In the old days, marketing was often associated with… the mouths of consumers. And today, after a series of new marketing innovations, many companies have attracted customers by using viral marketing. A modern name for a method as old as the earth. Viral marketing is simply understood as creating waves of positive rumors about your company as well as your products/services.
Where did the rumor come from?
Pavel Karaulov, CEO of the Russian mobile phone distributor DIVIZION, is an ardent believer in viral marketing. According to him, people unconsciously believe in rumors. For example, when choosing a travel agency, a car or a household appliance, the first information people rely on is not advertising, but the advice of friends.
According to statistics, one person can pass on a useful piece of information to 16 other people. In case it is bad news, the number of “fake likes” can be 4-10 times higher. Rumors spread very quickly like viruses, so creating waves of rumors is also called viral marketing.
Viral marketing has no limits. It all depends on the company’s policies, what measures they can accept and what kind of reputation they want to have.
For example, an advertising agency ran a shocking PR campaign for a Tele2 GSM phone exchange: during the final graduation ceremony of high school students, a group of girls – dressed in school uniforms disguised as pregnant women in their last month and wearing signs on their chests that read: “Mom, I don’t have a Tele2 GSM phone!” – walked down the city streets. This PR campaign created a wave of rumors and significantly increased the reputation of the brand. However, not every company allows itself to use such PR methods.
Silence is golden
DIVIZION used viral marketing when it wanted to rebrand itself. A few years ago, the company was called MegaPhon. Wanting to expand its market throughout Russia, the owners came up with a new name – DIVIZION. Then, for three months, the company remained completely silent, not giving any official information about what happened to the old MegaPhon stores.
– This created a lot of buzz among our partners. When the interest reached its peak, – recalls Pavel Karaulov, – we organized a conference of partners under the new name – DIVIZION. The event was a huge success: many mobile phone stores from the provinces came to the conference, and the press widely reported this news in the mass media. If we had used traditional methods and announced the change from the very beginning, we certainly would not have achieved such success.
"Bragging" with technology
Before you start a viral campaign, you need to decide how you want to spread the word. To do this, you need to know who your target audience is? What are they interested in? For example, DIVIZON, with the help of marketing research, learned that almost 100% of its potential partners use the Internet. Therefore, DIVIZION decided to conduct a PR campaign online: the cost is very low and the information reaches the right target audience.
Don’t rely on a single channel. The information that is released needs to be supported by word of mouth. DIVIZION has contracted with two national advertising agencies – active in their field – and with local advertising agencies – who are familiar with the local market. These agencies are not only responsible for spreading the word, but also for carrying out other traditional advertising campaigns.
When conducting PR campaigns on the Internet, you should boldly cooperate with search engines. Normally, the “lifespan” of a rumor on the Internet is about a month. After that, the information will lose its relevance. The strongest “vitality” they achieve is seven days after “birth”. The result of such a rumor is about 4,000-7,500 people updating the company’s website within 3-4 days. However, there are also special cases, rumors “live” on the Internet for a year or more. Viral information is often transmitted via e-mail and chat tools.
The most talked about topic is – sex and celebrities. DIVIZION does not use “sexy” rumors but uses the second topic. In the press, you often read information about: what brand of mobile phone does this “star” use and why. DIVIZION conducts interviews with celebrities, then “salts” it and spreads it online.
Three viral campaigns conducted by three DIVIZION employees in four months increased the company's number of Internet orders to 21%. These campaigns targeted Internet users aged 14-30.
Kids do marketing
In the West, viral marketing has become quite popular. Businesses actively use their loyal customers. In Zone Brands Inc., an American company that produces fruit juices and soft drinks for children, believes that the best communication channel is children. In Atlanta, where the company is headquartered, there is a club for people who love BellyWashers soft drinks organized by a 10-year-old girl. Children who love In Zone Brands products also organize charity activities - distributing BellyWashers soft drinks at Christmas at children's hospitals, cleaning public parks with flags printed with this soft drink brand, organizing fairs for children in families without breadwinners...
