Viral Marketing is a marketing tool in which businesses can advertise their product through video, game and social networking to intercept their marketing message in an online capacity. 

Viral Marketing is generating awareness for business like never before, and can be said to be one of the biggest shifts in marketing to consumers.

Communication with your customer is changing and it’s a good idea to think about how viral may affect your business.

New types of social media are allowing businesses to move forward with marketing generating an exciting buzz in the marketing world.

Viral provides business with an opportunity to market products through an interactive medium allowing the marketer to convey a message that is reactive to the audience.

It can also provide excellent ROI through a campaign that has the ability to cross through cultural barriers for instance, expressing the meaning of the product through a new marketing portal.

There can be a lot of cost benefits to a viral campaign and the message can be transmitted by word of mouth as consumers experience your marketing; generating high awareness.

This means that customer acquisition costs can dramatically reduce from one single media project.

Viral offers the opportunity for businesses to demonstrate their creative flair; focusing on the brand and taking it somewhere that can build credential and awareness through communicating product benefits in a fresh and innovative medium.

This allows the consumer to identify the brand in a relative format that is accessible for most and can correspond to either multiple sectors or be targeted at niche markets.

In this new marketing format it allows your company to become more personable and expressive, creating interest and conversation. It can change your business persona and can help you evolve your brand and company identity through relating to your customers social networks.

The way in which we advertise has changed due to consumer demand and technological movement, many have researched that consumers are no longer as receptive to ‘traditional’ marketing methods such as the Television or Radio, with a 41% increase in consumer awareness of a product via online marketing; this de sensitisation has moved advertising to a new platform; Viral Marketing.

www.marketingcharts.com

A good example of the strength and power of a viral campaign can be the release of the Nike campaign ‘Take it to the next level’ featuring Ronaldo; 500 million views later it has been one of the most successful and well noted viral campaigns of the last few years.

It was relevant to the audience it was presenting to, highly inspirational and allowed the viewer to feel as if they were on the football pitch with the famous names.

This reflects not only the mass intensity of social media but the popularity and user engagement through viral means.

Viral marketing must be conducted through a clear marketing strategy. What type of message do you want your campaign to create and portray. There must be an emotive conclusion for the consumer such as thought provoking, shocking or humorous.

Most importantly it needs to reflect your product and service USPs.

Groundbreaking for the beauty industry was the Dove Evolution campaign, showing the process of a model being transformed for a photo shoot the message, embedding the message of natural beauty. A series of viral videos showed models being photo-shopped and air brushed to perfection sparking media frenzy and topical debate which gave Dove the perfect opportunity to market its ‘real beauty values’.

The results of the high visibility campaign have morphed Dove into a trusted brand by the female market; the clever marketing by the company translated the message to women everywhere that natural beauty is a positive thing. Women agreed and Dove now has millions of females who are brand loyal and most importantly increased sales.

The advantage of viral marketing allows you to connect in an interactive medium, this gives you the opportunity to relay your brand values and spark conversations relating to your product or services. This gives you the opportunity to cross communicate your marketing message to an expansive market.

Feedback can be one of the most invaluable things for a business and actively listening and reacting to it can mould your company to where you want to be.

Communication of your message is the most essential; through reaching a wider audience you convey your message across an intricate market platform.

People like to see imagery, colour and movement and that’s where a video for example can benefit you, it allows the online viewer to have an insight into your brand behaviour and furthermore give you the capacity to grow your ideas, become part of the online community and allow you to network your business potential

The tools of communication are forever changing due to technological advancement and this process will continue to progress through heightened use and popularity. Viral has quickly integrated itself into the marketing model for businesses large and small. It can also allow a gateway between usually unreachable brands and consumers creating the right vibe and feel for your online business.

If you want to learn more about viral marketing and what we could do for your business please contact us here at Greenmedia on 01912759777.

This might sound like we’re taking something that’s not even old yet and giving revamped, resized and warm fuzzy brand appeal.

Nostalgic branding is now becoming an integrated part of many marketing campaigns, consumers are now hooked to the familiar sights and logos of yesteryear, and they can evoke feelings such as contentment, security, childhood memories and more. 

The blending of traditional brands in the new digital era has reenergised flagging brands and products that were heading for the scrap heap.

The associated feeling contributed with nostalgic marketing allows the viewer to delve in a moment of brand remembrance linked to their personal memory, enticing product purchasing through the power of emotion.

There is the fear that established brands are at risk of losing their identity through mass branding and over use of iconic logos and history.

So how can we sensitively merge historical brands through digital media?

The answer is through strategic and concise brand protection

These, in essence, can be the factors that can contribute to a successful campaign using nostalgic brands.

Digital marketing and media should be a predominant factor in marketing your product.

