Considered an evolution of the more traditional word of mouth, the term “viral marketing” refers to an unconventional marketing model that takes advantage of the network effect and the ability of a small number of people to spread messages about products and services.
With the emergence of social networks and the rapid increase in their use, viral marketing has assumed an important role in the marketing strategies of many brands.
As is the case with any other marketing campaign, Viral Marketing campaigns require very structured management with definition of goals, metrics, target audience and content.
Although very often any successful marketing campaign is called viral, it should be pointed out that real Viral Marketing campaigns resort to buzz (i.e., word of mouth) as the only means of propagation.
Therefore, the activity and involvement of the brand, as well as the investments incurred by the brand, mostly involve strategic planning and message design.
This last aspect, as we can imagine, plays a crucial role in that the more effective, catchy and naturally shareable it is, the more successful the campaign will be.
Let us not forget, however, that there are two other important aspects to consider when designing a campaign: the context and the sender.
Choosing the right time, the right environment, and opinion leaders and prominent personalities as sources of the message play a major role for the message itself to go viral.
