The document discusses the evolution of viral/social media marketing from 1996 to 2016, including early predictions of its rise in the late 1990s, its relationship to word-of-mouth marketing, how it has been used as a marketing technique, comparisons to traditional marketing strategies, factors considered by researchers, and current trends that see it being integrated into core marketing strategies and described as a system with multiple dimensions. Key milestones discussed include the launch of Hotmail in 1996 and the introduction of the term "viral marketing" in 1997.

1. Viral/ Social Media
Marketing
Mona Mostafa El- Ashry
DBA Cairo University

2. 1st
Stage
Historical evolution of
VSM marketing since
(1996 to 2012)
2nd
Stage
The evolution of VSM
marketing since (2012 to
2016)
3rd
Stage
Suggestions for the future
research studies in this
domain
Table of Content
Introduction

3. Introduction
The Web as Platform
• In the Web 1.0 area the Internet was a collection of Websites that
just showed static information.
• With Web 2.0 the Internet transforms into a platform where
applications move from the client to the Web, so the Web transforms
to a service platform.

4. Introduction
Social Media
• “Social Media is a group of Internet-based applications that
build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web
2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User
Generated Content.”
• The term Social Media describes the exchange of information
and experience with help of Community sites in the Internet

5. Introduction
• Traditional media like newspapers or television are one-way
technologies and static broadcast technologies
• The advertiser has to pay a lot to place ads.
• The person who receives the ad is forced to watch it but
independent if the person likes or dislikes it he cannot react on it.
• A study of the (Roland Paschdeka. 2010) shows the Evolution of the
communication channels from 1986 till today

6. Introduction
Social Media Marketing
• Is a process to reach people in a broad community which would not
be reached by traditional Marketing channels.
• Social Media Marketing addresses a huge community and not
individual people.
Viral/ Social Media Marketing
Is the use of social media channels to spread any message for creating
brand awareness

7. Literature Review

8. Literature Review

9. Literature Review

10. The prediction for the rise of VSM marketing
(1996-1999)
1996
(Granitz, N, & Ward , 1996) Predicted the development of the internet
as a new platform for what until then had been regarded as word-of-
mouth communication
1997
The term viral marketing was coined by (Jurvetson, S, & Draper, 1997)
to describe the manner in which free e-mail service called Hotmail was
promoted

11. The prediction for the rise of VSM marketing
(1996-1999)
Hotmail
• The Web-based email service that launched in 1996.
• Tim Draper, 1997 persuaded Hotmail to include a promotional
pitch with a clickable URL in every message sent by a Hotmail
user.
• There in lay one of the critical elements of viral marketing:
every customer becomes an involuntary salesperson simply by
using the product

12. The prediction for the rise of VSM marketing
(1996-1999)
Hotmail
• short line of promotional text to the bottom of every email
message sent via their service, clocking up 12 million sign-ups
within 18 months from a marketing spend of US $500 000.
• The Hotmail user base grew faster than any media company in
history—faster than CNN.
• By mid-2000, Hotmail had over 66 million users with 270,000
new accounts established each day

13. The prediction for the rise of VSM marketing
(1996-1999)
1998
• According to (Strang & Soule, 1998) Diffusion refers to the
spread of something within a social system.
• The key term here is spread, and it should be taken viscerally
(as far as ones constructionism permits) to denote flow or
movement from a source to an adopter, via communication
and influence.
• We use the term practice to denote the diffusing item, which
might be a behavior, strategy, belief, technology, or structure

14. The prediction for the rise of VSM marketing
(1996-1999)
1999
• Viral marketing, first introduced by (Knight, 1999), analogized
the spreading of messages or content through social media to
a virus, calling viral marketing a “digitalized sneeze” that could
be characterized by the release of “millions of tiny particles
that can infect others who come into contact with them

15. The relationship B/W VSM marketing & WOM
(2000-2001)
2000
• According to (Jurvetson S. , 2000), defined the term simply as
“network-enhanced word-of-mouth”.
• It is worth putting Viral Marketing into context by considering
its history which has actually started a few years back.

