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Posts Tagged ‘viral marketing’

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Using The Internet To Make Travel Plans

3
June
2008

A recent study shows that more vacationers are using the Internet to make their travel plans

Ryan Moss
Media Coordinator

With summer comes family vacations, and according to a recent study conducted by OTX, families are using the Internet to make travel plans more often then not. Over 70% of those surveyed planned on taking a family trip this summer, and about 75% of those same people will be using the Internet to make their plans. With the economy struggling, consumers are likely to focus on price, which is exactly what advertisers in the travel industry should emphasize.

When deciding where to take their vacation, families in the U.S. rely on a few sources for information. About 50% of respondents referred to friends and family for recommedations and information, while only 21% used travel books. For those that use the Internet when looking for a destination, 72% use search engines, 58% use online booking sites, 26% use consumer testimonial sites, and 19% use travel information sites.

As seen in the chart below the number of consumers who use the Internet to make travel plans has been increasing since 2000. 

Online Travel Buyer Penetration Among US Consumers- eMarketer

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New Tool Tracks Likelihood of Sharing

23
April
2008

A measuring tool has been developed that determines the likelihood that an advertising message will be shared with others.

Ryan Moss
Research Analyst

A new tool has been created by MedTrackAlert, a consumer media firm, and CNET. This new tool measures the likelihood that an advertising message will be passed along to others or the message’s "virility". Using a "shareability scale" a specific advertisement is measured and it is determined what the chances are that that recipients will share the ad with others. If used properly this tool could be a huge asset to anyone hoping to engage in viral marketing.

The "shareability scale" considers several things including:

  • Whether the claims in the ad entice you to share the ad with others
  • How unique the information in the ad is
  • How unique the product being advertised is

 

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Consumer Trust

14
April
2008

Consumers typically see other consumers as the most credible source of information about companies and their products, therefore encouraging viral marketing ans social networks.

Ryan Moss
Research Analyst

Viral Marketing and Social Networks recently received good news when it was reported in Edelman’s Trust Barometer that consumers tend to trust other consumers more then any other source of information. According to Edelman’s Trust Barometer, about 60% of the consumers surveyed said that consumers like them are the most credible sources of information, encouraging news for companies that engage in viral marketing. Additionally, social networks often include features such as blogs, and online ratings and reviews that will continue to grow in popularity as consumers use them to gather information. In fact, according to a report by JupiterResearch titled "Social Networking Sites: Define Advertising Opportunities In A Competitive Landscape" online social network users are three times more likely to trust the opinions of fellow consumers over advertising when making a major purchase decision.

Research from the IBM Institute for Business Value suggests that there are several reasons why Internet users contribute to social networks and/or user-generated content web sites. The top two reasons are the desire to feel like they are part of a community (31%) and they want recognition from their peers (28%). Regardless of why they make contributions the information they are providing is extremely valuable to fellow consumers and will help social networks continue to flourish.

 

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Explaining Viral Marketing

24
March
2008

If used properly, viral marketing can help your company generate a lot of attention towards anything you are trying to market.

Ryan Moss
Research Analyst

Many people talk about viral marketing, but how many of those same people fully understand everything involved with it? My guess is not many fully understand what exactly viral marketing is, why it works, how to use it, if it is worth the effort, and when to use it. Recently, iMedia Connection published a story which answered the questions listed above and explained viral marketing in detail.

Marketingterms.com defines viral marketing as "the marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message." That definition couldn’t be more accurate and according to iMedia connection, the best part "is that the promoted product, project or brand seems uninvolved in the publicity." This is the main reason why viral marketing is so effective, because "people trust the opinions of their peers." Consumers see their peers as unbiased sources of information and trust them over advertisements no matter what the medium is.

While viral marketing sounds great, don’t be fooled as it is very hard to get started and even more difficult to repeat. For those reasons it is recommended to rely on viral marketing campaigns sparingly and strategically. In order to achieve a succsessful viral marketing campaign, marketers need to make sure that their campaigns are interactive and "buzz-worthy".

For more information about Viral Marketing, read the full article from iMedia Connection, the link can be found below.

 

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Social Media Marketing Is Here To Stay

4
March
2008

According to a new study, senior marketing executives worldwide agree that using social media for corporate, brand and product marketing is not a fad and will continue to be an important part of marketing campaigns.

Ryan Moss
Research Analyst

TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony recently surveyed senior marketing executives worldwide and released study in with some very interesting findings with regard to social media. Below are some of the findings.

