Viral Marketing & Blogging

First gyaan related post on my blog..thanks to "Bloggers Park contest, IRIS, IIM Indore"

Viral marketing is a marketing phenomenon that encourages & facilitates people to pass along a marketing message i.e. existing customers rope in new customers by themselves. Now that sounds interesting, isn’t it? Just as a virus keeps multiplying itself, so is a message via viral marketing. It is alike word-of-mouth marketing where marketer does not play an active role i.e. he can sit back and watch people going ga-ga about his product.

There can be different strategies in viral marketing….the most talked about is the Hotmail one for Hotmail just rocked the business arena by its marketing strategy. There are certain important aspects in case of viral marketing which link it very well to blogging, another upcoming, rather growing feature.

Blogging, for most people, is sheer fun…..a way to reach out people, make new friends, discuss life and other things. There are also blogs that cater to specific interests, specific needs of people….thus bringing like-minded people together. And then, there are a few blogs that make money too….a way of selling professional services, like G. Kennedi selling astrology services or Dr. Anirudh Malpani talking about the IVF treatment on his famous blog. Whatever it is, blogging is done out of desire and willingness and so is for people who keep track of different blogs.

And so, if there’s recommendation of some book, movie or some product on a blog, it’s an effortless transfer of the opinion to other blog readers. This is key to viral marketing…..a medium that is easy to transfer and replicate. As the recommendation comes from a friend or acquaintance or some fellow blogger, the incentive to believe on it and go ahead is definitely more than merely by watching an advertisement on TV or a print ad.

By the sheer popularity of some blogs, they have the potential of reaching out the message to the masses…….just look at the way IIPM story went after it was discussed by Rashmi Bansal on her blog. And so, the message would reach to lots of people on their own, with marketer being a mere spectator. It’s because of the reach of the blogs that spam blogging is a growing feature these days unless one has a check on the people putting comments.

Viral marketing is about using existing communication networks. Each of us has a social network, the size might vary. Amongst our network, we share opinions, ideas, information etc. And as a blogger, I would like my social network to be aware of my blog. And yeah, blogging does help in enlarging that social network. So, putting up a message on a blog means reaching out to the blogger’s social network and making not just the presence felt but rather creating an impact.

And it’s indeed innovative, and interesting the way IIM-I guys are doing it. By having a competition for bloggers, and that too not restricted to the B-school students, you make sure that the news of IRIS goes far and wide, that means tremendous visibility and yeah….sponsors too, would have a reason to smile. :)

So, viral marketing is about using others’ networks and exploiting common behaviours. The blogger junta across has something in common. So, using viral marketing through blogging is something that has a huge potential. With so many newspapers, magazines featuring about blogging, it’s surely making an impact. Now, it’s about the marketers to make use of this new channel to reach out to the customer and attain viral sales..sales growing by leaps and bounds. :)