Online Marketing encourages users to pass on and share marketing messages to create growth and exposure. The point of online marketing and advertising is to get users to do the influencing for them. Online marketing influences conversation and is an interactive way of letting users share information and opinions with friends. These messages get passed on and shared through the many channels of online communication. Some of those are social media, messaging, emailing, and blogging.
The difference between Online Marketing and Traditional Marketing is the fact that the users are the one doing the promoting and passing along. Traditional marketing does not require the use of the audience to do the work for them. That kind of marketing is not meant to be shared as much by others as it is meant to just be shown by the marketers. Online marketing is meant to be talked about.
So, what makes something go viral?
Well first of all, it has to gain interest. If something is not interesting enough to spread the word about, then the message will never go viral. The message needs to be accessible and publicly visible so that it doesn't make it difficult for a user to see the message or share the message. It must be engaging and interactive so that the message is something that is instilled into the user. Promotional giveaways are also messages that typically can go viral or even the promotion of a cause (think about the ice bucket challenge). It also must be a message that is not overly awkward or something that would be embarrassing to share. Shock value and strangeness are big selling qualities, but if something is extremely awkward, it won't ever be passed on.
In class I really liked the Avengers Online Marketing campaign with Samsung we watched. The Avengers virtual world really attracts Avengers fans and users that like gaming in general. The message was really engaging and used storytelling as their main tactic. The message also showed the product in use.
The focus on viral advertising is obviously very important to internet marketers. I like that you mentioned promotional giveaways and activities like videos that many people can share in. I do think the idea of online marketing moving towards the future is more and more heavily focused on the ability of marketers to get their customers to share messages with each other. This leads to a more targeted audience by default, which is the ultimate goal of a good advertising medium. I think a lot of the online ads see today like pop-ups and banner ads will probably be reworked to be more interesting to the average consumer. Meanwhile, the interactive and social elements of viral advertising will probably take over the bulk of online ad revenue.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that you have some good points here. I do, however, think it is important to mention that there is more to online marketing than just making something go viral. Online marketing, to me, has much more to do with the analytic factors. The advertisements go out and make their way through social networks and such, but that doesn't mean anything if it doesn't sell the product. So aside from just the viral advertisements, the companies have to keep their presence up in other ways including Search Engine Optimization, Pay-Per-Click Management, sales tracking through different demographics etc.
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