CC BY
141
Y^K 339.138
VIRAL MARKETING
Olentsova Y. A.
Senior lecture, department of BEL Krasnoyarsk State Agrarian University Russia, Krasnoyarsk
Abstract: This article is about а viral marketing. A viral marketing - a strategy in which goods, services or advertising affect people so that it "infects" the idea of distribution of a product itself becomes its active advertising. There are different types of viral content. Also there are some advantages and disadvantages of viral marketing in this article.
Keywords: Viral marketing, marketing tools, viral content, social media, marketing communications, advertising, target group.
By definition, a viral marketing - a strategy in which goods, services or advertising affect people so that it "infects" the idea of distribution of a product itself becomes its active advertising. This is an advertisement that likes of which man himself is happy to talk to friends and acquaintances. There are various definitions of viral marketing and a lot of opinions about the effectiveness and necessity of this marketing technique. In this article we will try to summarize the available information.
The term "viral marketing" as much in the communications field, appeared in the United States. Recently, the popularity of viral marketing has increased significantly: speed internet channels allow users to easily share videos, photos and music files. The spread of this type of marketing is promoted and the growing popularity of various online communities, blog hosting, social networking, etc.[1]
Viral marketing can be:
• As a method of hidden advertising, which is a pre-planned play, in order to offer the goods to an unsuspecting customer;
• As a side effect resulting from the use of any marketing tools: direct mail, special events and promotions, etc.
The secret of viral marketing is that it uses the habit of people to share information. It is believed that the client was satisfied the product or service, talk about his three friends, and unhappy - about ten. Viral marketing is based on this feature of human behavior.
With viral marketing, you can quickly convey information to the public about a new service or product. One can observe the opposite effect, which is a big disadvantage of this type of advertising.[2]
The main difference from the usual viral marketing - is the use of creative thinking capabilities, along with some very simple methods to promote a product or service instead of serious advertising costs. Here the main thing - the emotions: hate, laughter, irony, anger, confusion. The virus can be a kind of satisfaction one's needs, who want to save, to bring them to the attention of new customers, and unique products or actions that will be interesting and will be able to disseminate information about the firm.
Transmission of information by going viral: The user spreads the message in his social circle, and those who belong to this group, send it on. In this case, the information obtained is not perceived as advertising, but rather as leisure, entertainment.
As a conductor of viral marketing can serve different communities:
• Trendsetters-trained and hired agents ("partisans"), which can be both professional actors, and ordinary citizens;
• People with high purchasing power and propensity to purchase certain goods, and often they are the regular customers, such as loyalty card holders.
There are different types of viral content, through which the promotion of video, photos, flash games, audio files, and even plain text. Consider the main types in detail:
Video - generally, various funny clips no longer than five minutes. The format and length, they resemble real video. In general, video is the most popular viral content, unnecessarily challenge virus product - cause a person's emotional response: to surprise, amuse, excite, etc. This is most easily done with the video.[3]
Sites - search engine Google is a great example of the virus. People just went to the site and if they like it, send the link with his address to his friends.
Games - a lot of options here. In social networks, such as the now popular variety of games in which the achievement of certain levels or getting special weapons can only invite a certain number of friends.
The text - it can be an article, poem, an anecdote, a book, a song. As long as it was interesting to a wide range of people.
Like any form of marketing communications viral marketing has its advantages and disadvantages that should be considered when working with it.
Advantages:
1. The minimum cost of advertising of this kind.
2. The information is transferred from the "confidence" of the source (the feeling that the person is not a victim of mass advertising).
Disadvantages:
1. The complexity of the control
2. Distortion of information beyond recognition
3. To post to get people interested, it must be original
To date, viral marketing - one of these successful findings, because it has the best ratio of price and quality of communication among other marketing tools, and, consequently, better performance when investing money in advance. In this connection, a feature of viral marketing -the minimum budget and maximum "brainstorming" to find original creative ideas.[1]
Viral marketing, along with low cost has a terrific feature - quickly communicate customers using this weakness of human nature, as "tapping into the lock": potential customers with great confidence in the information provided by the representatives of its terms, whether they are passenger minibus taxi or buyers roaming the shops in search of the goods. In other words, if a company wants to interest a specific target group of potential customers, you need to figure out where they cluster, while their maximum concentration and send back a man hunted viral marketing. In a viral advertising interesting content does not fade under the weight standards of design, and any bright idea brought to life by 100%.
References:
1. Kudymova A.J. Viral Marketing / A.J. Kudymova, - Marketing Communications. - 2009. - № 6. - р. 340-34
2. Zvarych E. Differences hidden from viral marketing and guerrilla. / E. Zvarych, -Advertiser: Theory and Practice. - 2010. - № 5. - р. 56-61.
3. Kechin A.V. Steps for Search Engine Marketing / A.V. Kechin, A.A. Kechin, V.A. Kuzmin, -Internet marketing. - 2008. - № 6. - р. 360-370
