Should your Small Business go Viral?

With everyone on the internet buzzing about Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other methods of social networking, it's very easy for any small business owner to wonder what it's all about and which one they should use to reach their audience. The answer is all of them.

Viral marketing is a carefully orchestrated, almost scientific art form that allows a marketing message to spread like a virus across the Internet. The idea is to engage, entertain, and inform users enough so that they spread the message to their friends and connections. One of the most successful examples of viral marketing is Hotmail. With virtually no ad budget, this company quickly and effectively spread their marketing message among users, growing their business at an exponential rate. Was it lightening in a bottle? Many companies have attempted to replicate their success and failed. What makes Hotmail so special?

At the time, it was unique, and so the marketing message for your business should be unique, and remarkable and brand new. This is where the majority of small business owners fail, because they are trotting out tired old ideas that the audience has seen before. The Internet audience moves at the speed of light, and you have to outthink, and out plan them with something outrageous, fun and new. However, because they move so fast, business owners are given golden opportunities to reinvent the old, and bring it back again. You can call it retro marketing for the internet age, but the idea is to create something people want to talk about, a product or service they have to tell their friends about and then give them an easy access way to spread the message.

The great thing about the Internet age is the niche. A viral marketing explosion in a niche market can be very profitable for even the smallest companies. Twitter allows instant one line status updates to a group of followers. Imagine the cafe owner who has a Twitter list of his customers. Around 4:30 every Tuesday, he could send an update to his list with a coupon code for tracking purposes, and suddenly, his company is in their mind, with an incentive to spend money with him. Include a reason for the customers to talk to their friends, coworkers or family members and you've got a small viral marketing event. The key is to A: Give them a reason to talk and B: live up to that reason.

All business should incorporate some form of viral marketing into their business plan. But since most small business owners are worried about the day to day running of their business, they may fail to capitalize on this tool and lose market share. A professional online marketing company can remove the learning curve for small business owners and make a viral marketing campaign succeed and turn the business into the talk of the town. The level of expertise and experience available to the business owner can increase the level of exposure and build profit quickly.