But most importantly – kids are absolutely enthusiastic and sincere in recommending their friends to try their favorite soft drink. Local media are also very interested in the activities of this fan club – so its members have the opportunity to talk about their favorite products to their peers in the media. In Zone Brands Inc. has also created a group of children’s advisors to the board of directors. These young customers and members of this group influence the company’s strategy in the areas of: product assortment; marketing; ensuring customer engagement; and they also organize many activities under the auspices of the company.
In Zone Brands spends about $60,000 a year on this group of child mentors, which they say is completely normal. Sales have more than doubled in the last three years. And parents are happy to see their kids enjoying the social activities.
Gossip is business too
Boston-based BzzAgent has capitalized on people’s natural inclination to share interesting information with each other. It has 25,000 agents, including more than 60%, who are serious people over 25 and two who own Fortune 500 companies. BzzAgent’s team of “messengers” grows by 30 to 100 people every day. The company takes advertising contracts and asks its agents to tell everyone about the advantages of products/services they find interesting. These volunteers receive sample guides on viral marketing strategies. They praise the new product to acquaintances and sales staff in stores, and send information about the product via e-mail to social influencers. And these people forward the received messages to others but under e-mails signed by their names.
BzzAgent has developed a system for selecting its influencers to weed out the unscrupulous. Applicants fill out a form that includes their age, education, interests, and income. Executives determine who will promote which new products. Influencers then receive instructions on how to spread the word and report their actions to the company.
Clients who order a 12-week viral campaign with 1,000 agents pay $85,000, plus the cost of actionable guides. But the results are worth it. The owners of the Rock Bottom restaurant chain, for example, saw a $1.2 million increase in sales when their regulars started working for BzzAgent.
Bees love to socialize
An American marketing expert – Merien Selzman, director of strategic development at the world's fifth largest PR company Euro RSCG Worldwide – said that recently companies have considered the option of using the first users of new products to act as "rumor generators".
However, these people are usually not willing to tell anyone about a product they have just tried. Therefore, viral campaigns are less likely to rely on them, but on what Selzman calls “bees.” These are people who are naturally sociable. For them, it is not enough to enjoy the benefits of a new product alone; they are always inclined to share it with friends and acquaintances. Conveying and exchanging information is part of their lives. Selzman calls these consumers “the vital thread of life” that creates trends and mass demand. It is worth encouraging these unlikely allies to talk about you and your product to others.
«Send to friends»
Electronic technology allows for instantaneous exchange of information. Today, a satisfied “bee-customer” can simply press a button and positive information about your product/service will be passed on to 10 other people. Many companies have taken advantage of this by posting letters on their websites with “send to a friend” buttons.
In addition, the Perelom internet marketing company also comes up with funny pictures, jokes… and sends them to a number of addresses. If the recipients like it, they will continue to send it to others… And after just a few hours, hundreds of people will receive this message.
Obviously, the message will include some information or a link – perhaps a link to your company’s website. The important thing is that they came to you, and after that it all depends on your customer retention technology.
Black PR
However, not every rumor is beneficial to the company. All the companies that have carried out virus campaigns commented: it is impossible to control the flow of information from beginning to end. And the most terrible thing is the negative rumors created by competitors. In 2005, a scandal broke out in the Russian insurance market between two insurance companies, Rosgostrakh and РОСНО. At first, Rosgostrakh sued РОСНО for spreading false information about the company. РОСНО had to pay the plaintiff a large sum of money, and then sued Rosgostrakh with the same accusations as Rosgostrakh had brought against РОСНО.
Practical example
Content: "Stylish Young People".
Mission: Penn Beer, Russia, wants to increase the number of young, fashionable people living in Moscow, aged 21-26, who know about the new beer brand - Penn's to 10% in one month.
Solution: The company agreed with a Moscow club to organize a weekly “fashion evening”. The company selected on online forums and websites faces with the appropriate appearance and characteristics to carry out the viral campaign. These were 20 women and 220 young men considered fashionable. They were invited to the aforementioned evening. Each of the men and women was asked to bring four friends – also fashionable people. Representatives of fashion shows were also invited. The club setting was decorated in the company’s colors and the Penn’s beer logotype.
Results: After one month, according to a poll conducted by the company, the number of trendy young people who knew the Penn's beer brand increased not by 10% but by 28%.
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