Viral Marketing can be a powerful form of eWOM (Electronic Word-of-Mouth) and is said to be the most cost and time efficient method of marketing around today (Dasari and Anandakrishnan, 2010).  Viral marketing has been described along-the-lines of when branded content is released on the web, sparking interest in the audience who then feel motivated to share this with others, who also then feel the same need to share, generating a chain of sharing, almost like that spreading of a human virus (Dasari and Anandakrishnan, 2010; Mills, 2012).  The message spreads quickly, to a vast audience and as such it’s imperative that the message to be conveyed is accurate and carefully thought out, so as to not damage the brand (Leskovec, Adamic and Huberman, 2007; Dasari and Anandakrishnan, 2010; Mills, 2012).

Mills (2012) uses a SPIN framework to plan successful viral marketing campaigns.

(Source: Mills, 2012)

Spreadability – there must be a motivation to share content.  The ‘likeability’ is in considering the ability of the content to engage, excite, interest or inspire the viewer. The ‘sharability’ is how likely the viewer is to share the content based on whether or not they feel their peers will have the same ‘likeability’ as them (Mills, 2012).

Propagavtivity – this section looks at how the content can be shared.  Is it easy for the viewer to share the information, is it fast, will they need to add any justification or direct the new viewers somewhere else via a URL/hyperlink?  Comparing email to a Facebook share highlights this effectively – it takes a lot more commitment, time and effort to share an email than it does to share a post on Facebook.  What’s more is that the person sharing will probably have more people to share the content with on a social media site such as Facebook or Twitter, compared to an email contacts list. But having a larger audience to share with and the fastest share possible isn’t always the best thing, the content of the message and the objective of the message as well as the remainder of the SPIN framework should be considered before deciding this as once it’s out there there’s no going back (Mills, 2012).

Integration – sharing across various social media platforms will increase the likelihood of a successful viral campaign.  Sometimes this can be taken further with integration between online and offline networks but consideration should be given to how the message may be weakened or misconstrued when shared on different platforms (Mills, 2012).

Nexus – this area is referring to the cliff hanger or the want for more.  Although difficult to achieve this highlights a truly successful viral campaign in which consumers are fully engaged and eagerly anticipating future engagement (Mills, 2012).

An unusual yet successful example is that of Bodyform with their campaign response to a negative comment received (see video below), supposedly, from a member of the public who posted a “rant” on their Facebook page.  They incorporated humour, originality, excitement/buzz which got people to ask “have you seen…” or “did you hear about…” as a response to their video.

The video was easily shared across social networks such as Facebook and Twitter as well as embedded into articles and blogs. The end of the video leaves an air of suspense and room for retaliation from ‘Richard’ with the public left wondering was that real, will he react, will they change their future ads, what’s next?

Although not all companies may wish to have their campaigns go viral, the key fundamental elements in the SPIN framework can be useful when creating campaigns which need to inspire the consumer and engage them as well as enabling them to spread their excitement with other like-minded individuals.  For example with a luxury brand such as Jo Malone candles, the focus wouldn’t be to have their promotional videos or emails to go viral.  This would defeat the object of the emotional value of their brand in creating a luxury, exclusive, indulgent feeling in the consumer.  However, if a customer received an email with a teaser video of a new product, this may excite and inspire them to then want to share with like-minded friends and family who also enjoy the Jo Malone brand and products. By Jo Malone Marketing Managers considering the SPIN framework they should be able to encourage this type of activity as well as increasing the ease and speed at which consumers can do this, increasing their satisfaction with the brand.

As always the key is to ensure that the activity is tailored to the brand/product at hand, with considerations of how to adapt to meet the objectives behind the campaign which are suited to the brand to improve it rather than destroying it.

 

References

Dasari, S. Anandakrishnan, B. (2010) Viral Marketing of Retail Products: A Study on the Influence of Attributes of Web Portalsa and Incentives Offered on User Registrations. Journal of Marketing Management.Vol. 9, No. 2, P99-111.

Leskovec, J. Adamic, L. and Huberman, B. (2007) Dynamics of Viral Marketing. ACM Transaction on the Web. Vol. 1, No. 1, Article 5.

Mills, A. (2012) Virality in social media: the SPIN Framework. Journal of Public Affairs. Vol. 12, No. 2, P162-169.