Viral marketing does not exist

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Permalink Reply by Kim Proctor on May 6, 2008 at 2:48pm

True, for anything to be viral it has to be worth sharing/talking about.

Trying to state the clear difference between viral marketing and WOM is not an easy. Both are an act of sharing that comes from customers finding value in something.

I use both phrases myself (WOM and viral marketing).

I often use the phrase "viral marketing" to mean what happens when you create what your customers want to share with others (or how you provide tools that allow customers to share content they create, etc). While your customers are spreading "word of mouth" they are taking the item (you made for them or enabled them to share or whatever) and that act could be call viral marketing. But that is splitting hairs. I use both terms - more often I use viral marketing with other marketers or business types and I use "word of mouth" with anyone else.

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Permalink Reply by Maury Giles on May 6, 2008 at 6:47pm

There are ways you can use technology to help consumers connect with their friends, family, and other like-minded consumers. But, you are simply making it easier for people to connect. They'll only talk about that which is relevant or useful -- they want it, they like it, it's weird, it has value when shared, it's cool, it's bizarre, it's shocking, etc.

So, if viral marketing exists, I'd say it's the same as making/offering the "stuff" (technical term) people want to have or want to share. In that sense, it's not a marketing technique, it's authentic relevance... it's consumer-centric.

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Permalink Reply by Andy Sernovitz on June 7, 2008 at 10:21am

You're right. Viral is a result, not a action. If you do great marketing and people share it with all their friends, it's viral. You can't make a "viral video".

Ze Frank says it here:
http://www.damniwish.com/2008/06/viral-is-the-ef.html

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Permalink Reply by Brad Bentz on June 18, 2008 at 3:46pm

Ben,

One idea I did get out of Dave Balter's book is a distinction between viral and WOM. To my mind, viral implies a vector, meaning that the skids have been greased in some way that makes it easier for people to spread the word.

Second, I think viral messages get spread for reasons that marketers don't always intend. We'd like to think that people spread the word about a product because of its great utility, but viral messages usually get spread because they have a lot of entertainment value. True, the marketer wants us to be amused and share that experience with others, but that doesn't necessarily translate into higher sales. Remember that Bud superhero voiceover that went around about ten years back? I still crack up about that one, but it didn't turn me into a Bud drinker.

In other words, people were sharing this with me, not because they know I love beer (I do), but because they got a kick out of the video. The association with Bud was irrelevant; any company could have added their logo at the end of that piece. Hence, I don't think this example qualifies as WOM in any meaningful sense, although it was undeniably viral.

That's the distinction Balter was making by pointing out that viral campaigns burn brightly, but fizzle out after a short while, while WOM builds slowly but tends to have a lot more staying power. I think the difference is due to the lack of customer engagement in viral scenarios relative to what is typical with WOM.

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Permalink Reply by Ulla Jones on July 2, 2008 at 12:34pm

Hi Brad,

Let me just shuffle the pack a little and just add that you did remember that the add was by a beer company - you even remember it's brand.... Thanks to an add that everybody talked about.

I think that your distinction between the Viral and WoM is an interesting one and worth noting but maybe there was something else that didn't turn you into a "Bud drinker" perhaps your own experience overrode those who were sharing their opinions with you.

One thing about the WoM is that you only take it from someone who is more knowledgeable than you and has more experience. Perhaps when it comes to beer, you're the one people turn to to seek for recommendations, not vice versa?

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Permalink Reply by Warren Whitlock on August 11, 2008 at 5:09pm

I'll take up the CON side on this one.

There is a viral score for every campaign. The viralness of a marketing initative is the number of people each recipient of a message will tell about the campaign.

If that is 1.00 or above, the campaign goes viral. Every ad, message, broadcast, etc will go out and grow.

If that number is less than 1.00, it will spread, but die down after a while.

For instance, we all talk about Super Bowl ads around that time of year. Water cooler around the country buzz with stories about the great presentations (and once in a while, the brands) for about a day or two.

Most of the people watching a TV ad don't tell a friend. The Viral score would be .000001 or less.

A great product increases the likelyhood that we will tell our friends. Great customer service too. And a well designed strategy, can bump that number up too.

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