16. The relationship B/W VSM marketing & WOM
(2000-2001)
2001
• An individual, or the a company “releases a virus” (the
message) and allows it to spread by itself.
• To achieve this, the participation of the recipients is of the
utmost importance.
• Receiving the virus (message) is obviously necessary for
transmission to others, who consequently transmit it again and
so on to create a large network of infected people (Neuborne,
2001).

17. The relationship B/W VSM marketing & WOM
(2000-2001)
There are three key elements associated with viral marketing:
• Content: the quality of the messages communicated. Can be
text, images or video
• Seeding: identifying web sites or communities to send email to
start the virus
• Tracking: monitoring the impact of the virus

18. The relationship B/W VSM marketing & WOM
(2000-2001)
Viral Marketing Word of Mouth
Start of distribution Company Users
Timeframe Time limited, temporary Long term
l over information
distribution
Distribution through
multiplier, user are
targeted
Distribution through
known networks
Content of the message The packaging of the
‘Virus’ is the primary
target which gets
distributed
The message itself is in
the focus, content is
rated, interpreted by
own experience
Effort for the user Minimal, mostly it is
just forwarded
Higher because the
content is self-generated
based on the user-
experience

19. VSM marketing as a Marketing technique
(2002-2008)
2002
Viral marketing refers to marketing techniques that thrives on viral
spread, this means using techniques to reach customers and further
use them to enhance the spread. (Hespos, 2002)
2005
Viral marketing is defined, as “marketing techniques that seek to
exploit pre-existing social networks to produce exponential increases
in brand awareness, through processes similar to the spread of an
epidemic”. (Datta, P, Chowdhury, D, & Chakraborty, 2005)

20. VSM marketing as a Marketing technique
(2002-2008)
2006
• Digital media- particularly the Internet and its peer-to-peer
technologies such as chartrooms, blogs and file transfer and
social networks-which enable messages to spread faster and
more exponentially than ever before” (Kirby, Justin, Mardsen,
& Paul, 2006).

21. VSM marketing as a Marketing technique
(2002-2008)
2007
• With consumers showing increasing resistance to traditional
forms of advertising such as TV or newspaper ads, marketers
have turned to alternate strategies, including viral marketing.
• Viral marketing exploits existing social networks by
encouraging customers to share product information with their
friends (Jureleskove, Lada , A. Abamic , Bernardo , &
Huberman, 2007)

22. VSM marketing as a Marketing technique
(2002-2008)
2008
• (Barnes, N, & Mattson, 2008) Conducted a longitudinal study of the
Inc. 500. This analysis driven research study was geared toward
understanding the depth of social media and viral marketing
utilization within the companies of the Inc. 500
• Study results are conclusive that the rise of social media usage is
here to stay in successful company profiles, and additionally provide
support for the value of a company’s involvement in social media
and correlation to corporate success.

23. VSM marketing as a Marketing technique
(2002-2008)
• Every area on the graph except
one has grown, ranging from
message boards, social
networking, online video,
blogging to podcasting.
• The only graph point to decline
was the indicator of the
companies who do not use any
social media

24. VSM marketing as a Marketing technique
(2002-2008)
2008
Evaluation success of viral/social media marketing campaigns
• (Cruz & Fill , 2008) Who conducted a research on viral marketing
evaluation.
• Essentially, they assert that there is no single criterion that could be used as
a measure of success of a VM campaign – instead they propose distinct
goal setting at the beginning of the planning process which then serves as a
success evaluation tool for the campaign.
• They propose a framework which starts with defining a VM campaign’s goal
as being ;
1. Cognitive (reach, awareness, knowledge)
2. Behavioral (hits, downloads, dissemination rate)
3. Financial (ROI, brand equity developments as a result of the campaign)

25. Comparing B/W VSM marketing with traditional marketing
strategies (2009-2011)
2009
• “The key difference between a viral and a TV ad is that a viral is
something you will seek out, take pleasure in finding, and send on for
someone else to enjoy” (Clifford-Marsh, 2009)
• Social media marketing forces the process for word-of-mouth
advertising and will multiply the message to reach more receivers.
• If the target group can be reached emotionally they are going to
identify and will support the Marketing activities

