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Viral Marketing Techniques Every Web Site Should Be Using
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Author: Titus Hoskins
Topic: Internet
Viewed: 79 time(s)
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Viral marketing can work wonders for any business, web site or
product. It can be a great source of sales leads, one-way links
and targeted traffic. Yet, many marketers are not taking full
advantage of this 'viral factor' in their marketing efforts.
How about you? Are you using any viral marketing methods with
your web site? Or does the word 'viral' make you cringe?
Many people believe 'viral marketing' is a myth, one of those
Internet follies that only happens on rare occasions when some
fantastic product or site comes along.
In reality, viral marketing techniques can be used by any web
site - big or small. They can be used by any marketer who takes
the time to put some simple steps into place. Viral marketing
'done right' can have many benefits. It will: - increase your
link popularity (often one way links) - increase targeted
traffic to your site - build your brand recognition - create
targeted leads for your products - automate your marketing
efforts
Here are some simple viral marketing techniques you can try with
your web site, product or business:
1. Word of Mouth - We have all seen this phenomenon displayed
with many products . People spread the word about some great
movie or gadget and suddenly everyone knows about it. Human
nature dictates we tell our friends about some great product we
have bought or found. Nature of the beast, it's just the way we
are - so why not take full advantage of it?
If you have a web site - put up a simple 'tell a friend' form so
your visitors can easily tell others about your great site. Easy
and very simple to do but many webmasters don't do it.
Similarly, if you have a newsletter, service, product or with
any aspect of your site - just include a few sentences at the
end of your copy - asking very politely, "if you found this
service, product or web site helpful - why not tell your
friends, family and colleagues about it."
2. Branding - Make sure you have a logo on your site or product.
Branding your site is very important if you want your site or
product to be noticed and talked about. For that matter, a
catchy brand name can be a 'viral technique' in itself - so try
and come up with one that springs from the lips with a
distinctive ring to it!
People recognize brands, it gives them a clear image of your
site or product. Include your brand or logo on every page of
your site and on every product, service, material coming from
your site or business.
3. eBooks - Savvy marketers jumped on this new invention very
quickly, they knew the 'viral' power of these little ebooks.
Ebooks are electronic files that can be downloaded from any web
site and distributed easily around the web. You can also have
other webmasters or marketers, 're-brand' these ebooks with
their own links. High quality ebooks get passed along very
quickly and are great viral tools.
Anyone can write a simple ebook on the topic of their site. If
you can't write, just get permission to use a collection of
articles from the numerous 'article directories' on the web such
as www.ezinearticles.com or www.goarticles.com . Ebook compiling
software (in both .exe or pdf format) is relatively cheap or can
be found for free on the net. Just Google to find it!
4. Viral Software - Some simple software products or
applications can be very viral, often passed around or
downloaded from the web by thousands each day. These have to be
useful or handy products that the users will desire -
ecalendars, organizers, personal planners, link checking
software, and so on. Many are desktop products that sit on the
computer user's desktop - prime location in the marketing arena.
And the best examples of this kind of viral software have the
company logo, sales message and contact email - with LIVE LINKS
to all of the above - conveniently displayed within the product.
These simple software programs can be great viral promotional
devices that spread like wildfire across the web. (get an
example of this below in the author's resource box)
5. RSS - Newest player in the viral game! RSS which stands for
'Really Simple Syndication' and just by the nature of what it
does; RSS is an awesome viral tool. Originally used by news
organizations to syndicate their news stories, it is usually
associated with Blogs because blogs use an RSS feed to
distribute their content. Good quality RSS feeds are picked up
and displayed by different web sites all across the web.
Since Microsoft has announced the next version of Windows will
have RSS integrated into its operating system, new RSS
applications will take viral marketing to heights that have not
been witnessed before. Alert marketers are already gearing up
for this viral explosion.
You should also be gearing up for RSS if you haven't already.
Using a simple site like blogger.com (owned by Google) will give
you a basic blog and RSS feed to spread your message or product
to all interested parties.
These are just some viral techniques that will help increase
your web presence. They will also boost your traffic and
increase your links. Used properly, these viral techniques will
also spread your web site, product or service around the globe.
What more can you ask for?
About the author:
Get a Free DATEwise eCalendar & Personal Planner for your
Desktop. It's a perfect example of 'viral marketing' in action!
Visit http://www.bizwaremagic.com/Free_Desktop_Calendar.htmfor a
Free Desktop Calendar
Copyright ? 2005 Titus Hoskins of Free Marketing Tools at
http://www.bizwaremagic.com
This article may be freely distributed if this resource box
stays attached.
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