Viral marketing relies on users to spread the message or product themselves through their social networks and existing online platforms. For a marketing campaign to go viral, it must be easy to share through no more than two steps, have a simple yet compelling message or product, and provide an incentive for users to spread the word, such as status or rewards. Examples that achieved viral success include Hotmail by including a message asking users to tell their friends and Cadbury's Dairy Milk commercials that were entertaining enough for users to want to share.

1. ViralDescribes the way things replicate themselves or convert other things into copies of themselvesConcept applied to the internet: includes blogs, social networking, and mass media

2. Viral Marketing Online

3. The Viral Expansion LoopConsidered the secret to success for viral marketingLittle known outside of Silicon ValleyConcept/algorithm that leads to self replicating success

4. How?Easy to spread the wordUse existing social platformsNo more than 2 stepsSimple message/Something really coolGorilla Advertising Campaign – Cadbury’s Dairy MilkApple commercials Will it Blend Incentive for users to spread the messageCommon motivations: be cool, wantedSome kind of status/ranking

5. YoutubeEasy to spread the wordShare, autoshareExisting social platformsIncentive for users to spread the messageUser recruits userSubscribe, rankingEasy upload

6. ItunesEasy to spread the wordTell a friendSubscribeNo more than 2 stepsSimple message/Something really coolIncentive for users to spread the messageMarket to sellRanking, Award

9. The Growth of HotmailFree HTML email serviceLaunched in 1996Affiliated with Microsoft

10. Hotmail’s Viral Marketing“Get your private, free email at http://hotmail.com.”Made it easier for people to see their product

11. Hotmail’s SuccessNo advertising costAbout 500,000,000 users as of Jan. 2009

12. Marketing As Product DesignBurger King: Subservient Chicken48 Million Views in first weekViral MarketingChicken :: Food :: Human Chicken :: Human HungerThe Role of Commercials

13. Extensions of An ActionYou do not buy a product; you buy a bundle of benefits. That statement sets the scenario for product development from a marketing viewpointMultidimensional actions taking place

14. SkypeParalleled the concepts of Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, etc.To increase full potential out of the product, a customer registersNetwork grows as the customer adds friends

15. Infallible Product DesignIf marketing is built into product design, various steps are surpassedOnce product begins to grow, growth becomes exponential In the long run, only the best are able to take advantage of such growth