Viral is really hot. A lot of things on the internet are really hot and then they go away for a little while and they come back again. The most powerful marketing tool is still word of mouth. When people tell other people to go to sites, and we're doing some of that tonight by sending people to a number of sites. It includes that word-of-mouth recommendation. So, if you can come up with something "viral" which is a term that comes from the word description of virus, you know it spreads by word of mouth like a cold or a virus is.
On the internet, rather than "word of mouth" I think its more accurate to say "typed word" - but I get what you are saying.
I think the best way to implement viral marketing these days is through MySpace, through discussion groups, such as Yahoo Groups, and through forums. MySpace is huge, and there's a whole industry built around getting your profile to be very popular.
Viral marketing is SHARING, you share a website with friends, they share with more friends. Sharing on FaceBook with friends is one of the most viral markets to tap into. You may only have a dozen friends but those dozen turn into thousands of shares. Videos are the most shared, photos second, articles next. Ads? Rarely, unless they are funny videos. Viral can last for years or days and bounce back to life from some archive. People share this website and bring old posts back to life daily, that's viral too. Which is a good reason to brand yourself and not some affiliate program.
Just2EZ: Viral marketing is SHARING, you share a website with friends, they share with more friends. Sharing on FaceBook with friends is one of the most viral markets to tap into. Thanks for that great idea. More sharing, more traffic right? But actually I don't use facebook more often when it comes to viral marketing. Because "sometimes" it is annoying and can turn off them.
