One of the sales elements that works hand in hand with branding is viral marketing.

These two marketing aids complement one another and help to make one another more powerful.

Viral marketing is a new phrase that means “word of mouth” marketing, or more accurately for website promotion, “self-propagation.”

What viral marketing does is to “spread your message” within the community, without you having to intervene. It’s like free advertising because visitors to your website will recommend it to others who will recommend it to others and so on.

In many ways, this kind of promotion acts just like a virus in that it spreads from person to person almost without them being aware.

There are two types of viral marketing:
Direct Viral Marketing – occurs when a client spreads the awareness of your product or service to others simply by using the product or service. Some of the online e-mail services are examples of this. When someone sends an e-mail using these kinds of services, each email automatically includes a message at the bottom of the e-mail that states the name of the email service they are using. A subtle but effective method of promotion.

Indirect Viral Marketing – happens when a client must actively find another client in order for both of them to benefit by using the product. An example of this is when someone wants to use an Internet service like a chat or messaging service, and they have to solicit the assistance of another user in order to implement the service. For example, if one person wants to send instant online messages to another person, that other person also needs to have the same software installed in order for the messaging to work. This means that one person needs to implore another to also install a messaging utility. (e.g., MSN messenger or ICQ)

There may be some ways you can implement viral marketing or self propagation within your website.

Offering things for free is one good way of doing this. This doesn’t mean you have to give away a product; you could provide a free service or some other valuable non-tangible item.

Free advice on technical or other complicated topics could be useful – quotes or definitions are useful to some people.

Contests are another way of attracting attention. If you do implement a contest, I suggest that your prize be one of significant value in the eyes of your clients. If it is deemed to be of low value, it will not attain the status of being a suitable viral marketing item.

There are many ways that a website can be made to contain items that visitors to the site will want to tell others about. Those who implement this feature and make it valuable will have a much greater chance of reaping the benefits of viral marketing.