2. Unsuspecting computer users consider themselves to be
doing favors for their friends with whom they are sending
these referrals, but they are not the only ones jubilant
with their discovery. They do not exactly feel it, but they
are part and parcel of the mechanism which makes viral
marketing promote and increase website visits like
luscious pancakes.
3. Viral marketing is currently being used by most online
business people because it works. Who would pass up the
opportunity to have a website endorsed exponentially by
all its users and viewers? However, not all viral marketing
ploys work. Before you concoct your own viral marketing
portal, here are a few basic things you need to avoid.
4. 1. General Unhappy Perspective-- One cannot do viral
marketing without having a good dose of confidence that
it will actually WORK. Even if you don't communicate that
directly to your marketing ploys, a disbelief for whatever
you have set out to do has already started to sabotage
your attempts.
5. 2. Not-So-Viral Marketing-- You need to be very
competent or at par with other websites in viral
marketing. Study other existing excellent viral marketers
online and see what makes them secure the top spot.
Timing is essential. Your viral marketing can backfire if you
do it without researching first on your target groups and
executing your moves in an unproper time. Conditioning is
just as essential as the actual marketing itself.
6. 3. The WIIFM (What's in it for Me) Factor is Missing-- Most
people are encouraged to refer to friends only if they have
something to get out of it. Some viral marketers forget this
very important thing. Giving out rewards or incentives can
boost or motivate every visitor to pull more people in.
Watch out for the extremes of giving too many
rewards, though. It must boost and not take the limelight
off the main concept.
7. 4. Marketing without Asking-- Some websites employing
viral marketing techniques forget to let the customers
interact. Javascripts are useful tools.
8. 5. Giving up the first time-- Some users tend to get
irritated the first time they receive recommendations from
friends. People behind viral marketing fail to anticipate
this and end up giving up on what could have been a most
promising buyer.
9. 6. Too Many Details--This is a common and often
commited mistake! No one would want to hang around
that long just for one offer. There are other websites
which would be less concise and yet drive the point home
with pizzazz that yields a lasting
10. impression. Time is not just gold in viral marketing. It is
everything. The fact that a person is surfing the Internet
for
12. possible way. If websites offer good products but takes
forever to load or for one reader to get to the bottom of
the page,
13. it still would not be worth his time or looking effort, for
that matter.
14. 7. Hoops and Hurdles in Transactions-- Related to the
mistake above is the transaction hurdle itself. Given that
you have
15. already convinced or gotten a buying signal from a
customer, if the whole process is tedious and hard to
follow, it will most likely dropped by the customer. No one
would want to buy or refer something which is too
intricate or complicated.
16. 8. Lack of Uniqueness and Follow-up-- Viral marketing
needs to be continuous and not just a one-time big-time
shot, and it
17. must not merely duplicate what is already available with
other competitors. There must be something unique about
the offer,
18. and at the same time, you must have a line of products
prepared after the first purchase, in order to experience
the
24. 10. Lack of Assurance in Privacy-- Privacy concerns are also
important for every person who wants to take part in the
process of viral marketing. Asking for referrals without
making any assurance that the personal information to be
given will be kept confidential and not forwarded to other
websites makes a person think twice before typing up
those email addresses.
25. After learning the abovementioned viral marketing boo-
boos it will be definitely easier to work out your viral
marketing campaigns.
26. Note: This article may be freely reproduced as long as the
AUTHOR'S resource box at the bottom of this article is
included and all links must be Active/Linkable with no
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