Marketing Viral – Wikipedia

The marketing viral, or electronic word of mouth ^{[ first ]} , is a sales technique that aims to promote a business or its products and services thanks to a persuasive message that diffuses from one person to another ^{[ 2 ]} . We are talking about viral marketing to spin the metaphor of the virus circulating in a population ^{[ 3 ]} . Companies also use content generated by users to promote their products.

Viral marketing is a form of promotion of a commercial offer where it is the recipients of the offer that make the recommendation of the brand, the product or the service to their entourage and which thus allow the dissemination of the message. Viral marketing uses social networks by encouraging customers to give their opinions on businesses, communication, products and sharing this information with their friends, colleagues or family members ^{[ 4 ]} . The specificity of this type of marketing is twofold: first, consumers are the main vectors of the brand’s communication; Then, the uncertainty about the dissemination of the message beyond the first relays is total before the campaign is finished.

A marketing campaign on the Internet has several objectives. Some are common with those of classical advertising, in other media than the Internet: image reputation, creation of traffic in store or on a site, incentive in store or online. Others are specific to the Internet: constitution of a prospect database ^{[ 5 ]} .

The objective of notoriety and image [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Any advertising on the internet, the banners in particular, aims to memorize the message. Internet users retain the memory of the banners ^{[ 5 ]} .

The promise of viral marketing is not lacking in attraction. It is triggered by sending an email or message, and is based on the phenomenon of word of mouth, namely the transmission of information from person to person, with a target chosen , which, spontaneously, takes care of propagating good words with an exponential growth audience. The main goal is to increase and increase the reputation and notoriety of an image regardless of the field ^{[ 5 ]} .

The goal of creating traffic on a web page [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Viral marketing is an effective way to attract an audience and customers to a web, site or platform page. The website is one of the means to increase its visibility as well as its presence on the market and reach a large audience. However, it is necessary to set up techniques to energize your website. Generating traffic allows the organization to arouse the interest of potential customers, their membership as well as their loyalty, which contributes to the increase in turnover. The role of the online advertising announcement is not limited to publicizing the brand or the product: it allows by a single click to go to the advertiser’s website ^{[ 5 ]} .

The sale objective [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The goal of sale in viral marketing is characterized mainly by the method chosen by the marker in order to attract the customer by the product by giving it this irresistible desire to share its discovery, by pushing it indirectly to encourage new customers to buy by effectively influencing their purchasing behavior. In such a context, the recommendation by a known third party plays the role of surety and reinsurance for future customers.

Banners referring to a promotional offer, such as an immediate reduction or a digital coupon usable for a next purchase, constitute important levers to trigger an online purchase ^{[ 5 ]} .

The target for customer relations management [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The customer relationship is enriched with the fine knowledge of its profile: its contact points (Internet, telephone, person in contact, email), personal data (purchases made, links to other consumers with similar profile). This therefore makes it possible to build an individualized and personalized relationship with customers ^{[ 5 ]} .

Viral marketing must above all be dynamic. The technique must make consumers want to click, respond, and circulate the message ^{[ 6 ]} .

For this, there are different recipes:

• E-mailing, which is the most frequently used technique ^{[ 7 ]} . An email is sent to a group. The goal is to persuade the members of this group to keep this email on their entourage. These are recommendation, transmission and even sponsorship methods;
• Games and competitions;
• Viral video campaigns;
• the creation of parodic sites, humor or self -mockery;
• reduction coupons;
• E-cards or virtual postcards.

Define precisely the target that we want to reach

• Favor a specific segment according to a geographic, demographic or psychological criterion.
• Goal: dazzle the entire targeted group ^{[ 8 ]} .

Care the method

• Knowing how to enhance without doing too much, the business profession, its positioning and its values.
• Establish a database beforehand.
• Gather all the information on an ephemeral site that will present the campaign, its duration and its terms of participation …

Provide diversification in terms of objectives

• It is not only a question of collecting the addresses of Internet users. A viral marketing operation must have other objectives such as enabled the launch of products or new ranges, federate customers around the brand or bring dynamism to the brand’s network.

Cause virality

• Create a striking message that the consumer will want to share and follow with his friends.

Respect legal aspects

• A viral marketing campaign must know how to respect the legal notices as well as respect for consumer life via their email addresses and their uses on commercial goals.

