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Spreading the Virus with Controlled Viral Campaigns

Catherine "Verbosity" Parker

Controlled viral marketing is less of a risk taking venture than "in the wild" campaigns, as there is more intervention from the marketer and therefore fewer margins for distortion of the original strategy. Typically, a controlled viral campaign is unleashed by the marketer or advertiser via email and then controlled by a central source throughout its lifecycle. This is outlined in the diagram below:

The crucial feature of such a viral campaign is that the recipient is rewarded in someway for spreading the virus. This could be done using a competition, where the chance to win a prize increases every time the email is passed on. Another approach is to make the email "cool", funny or cutting edge. The logic here is that when the concept is passed on it will make the sender feel cutting edge and trendsetting. By offering the recipient the chance to be the "opinion leader" of the group, the campaign is appealing to a deep human psychological need to "fit in" or feel accepted by peers.

Unlike "in the wild' viral marketing, controlled viral campaigns see the marketer (or a central source) remaining heavily involved in the process. Instead of simply forwarding on the email, the original email recipient is encouraged to return to the marketer a list of names and email address of friends to whom they would like to tell about the concept in the email. The marketer then automatically sends an email to this list of friends asking them to subscribe to their email list. These friends then subscribe, and the list continues to expand as the original email continues to be sent to new subscribers. This process is then repeated.

Controlled viral marketing is ideal for expanding an existing brand's customer base, particularly a company's email list. It's perfect as a list building or brand enhancing tool, rather than an initial brand awareness tool as with "in the wild" viral marketing.

The main goal behind a controlled viral campaign is to capture as much information from each recipient as possible in order to establish a long term relationship with these potential customers. In doing this it is crucial not to pester the recipient - if this is pushed too far, all efforts to increase a customer base may go to waste if a customer unsubscribes through irritation.

Another point to consider is that for recipients to part with precious personal data requires a large amount of trust in the marketer. Trust by its very nature can only be built up slowly over a long period of time, and should not be rushed. For example, an initial email asking for too much personal data may be off-putting for the reader. Think about it - in the eyes of the recipient, you are a stranger, so why should they provide you with so much information? By contrast, through continuous communication, this trust is slowly increased and you become a friend rather than a stranger. Tacit permission has been given over time for you to communicate with the recipient and gather information.

But is viral marketing really all that it's cracked up to be? Firms planning to implement such a strategy should be aware of several potential problems:

Brand Control: You don't know ahead of time who an individual is going to contact. As a result, many of your messages may end up with people outside the target audience, leading to decreased control over your branding.

Uncharted Growth: Viral marketing can lead to unanticipated growth paths. For example, Hotmail is now one of the leading email providers in India when individuals started emailing friends in India who emailed many more. However, it is not clear if the creators expected that or even wanted that. Such growth paths may lead to abrupt changes in strategic direction, which can be problematic.

Spam Threats: If done poorly, viral marketing can lead to large-scale spam issues. Consider a company that pays individuals to email their friends to convince them to buy one of its products. In this case, the individual who receives the email had only given the friend permission to send email of a personal nature. If that friend receives unsolicited commercial emails from that recipient, it can weaken his or her relationship with the person who sent it as well as the marketer for sending an unsolicited message. This may result in damage to the advertiser's reputation.

In essence, efforts to use the customer-to-customer channel translates as a fundamental trade-off between growing market coverage and maintaining control over the marketing message - controlled viral marketing attempts to find a middle ground between the two.

Well that about wraps up this discussion on viral marketing. With almost every marketing firm talking about it, I thought I'd fill you in on the bigger picture about the advantages viral marketing can have for your company. If you have any questions or comments about our discussion, please contact Quirk - we'd love to hear from you!

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