26. Comparing B/W VSM marketing with traditional marketing
strategies (2009-2011)
• With the services of Social Media
people can recommend the
products. This leads to word-of-
mouth advertising.
• One user recommends to his
friends, the friends to their
friends and so on. People visit the
company’s homepage more often
and the advertising impact is
higher Word of mouth

27. Comparing B/W VSM marketing with traditional marketing
strategies (2009-2011)
2010
• According to (Kaplan, Andreas M, & Michael, 2010),
there are six different types of social media:
1. Collaborative projects (e.g., Wikipedia)
2. Blogs and microblogs (e.g., Twitter)
3. Content communities (e.g., YouTube)
4. Social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, MySpace)
5. Virtual game worlds (e.g., World of Warcraft, Why
Ville)
6. Virtual social worlds (e.g., Second Life)

28. Comparing B/W VSM marketing with traditional marketing
strategies (2009-2011)
(Paschdeka, 2010)
Differentiation of Media
• Traditional Marketing strategies
usually focus on two types of
Media. One to one Media and one
to (n) Media
• This is usually an interpersonal
communication on the phone,
personal, email or postal letters
One to one communication

29. Comparing B/W VSM marketing with traditional marketing
strategies (2009-2011)
• The 1:n communication has one sender
and many receivers.
• This type of communication is typical for
mass media like newspapers, Radio or
Television but also simple Web Sites with
traditional Web 1.0 technology uses that
method the information is illustrated on
their site and many people are going to
receive the information

30. Comparing B/W VSM marketing with traditional marketing
strategies (2009-2011)
• The n to n communication is characterized by a
more complex communication structure.
• Everybody can be sender and receiver.
• This could be either a group of people sitting on a
table and talking but in context with Social Media
Marketing this media type can also be used with
Web 2.0 in the Internet.
• In that case the sender would place his message
to Social Media platforms.
• The receivers will read it and have the possibility
to react and comment the message.

31. Factors are considered by researchers regarding social media
marketing (2011-2012)
• Consumer technology readiness is important for retailers to
remember when marketing on social networks because if their
intended target market does not use social media, is not
familiar with it, or perceives it negatively, then their social
media marketing will be unrewarding.

32. Factors are considered by researchers regarding social media
marketing (2011-2012)
• The Innovation Adoption Process (IAP) is another instrument that provides
information on a consumer’s acceptance of new technology.
• The IAP is the progression through which an individual goes through the
innovation-decision process (Mady, 2011).
• Five steps make up the process:
1. Knowledge of the innovation
2. Forming an attitude toward the innovation
3. Deciding to adopt or reject the innovation
4. Implementation of the innovation
5. Confirmation of the decision (Mady 2011).

33. Factors are considered by researchers regarding social media
marketing (2011-2012)
• Virtual Brand Community A main topic being studied involving social
media as a marketing tool is Virtual Brand Communities (VBC). “VBC
can be described as aggregations of consumers that occur on the
internet because of their interest in some brand or product” (Georgi
& Mink, 2012)
• Viral Advertising Viral advertising is “unpaid peer to peer
communication of provocative content originating from an identified
sponsor using the Internet to persuade or influence an audience to
pass along the content to others” (Chu, 2011)

34. The current trend in VSM marketing as a system & strategic tool
(2012-2016)
2012
• Retailers using Social Media as part of their marketing strategy
• Use most social applications for customer-related purposes and see
clear benefits in improving:
1. Customer relations
2. Market communication
3. Improving their after-sales services
4. Obtaining customer feedback
5. Customer information

35. The current trend in VSM marketing as a system & strategic tool
(2012-2016)
2013
• Social media marketing is described, as a system that allows
marketers to engage, collaborate, interact, and harness
collective intelligence crowdsourcing for marketing purposes.
• This system integrates social media principles with marketing
communication elements in an effort to create strong and
lasting relationships

36. The current trend in VSM marketing as a system & strategic tool
(2012-2016)
• A viral marketing typology (Tsitsi,
Chikandiwa , & Jembere, 2013)
At first instance,
• There is viral communication, which
is interaction between message
sender and receiver about a
worthwhile issue.
• In this case, products, services and
organizations are not a feature of
the message; knowledge about
these is intangible and intrinsic.