Attract and motivate

• Knowing how attractive, whether in terms of the idea, the site and the choice of gifts to attract the target heart.

Maintain the activity

• Make reminders to motivate the consumer.

Budget

• A viral marketing operation is less expensive than a campaign on another media, but you still have to plan a budget.
• Analyze the return on investment at the end of the campaign.

The first factor explaining the craze for viral marketing campaigns is probably the low cost of transmission of messages. This is not enough because, with the multiplication of this type of campaigns, it is also necessary to seduce and motivate the user to act ^{[ 5 ]} .

The quality of the campaign. The quality of the campaign is the key to success. It is she who conditions the recommendation. Humor is a safe bet but it is not the only possible way. A successful campaign targets the right consumer, answers the right questions that potential customers can ask themselves and asks them the right questions, then presents the product while making it special to set it apart from what is generally offered on the market taking into account competition ^{[ 9 ] , [ 5 ]} .

Contextualization. The contextualization of the viral campaign increases its chances of success. It strengthens customer engagement, guarantees the sending of content to the right people at the right time and in the right place. It amounts to relying on the tastes, behaviors, values ​​of each consumer to send them messages likely to hold their attention among all those they receive every day and to engage with them a long -term and fertile customer relationship ^{[ ten ] , [ 5 ]} .

Technical factors. Technical models must appear easier by Internet users in terms of recommendations. The action should not be too complicated and must be limited to indicating the identity of the recommendation issuer and the recipient’s email address. When the Internet user makes his recommendation from an email, a recommendation module is preferable rather than asking him to use the function transfer from his mailbox ^{[ 11 ] , [ 5 ]} .

The viral potential of Internet users. The success of each viral campaign lies in its ability to attract a greater number of consumers and to influence them quickly and intelligently in order to send them a message that they will send to other people through social networks , media … thus creating a chain of Internet users interacting with each other. As a result, information can now circulate and spread like a virus within a community of individuals in a very limited time and at a very minimal cost. The campaign then seeks to improve their distribution tactics and make the consumer, instead of a simple target, an active ambassador to recommend and promote a brand, a service or a product. This snowball effect will allow the company to energize its communication strategy and then generate advertising profits ^{[ twelfth ] , [ 5 ]} .

There are several advantages to the techniques adopted as part of viral marketing, namely:

• Simple to set up : According to Georges Chétochina ^{[ 13 ]} , it would be enough to send a video or a message that is funny or intriguing, unexpected and/or personalized to a very specific target so that she speaks about it around her and she transmits her to those around her.
• Cheap : Thanks to the Internet, a multitude of promotion forms are accessible for free to launch a campaign. The only cost observed concerns the time spent to create it: sending emails, posting on social networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), post online videos (YouTube, Dailymotion, etc.), participate in forums and/or Discussions … The only costs that can take place are those generated if you want to subcontract a viral campaign.

• Visibility improvement : Once the marketing campaign is set up, it is the affiliates that promote the product. They talk about it around them, transmit information and emit judgments. Thus the number of affiliates, visitors, buyers and potential customers increases, thus improving the visibility of the product.
• Access to a market segment inaccessible by conventional means of advertising : Passing through the web 2.0, we join a clientele which is not necessarily influenced or which simply does not consult traditional advertising media such as newspapers or television channels.

Viral marketing has many advantages but this technique also has many drawbacks:

• Lack of measurement : The success of viral marketing campaigns is difficult to assess, and thereby the relationship between costs and profits
• Consumer’s weariness : Consumers who receive a business emails several times a day can get bored and consider this to be spam. They thus become less receptive and can give negative messages to those around them in relation to this company ^{[ 14 ]} .
• Diversion or modification of the message ^{[ 14 ]} : A consumer can involuntarily modify the content of the viral message, which can lead to disastrous results for the campaign. In addition, with the rise of parodies that can harm, the company no longer has control of its image.
• Viral marketing only works for good products : “Creating a viral marketing campaign is first to awaken and amplify latent word of mouth. ». Indeed, launching a viral marketing campaign on a bad product will only an increase an uncontrollable negative image on it. We cannot deceive the consumer, even with all the advertising efforts in the world.
• Risk of saturation with the generalization of viral marketing : It seems that over time, viral marketing lost in efficiency. Indeed, consumers are increasingly informed of the techniques used by marketers and are therefore very difficult to deceive. If the message does not contain a high degree of interest, it will be considered harmful and will very quickly be ignored.
• Risk of excessive success : A campaign can become a victim of its success and no longer be able to satisfy consumers. Indeed, if it presents a very interesting offer, the number of members can very quickly become excessive and uncontrollable to the point that the company cannot meet the expectations of all consumers or with insufficient quality.
• At the limit of ethics : Some companies do not hesitate to pay consumers to be talked about. Example: “Sony Ericsson. To launch his T681 digital camera phone, Sony Ericsson hired actors who, dressed as tourists, went near the big monuments and asked real tourists to take a picture of them; The loan of the aircraft was an opportunity to discuss it and boast its merits, but this practice gave rise to controversy ” ^{[ 15 ]} .

