On my MarketingBestPractices.com Forum a fellow from the IT industry asked me about how he could get his name out in the marketplace and attract new clients without breaking the bank.
His request immediately reminded me of an IT services company that was recently successful in doing just that.
Here's How an IT services Firm Enjoyed One of the Most Talked About Product Launches In It's Industry.
Earlier this year, LiveVault, an online data storage and protection company launched two new products.
They wanted to make a big splash in the market, but they didn't have the money to do it.
Well, the only way to make a big splash on a shoestring budget is to do something extraordinary that people (and the media) will talk about.
They came up with the idea to hire someone famous, and make a viral video.
So they created a 6 1/2 minute short film titled, "The Institute for Backup Trauma" and hired John Cleese (of the Monty Python fame).
And Michael Dorn (Worf in Star Trek) even made a cameo appearance in the video.
The viral video takes a wacky approach to showing IT people the problems with tape backup (versus LiveVault's online digital backup services).
Once the video was produced and online they simply sent out an email blast, purchased a few banner ads, and placed two 1/4 page ads in a trade magazine and off it went.
THE RESULTS...
The video has been watched by over 300,000 people so far and the number is growing every day!
And the press can't stop talking about it.
Would you like to see LiveVault's video?
Here it is...
http://www.backuptrauma.com/
My Own Feeble Attempt at Creating Viral Marketing Videos
A few years ago I was watching some of the viral videos that were floating around the web.
People kept sending me the one where the guy is sitting in his cubicle and starts beating up on his computer.
I thought..."Hey, this is an awesome way to get traffic."
So, I went out with a couple of my friends and shot a few of my own viral videos.
They were bad.
They were so bad that I never released them.
But today, you'll get to see them for the very first time.
Warning: These are really bad!
But if you end up liking them, pass them around to people you know.
David Frey's Viral Video # 1
"Santa Get's Beat Up!"
Note: He really was beating me up...I told him to hold nothing back.
David Frey's Viral Video # 2
"The Big Splash!"
Note: The car that does the splashing is my car!
Other Viral Marketing Success Stories
Two viral marketing success stories that have inspired me to do a better job with this strategy come from the Internet world.
Viral Marketing Success Story # 1
Morgan Westerman developed a little video using public domain information in his spare time. He called it, "The Interview with God."
Since launching his video, it has been viewed by millions of people.
www.TheInterviewWithGod.com
And being the clever fellow Morgan is, he's capitalized on it's success and turned it into a million dollar plus business!
Viral Marketing Success Story # 2
Scott Stratten noticed how successful The Interview with God had become and created a viral marketing video of his own.
He called it, "The Time Movie"
www.TheTimeMovie.com
Again, Scott used a public domain poem to create his video.
His Time movie has now been viewed over 700,000 times since October 2003 in over 100 countries.
Amazing!
Using Viral Marketing As a Business Strategy
Viral marketing is nothing new.
Half.com had a huge site launch. Everyone knew about it because some smart folks at Half.com convinced the city of Halfway, OR to change its name to "Half.com."
The press ate that story up and talked about it for weeks..
But the World Wide Web has put viral marketing on steroids.
Now with the click of a button, thousands and thousands of people can pass around information.
I believe EVERY business should use some form of viral marketing in its marketing strategy.
When I redesigned my MarketingBestPractices.com website, I worked for months on putting together over 1,000 marketing tips that you can easily browse through.
It's called the "Marketing Ideabase."
Why?
Viral marketing!
(You can see Marketing Ideabase here)
http://www.MarketingBestPractices.com/marketingideas/
To include viral marketing in your your marketing plan you should think about what one thing you can do to make people talk about you.
I call this thing a "Viral Marketing Agent."
How To Create a "Viral Marketing Agent"
Viral Marketing Agents are something that you create that motivates people to pass it on to others.
It could be just about anything, but it needs to have these two characteristics:
Characteristic # 1: It needs to be "Buzz Worthy."
Buzz worthy means that its so unique that it gets talked about.
To get your Viral Marketing Agent to create "buzz" it needs to tap into basic human emotions.
So it needs have one or more of the following characteristics....
1. Funny
2. Weird
3. Gross
4. Shocking
5. Helpful
6. S e x y
or...
7. Inspiring
and...
Characteristic # 2. It needs to have a "Pass Around Mechanism."
Pass Around Mechanism means that it uses a medium that allows it to be passed around easily.
This is why the Internet has exploded viral marketing.
Other viral marketing mechanisms are things like...
1. The press
2. Newsletters
3. Business or referral cards
4. Email
or groups of people such as...
5. Associations
6. Conferences
7. Churches
8. Sporting events
etc.
Viral Marketing Resources
Viral Marketing has become so popular that there has even been an association formed to support the trade.
Viral Advertising Association
http://www.ViralAdvertisingAssociation.com/
For $9.00 you can see 12 of the top viral marketing campaigns on the Internet and their results.
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/barrier.cfm?CID=2964
This site was the first to introduce me into the formal world of viral marketing videos.
http://www.TheViralFactory.com
Some other viral marketing resources...
http://www.VictoryGaming.com (creates viral games)
http://www.asabailey.com/ (they'll create it)
http://www.boreme.com (Some great videos)
Conclusion
If you need to get people talking about you in a big way and you don't want to spend a lot of money, viral marketing is the perfect strategy.
You should always build something viral into your business, whether you own an online or offline business.
Make sure your Viral Marketing Agent is buzz worthy and has a good pass around mechanism.
And don't be too shy to try. Hey, you saw my videos - - they weren't masterpieces - - but at least I DID something. You can too!
How To Create an Unstoppable Never Ending Marketing Virus - To learn more about this author, visit David Frey's Website.
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David Frey
(Visit David's Website)
David Frey is the author of the
best-selling manual, "The Small Business
Marketing Bible" and the Senior Editor of
the "Small Business Marketing Best
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