reality, from that moment in 2000 to the present, several years have passed, and today the saturation caused by traditional advertising messages, the ineffective readaptation of "global" campaigns, the undifferentiation that competing brands tend to bet on in a The same market and the new proliferation of NTPs (and why not of NTPs, right?), constantly invite us to think a little further to get out of inertia and find new or unexplored ways of doing things.
So, perhaps this is why the first "daring" who consult or offer "viral marketing" appear very slowly… when, in reality, we have known viral marketing for many years, but many years, and it is what we call "mouth to mouth ”. Clear! In the same way that a good offer in "Don Mario's warehouse", an excellent service in "the new pizzeria on the other block" or other benefits, gained fame and diffusion in the neighborhood at the expense of conversations between neighbors, today we can achieve the same, but on the Web…
The advantage is that it is no longer necessary to leave everything to the spontaneity and good will of our neighbors, but now we can design viral marketing actions in such a way that our message, in a matter of minutes, multiplies its impact and reach exponentially… but that's not all, as if that weren't enough, the other great advantage is that, depending on how we execute the action, we can even get to know who each and every one of those who participated in this viral effect were. Awesome.
Let's go viral marketing!
Eye. Nor are we now going to believe that viral marketing is the answer to all of our marketing problems, because it is not. Viral marketing, like any other communication tool, will see its effectiveness subordinate to a series of considerations that must be taken into account when designing the action, for example, in the case of viral marketing we would need:
(do not write it down as a recipe, because it is not)
- An idea to transmit that exposes the differential value of your product or brand, being capable at the same time of sowing the "virus"; Being familiar with the medium (Internet in this case) and with the behavior of typical users; Knowing the composition of the target destination and its descriptive elements; Availability of the technology involved; Flexibility to identify the different forms of implementation; Creativity well understood (something is creative if it is accompanied by the achievement of the result, without result there is no creativity); A base of accessible contacts that respond to the above; Some type of link or reason why that motivates the "viral effect" or "recommend a friend" among the recipients included in the previous database (direct primary target); Tracking tools for follow up the action…
And, yeah… no one said it was easy, but at least it's good to know the things we should keep in mind.
But not everything is viral in life…
So it is interesting to complement the viral marketing actions in an integrated way with the other tools participating in the communication mix, whether they are actions that are executed through traditional media or others via PNT or Web, such as banners, pop-ups, pop -unders, fly-adds, i-advertising, etc… Without neglecting, of course, what is the best way to reach each target.
And in order to analyze each case well, let me tell you something: a few days ago we presented a client with a viral marketing proposal with email + Web support… and in the middle of the presentation someone asked us: “and if the one who receives it does not have an Internet connection? ”… mmm… what a good question!… We would have started there, right?
Dare to more
(Again my habit… where did I get this?…)
Ultimately, these paragraphs are not intended to be an apology for viral marketing, but simply to suggest that it is not bad (or can even be very healthy!) To review the daily way of doing things with the intention of finding a way to surprise, to build new experiences, basically, to show ourselves different, because, as we all know, it is not enough to be the best, if we cannot make it noticeable…
Otherwise, the alternative that we have left is to join the "World Effect" and be one more… they observed that, to a greater or lesser extent, almost all promotions in the World Cup appeal to the same resources… they communicate through the same media … They offer the same prizes… And… it will be fine… because it doesn't matter: “You have to take advantage of the World Cup”…
Ah, I forgot to tell you: On Sunday, for example, I was at Unicenter Shopping, I passed by a place that sells mattresses and I could read clearly on its window: “World Promo! 20% discount ”… And, yes… why not? Yes, total… with a “Vamos Argentina” it reaches… (bah, is it enough?)
And not to lose focus…
If the reader found this article interesting, valuable, “entertaining-curious-funny” or, on the contrary, so bad and boring that it made you want to forward it to your friends and contacts, be sure to do it… after all, viral marketing is already among us.
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