Viral operations must “comply with commercial law and in particular the constraints relating to advertising and direct marketing”.

• Do not mislead : The law on trust in the digital economy, codified in article L.121-15-1 of the Consumer Code, says that if the viral marketing technique is used by sending an email , this must be identified as an advertisement and this upon its reception. If this is not the case, the word “advertising” must appear in the text of the message. This is not to induce the receiver of the message in misleading. In addition, if the message includes a proposal to participate in a competition or a promotional offer, the conditions need to be distinctly stated and clearly accessible.
• Personal data collection : Viral marketing techniques including the collection of email addresses (editorial sites where the article can be sent to the person of our choice, virtual postcards, etc.) raise the problem of use made by the site of Addresses entered in the process such as reminders. As a reminder, article 14 § first ^is of the law of 11 mars 2003 stipulates that “the use of email for advertising purposes is prohibited, without the prior, free, specific and informed consent of the recipient of messages”.
• The advertiser must be known : The company’s service provider (in practice, it will often be the advertising agency that has developed the website and/or takes care of the sending of electronic letters) as well as the advertiser of information, of Advertising or service must be known. Their social names or denominations, geographic addresses, contact contact details including the email address, business numbers, etc. must be visible. “The use of a hyperlink referring to a specific page containing these various information is enough to meet the legal requirement. »» ^{[ 16 ]}

• The sticker, which is a very old form of viral marketing; This is the exposure of a message to a significant number of people ^{[ 8 ]} .
• Hotmail: free email supplier. On each email sent appears the name of the company ^{[ 17 ]} .
• Wassup, advertising video for the Budweiser beer marketing campaign which was quickly parodied.
• The 7up game “Zave not seen Fido Dido? Which was launched in 2006 and which was started in 2009 with attractive gains (stays in New York, Cancùn…).
• Tupperware: It is the friends themselves who promote products to their own friends.
• The parody of Star Wars called “George Lucas in Love” which was broadcast on the net and which shows in a humorous way how the universe of the Star Wars saga was found.
• Hakuhodo, Japanese advertising agency, has launched promotions on interactive electronic greeting cards. The card you send may be a winner for your recipient and for yourself.

Viral marketing of para-medicine [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Viral marketing has the main motivation for profitability, either by selling a product or by advertising revenue. A real viral marketing industry exists today on the Internet, and has largely emancipated from the advertising sector to invest that of the click farm, competing with sensationalist statements to attract the naive user, often in defiance of the truth.

One of the viral marketing favorite terrains on the Internet is health, a huge market and theme very easily viral on social networks. Thus, the generalization of networks as Facebook has seen the emergence of a real industry of fake news medical, with groups bringing together several million followers and listing in a sensationalist and always affirmative or even authoritarian tone all kinds of false medical information, such as “Miracle remedies” Against obesity, cancer or other complex diseases, relaying conspiracy and anti-scientific ideas against medicine, and nourishing their flow of fanciful information on all kinds of food or treatments, without author name or Medical source or reference ^{[ 18 ]} . The most popular are Health+Magazine (site held by a former Moroccan cook converted into e-business) with more than 7 million subscribers, but also Santenatureinnovation.com , Sante-Nutrition.org or Topsante.org , all massively shared by naive Internet users ^{[ 18 ]} . None of these sites are held by graduate doctors (or even any qualified medical staff), and a large part belong to opaque pharmacies using false identities and false addresses of head office ^{[ 18 ]} .

Related articles [ modifier | Modifier and code ]