The best viral marketing is not just word-of-mouth, as some people carelessly assume. Nor is it multi-level marketing, where Juan sells to Alice and then gets a cut of whatever Alice sells to Fred. It is when users actively recruit other users, not for pay, but because they benefit from a larger user pool, just as virus DNA benefits from the spread of a virus.

—Esther Dyson

Viral marketing, commonly being identified as the word-of-mouth on the Internet, is one of the economical advertising techniques where the promotion of any service or product takes place through the pre-existent social networks. It is a marketing technique being used by many affiliates in creating extensive mailing lists and generating a flow of customers for the sponsored affiliate programs. Fundamentally, there are two forms of viral marketing; Service-based and Incentive-based. Service-based viral marketing is described as the commercializing technique in which the consumer is required to spread the word about the company and its products while incentive-based marketing presents several inducements to the consumers such as cash or other rewards for their services’ promotion.

Viral marketing is a way of bringing about exponential increase in the product perception at no extra expense and without additional efforts, thus giving a boost to its promotion. There are several well-known viral marketing techniques with assured results. Distributing free e-books and software trials containing a product line with links to your website and email amongst the website visitors is one of the methods. Moreover, one can place banner advertisements on the websites being hosted at your server at no cost to conduct viral marketing. Offering created templates enclosing one’s marketing info as free downloads is also one of the popular viral marketing techniques. Besides these, article writing, concerning the industry of interest can also serve as an effective viral marketing tool. With an impressive byline included in the article containing the product info and an open permission for publishing it, one can be assured of its extensive circulation.

Viral campaigns can be disseminated through various modes of transmission. For instance, emails and hyperlinks being sent over instant messaging servers are the widely accepted modes of transmission.

On the other hand, there are a lot of bloopers being associated with viral marketing. Inability to impart viral nature to the marketing piece may lead to failure. Moreover, lack of high quality content in the article or e-book being used for promotion, also accounts for the viral campaign’s failure. Viral campaigns which lack in providing incentives to the consumers have proven to be neglected. Therefore, a great deal of concentration is required to make a viral campaign effective and productive.

Viral marketing is sometimes hindered by a few factors which serve as stumbling blocks for viral advertising. For instance, the size of the viral marketing piece is believed to be an important factor. It should be small so that it becomes easier for the recipient to receive the content and further disseminate it. Viral contents should be executable with any widely used software. There are times when anti-virus software or firewalls may act as a barrier in spreading the viral marketing message.

Certain viral marketing campaigns which are worth mentioning include Microsoft’s Origami Project campaign, Carlton Draught’s Big Ad campaign, Gmail, Ford Motor Company’s Evil Twin campaign, Heinz’s Ketchup Against Tomato Cruelty campaign, Jamie Kane’s BBC sponsored online game, etc.

Viral marketing is considered to be an inexpensive advertising strategy which depends on the pass-along rate and it is directly proportional to it. With comprehensive planning and a good understanding of the target audience, an individual can derive many benefits from the intensifying technology of viral marketing.