Going Viral

It seems that going viral can be a really good way to promote something. Going viral was the main focus of chapter 10 in The New Influencers text. I really never understood what going viral meant before reading this chapter but it is awesome. It is basically a way (if done right) to have web users do promotion for something. "Viral marketing taps an existing vein of Web users and relies on them to spread the word about a site, contest or video by e-mail and blog," (pg 180).

The book does mention some driving forces behind going viral. They are declining response rates, technology developments, demographic shifts, customer preference, and low cost. (pgs 183 & 184) With these things happening it makes sense to go viral. The web has become such a great part of our everyday lives, why not use the power of it.

But not just anyone can accomplish a successful viral campaign. The book also mentions some facts that one must complete in order to possibly have a successful viral campaign. The product had better be good, the campaign must be innovative and fun, don't push it, reward people for coming, let go, and use the medium. Like almost everything in this world it takes work to be successful. Going viral can be very successful but people using it have to be willing to put effort in.

Going viral to me is really interesting for the simple fact that it is a great way for advertising and promotion. And like the chapter also mentions it can be really cheap which is always a good thing. Going viral has been around for a while and it has had some great successes. The book mentions that the documentary The Blair Witch Project actually went viral for promotion of its movie. It grossed about $140 million at the box office because of its viral campaigning. Going viral seems that it can really change the world that we live in. It kind of in a way gives us the voice. We no longer have to hear what other people want us to hear, we can be the ones in charge of spreading the word. I think that going viral is going to continue to be very popular in the future.