37. The current trend in VSM marketing as a system & strategic tool
(2012-2016)
In the second case, the transmission
contains the actual product, service
or organization marketed, but the
aim of the message is not to market
these. Therefore, it is unintentional
viral marketing.
In the third case, the message
contains the product, service and/or
organization being actively
promoted. This type of viral
marketing is commercial

38. The current trend in VSM marketing as a system & strategic tool
(2012-2016)
2015
Honeycomb Model
• (Khan & Jan, 2015)
Identify seven
functional blocks of
social media
websites:
• Identity,
conversation,
sharing, presence,
relationships,
reputation and
groups.

39. The current trend in VSM marketing as a system & strategic tool
(2012-2016)
2016
• The most popular trend is that social media is becoming larger
than just social media. It’s not about rapid fire content and
bite-size entertainment, but rather tied into core marketing
strategy (Helsinki,Ward, Latham & Lähdevuori, 2016)
• (Felix, Philipp , Rauschnabel , & Hinsc, 2016) the strategic social
media marketing framework with its four central dimensions.

40. The current trend in VSM marketing as a system & strategic tool
(2012-2016)
• First; social media marketing scope First,
addresses whether companies use SMM for
communication with one or a few
stakeholders or for collaboration.
• Defenders use social media marketing
primarily as a one-way communication tool
to entertain consumers or to inform
stakeholders, rather than integrating
employees or community groups.
• Conversely, explorers are interested in social
media marketing collaboration based on
interactions with many different stakeholders
such as clients, employees, suppliers, and
government agents

41. The current trend in VSM marketing as a system & strategic tool
(2012-2016)
Second; social media marketing
culture distinguishes between
conservatism, which is represented
by an encapsulated, traditional, mass
advertising approach to social media
marketing, and modernism, which is
characterized by a more permeable,
open, and flexible social media
marketing culture

42. The current trend in VSM marketing as a system & strategic tool
(2012-2016)
Third; social media marketing structure
addresses the organization and
departmentalization of the social media
marketing assignment in the firm.
• Hierarchies stand for a centralized
approach with a clearly de- fined social
media marketing assignee.
• Networks represent an organizational
structure in which all employees are
responsible for social media marketing,
and thus a dedicated social media
marketing director is no longer
necessary.

43. The current trend in VSM marketing as a system & strategic tool
(2012-2016)
Fourth; social media marketing
• governance refers to how the
company establishes rules and
guidelines and how social media
marketing responsibilities are
controlled in the company.
• autocracy describes a situation with
precise regulations on who in the
company is allowed to interact on
social media platforms.
• Conversely, anarchy represents a
situation without any such rules or
guidelines

44. The suggestions for viral/ marketing social media as
strategic tool
• The present paper provides suggestions to the future
research studies in this domain;
First: evaluating the success of VSM marketing campaign
• The present paper suggests to the future research studies in
this domain to find new measures, parameters by which the
marketer can simply evaluate and measure the success and the
effectiveness of the VSM Marketing campaign

45. The suggestions for viral/ marketing social media as strategic
tool
• Second: proposing SVSM Model
The proposed model is a mix of SCAN model & Life Cycle model
1. SCAN Model
• SCAN model by which the company can determine their position and
in turn specify the suitable/ appropriate strategy which copes/ suits
with the current position of the organization.
• Otherwise; SCAN model is a tool that is inherently based on SWOT
analysis model which helps the company to evaluate their external &
internal environment

46. SCAN model

47. SCAN model

48. SCAN model

49. The Company Life Cycle Model

50. SVSM Marketing model

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52. Thank you!