  • 49% of senior marketing executives believe that social media should be monitored at the executive level and be allocated significant resources
  • 30% of senior marketing executives agreed that social media is an unconventional new opportunity that businesses must grasp with a sense of urgency
  • 95% of senior marketing executives think that social media will grow significantly during the next five years
  • Uses of social media: 37% said to gain consumer insight, 21% said to build brand awareness, 18% said to increase customer loyalty
  • 88% of U.S. senior marketing executives (65% global) agreed that reading and analyzing social media to understand unfiltered consumer perceptions would have the most impact on the future of their businesses
  • Word-of-Mouth campaigns had second highest impact
  • 50% of senior marketing executives said creating a user community of bloggers to provide user feedback is the most effective use of social media
  • 47% of senior marketing executives said using social media vehicles to generate a viral campaign would also be very effective in a product launch
 

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Viral Marketing’s Effect On The Music Industry

13
February
2008

Study shows that viral marketing can greatly help increase album sales.

Ryan Moss
Research Analyst

In a recently released research paper, entitled "Does Chatter Matter," conclusions were made regarding the effects of viral marketing on album sales. The study looked at 108 albums that were released during the first two months of 2007.

The results showed that if there were over 40 legitimate blog posts before the album was released, sales were on average three times higher than normal. Additionally, if those same albums were associated with a major record label, sales were five times larger. Furthermore, the artist’s number of MySpace friends helped increase future sales, but did not have nearly as much impact on sales as the blog postings did.

The benefits of viral marketing are clear in the music industry and there is no reason why viral marketing, if used correctly, cannot be similar effective in other industries as well.

 

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Viral Marketing for Politics

24
July
2007

With the Internet (Web 2.0) comes the power; The power for people to learn more, get involved, make themselves heard, and perhaps most importantly, spread information. In the political realm, this ability can be both a blessing and a curse.

Keith Vera
Account Manager

With the Internet (Web 2.0) comes the power; The power for people to learn more, get involved, make themselves heard, and perhaps most importantly, spread information. In the political realm, this ability can be both a blessing and a curse as both positive AND negative information has the potential to spread like wildfire. The ability to harness the power the Internet provides is crucial to the success of any political campaign, and it all starts with building a community.

When I say “building a community”, of course I’m talking about a community of supporters. Finding individuals who will donate money and campaign for candidates is far more important than simply banking a large donation from a single supporter. There is a massive advantage to the candidate who can leverage the backing and donation power of hundreds of thousands of individuals over the candidate who relies exclusively on large donation supporters. The way to tap into this resource is a concept that every political campaign should be implementing, and that is to make their messages viral.

Techniques for the political side of viral marketing can range from tapping into social networks, to embracing micro-targeted campaigns to initiating viral fundraising efforts. Broad campaign messages can be spread to millions, specific messages can be tailored to help gain supporters in areas that may have been previously impenetrable, and millions of dollars in donations can be harvested. These are just some of the quality ways to spread campaign messages and develop that essential community of supporters.

The Internet gives the power to political candidates to keep people informed and increase the reach and frequency of their messages better than ever before. The question is simply, who will be able to harness that power the best?

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Is There A Method To The VIRAL Madness?

26
June
2007

Viral marketing has long been considered to be a serendipitous affair of awareness through traditional approaches such as refer-a-friend programs and clever gimmicks. One viral marketing firm is pioneering a new platform that offers measurable results.

George Assimakopoulos
Principal Manager

I recently was introduced to a scientific viral marketing company based in San Fransisco, CA. PopularMedia allows clients to create measure and fine-tune viral efforts with an extensive set of publishing and analytic tools. What I really embraced from PopularMedia was their philosophy to successful viral marketing. As they state, viral marketing offers attractive benefits to any marketer. It allows a marketer the ability to generate leads, drive revenue, build brand awareness, and more. Marketers who harness the channel can leverage networks of socially connected consumers to spread their messages and offers, driving significant returns with relatively low costs and effort.

I agree with PopularMedia’s points on the benefits of viral tactics online. Even though tactics like funny videos and refer-a-friend (RAF) programs are common, they are not sufficient to deliver on viral marketing’s full potential. It is now possible to create successful, profitable viral programs that deliver long-term revenue, leads, and more. The best approaches offer predictable, measurable results and enable marketers to sustain program performance over the long term. Achieving this kind of success doesn’t depend on luck, a huge budget, or a great creative idea — just a good understanding of the viral marketing process.

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