Take Audi, a credible luxury brand which even though highly well known; markets itself with the undeniable force of nostalgia when needed, the below campaign shows how powerful imagery can portray an innovative and forward thinking company and take it back to its roots, steeped in history and conveying memories of the ‘good old days’, this EDM combines a strong simulative image transferred to the present day relative call to action.

The ‘trick’ to nostalgic brand placement is creating balance between product credibility and relevant marketing message, the focus of the advertisement can be lost without direction and all content and imagery must link in a clear intended focus point.  

If well executed, Digital marketing combining your brand persona can intensify your marketing savvy, reaching new audiences and even attracting a generation that may not have noticed you before. Creating a nostalgic brand campaign through new media has a powerful effect on products and delivers you with the opportunity to reawaken ageing or forgotten brands through digital medium with the reference to new found identity; old becomes ‘classic’ and dated is now ‘retro’.

The impact is everywhere, as companies realise the unique power of the brand they already have; the persona created which becomes the driving force for marketing in 2010 and beyond,

Another recent example of this is Birds Eyes Artic Roll, shunned to the frozen foods graveyard for 10 years it has made an astonishing comeback with sales of this product forecast at £284 million for 2010*

In an age where we yearn for security and belonging; these readily identifiable brands of the past have been updated and configured to suit and satisfy our needs. The message may be communicated a little differently but they are still the familiar brands we remember and they are reaching us on a level we react to; the digital medium.

As we yearn for comfort, the big brands have caught onto reawakening forgotten product lines with tremendous success. The power of marketing nostalgia is that it can be found in the simplest forms and even new brands are using imagery, fonts and slogans that hark back to  ‘happier’ times. Through using advertising to embellish memories and thoughts you can really tap into the psychology of the consumer.

The key to creating a successful digital marketing campaign that embodies nostalgia is focusing on the right target group, creating the correct relative reflection of the product.

So ‘Classic’ brands are now an established part of our consciousness and have adapted to survive in the digital environment.

Take the recent revival of the Wispa bar, due to a massive consumer campaign the product was re-launched and now has a firm place on the confectionary aisle.

So traditional products do have a place in the digital world and have shown that they do have a place on the shelf even in today’s super-saturated multimedia advertising environment.

 * www.telegraph.co.uk

In the last of our SEO articles for 2008, we’re exploring one of the most enduringly misunderstood and misused terms in the business – “first page results”.

Don’t get us wrong, first page results are absolutely fantastic, they’re the goal of any SEO – but only ever on lead generating keywords. It’s absolutely pointless achieving first page results on keywords that no-one ever searches for.

When you view SEO as an indiscriminate race to get keywords – any keywords – on the first page of Google, it’s quite a simple process. In reality though, it’s a little more involved, especially if you’re looking to achieve the massive business benefits that SEO is capable of delivering.

The tide is slowly turning on this – just last month Google-guru Matt Cutts discussed the likelihood that “ranking was dead” – but some SEO companies are still pedalling it out as an indication of their so-called expertise. Here’s a little insight into why they’re wrong, and how to go about approaching SEO properly.

Lead generating keywords

Accessible through their PPC interfaces, Google, MSN and Yahoo all have accurate systems that show how many searches any given keywords rack up over a monthly period. Once you know the level of searches that a keyword is generating, you’re in a better position to decide on your target list. If a term doesn’t get many searches, then it’s obvious that while it’ll be relatively easy to rank for, it’ll probably not generate any level of interest. It’s always worth running your initial keyword list through one of these systems, you might be surprised at the level of searches they generate.

Unless you’re working in a genuine niche market with a totally unique product or service you’ll be required to compete, and the competition will naturally be fiercer on the lead generating keywords. This tends to be the point at which SEO companies who bleat on about “first page results” make their excuses and disappear. It’s important to formulate your target keyword list around lead generating terms, or else it’s quite a pointless exercise.

Fluidity of results

No matter how successful your SEO results may be at any given time, it needs to be kept in mind that search engines are constantly evolving, and your competitors are likely to be fighting tooth-and-nail on the very same keywords that you’re optimising your site for. Even if you do get a great result there’s no guarantee you’ll be there at the same time the next week, because when you jump up some positions, your competitors notice and react. However, with a well-strategised SEO programme you’re in for the long haul, and you’ll be able to fight back when required with proven techniques.

Return on investment

This is the single most important factor with SEO, and the reason why the vague claim of “first page results” just doesn’t cut it. SEO is no different to any other type of business marketing in as much as it needs to have a positive return on investment (ROI), otherwise it’s a complete waste of time and money. Adopting the “first page for anything” mentality that’s so common in the industry simply doesn’t achieve ROI – if you’re getting results on unpopular terms then how can it?