Viral marketing or market value marketing? What’s the difference? I recently shared some tips on creating a marketing strategy for your business. I received several emails and comments about the difference between brand marketing and viral marketing, so I thought of a better time to explore the differences between these two types of marketing.
A marketing goal is when a company does something and its consumers tell five to ten friends.
Target marketing has an echo effect. The initial sound is loud, and then it fades into the background.
Viral products, unlike word-of-mouth marketing, have a compounding effect. A consumer tells five to ten people, and then five to ten people tell five to ten people. The driving force behind most viral campaigns is consumer passion. It’s like a virus that keeps infecting more people and spreading without needing more marketing.
Although the two are similar, as you can see, they are not the same.
Marketing news is vital to small business growth. Marketing often gets a small business going in the early days of operation when there is little or no marketing budget. The consumer shares their experience with your product or service, and they share it with their family and friends. It increases your customer base and increases your sales.
Viral marketing is more about reaching out and touching the passion of your consumers so that the force carries the message and the message continues to reach the masses without your help. You can power a viral campaign, but only sometimes are viral campaigns validated as successful as those fueled by consumer passion.
To be successful, the consumer must feel that they have a personal stake and investment in the campaign’s success.
It is also important to realize that the success of the viral campaign depends on the vehicles used to send the message. Some companies are more virus prone than others. To create a solid viral hit, the notification must be able to move from television commercials to radio and other widespread broadcasts to dominate the Internet.
Let’s look at some examples.
Word-of-mouth marketing example
- Starbucks – Starbucks depends on word of mouth for its marketing; you will find that they avoid trade bans in favor of word-of-mouth marketing. They invest in social media programs to increase word of mouth and encourage customer comments and shares.
- Red Bull – You will see very little advertising regarding Red Bull; they focus more on driving word of mouth through event marketing. One main event that is good for them is the Red Bull Wings Team. This group operates in the Red Bull brand vehicle share sample of Red Bull.
- Coca-Cola – Remember that HillTop commercial that Coca-Cola did?
If not, maybe the lyrics will be smaller – “I want to buy the world coke.” Is the song stuck in your head? This jingle had the whole world singing. If that wasn’t enough, it was recently revisited in the Mad Man series, which had everyone humming it again. The song spoke of unity and tolerance; consumers gravitated to it and shared it.
Viral-marketing example
Mad Men Yourself: Speaking of Mad Men, in the third season of Mad Men, they worked to create a con through a program called Mad Men Yourself. The application is a creator who helps you create an avatar that makes a 60s stylish version of yourself. The site received more than half a million visitors in the first week. After five years, you can still use the program, and it is vital.
Dove – Choose Beautifully – This campaign featured a viral video of a woman walking through a revolving door that said either “average” or “beautiful.” This campaign appealed to women’s emotions, it was relatable, and women shared it. In the process, he taught the meaning of “true beauty.” It wasn’t about advertising a product; It was about sharing a message everyone could relate to.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that the main issue between brand marketing and virality is that word of mouth is often driven by you as the marketer or business owner. Viral marketing is driven by consumer passion, and its success is not based on you.