At first sound, the term: "Viral Marketing" sounds either offensive or contagious. To be honest, it is contagious. It is a contagious marketing strategy that, if done properly, can lead you to more business than you have ever thought possible. Viral marketing is, in essence, a method of advertising that encourages others to spread the message about your product.

Viral which literally means "caused by a virus" takes advantage of rapid multiplication, much like a virus. This type of campaign has the potential to explode to thousands or even millions with very little effort on your part. This marketing tactic causes a wildfire effect creating the potential for growth far beyond what its author imagined.

Now that we are talking about a virus in your marking, let me give you a very powerful example of viral marketing. One word: Hotmail.

Yes, Hotmail, one of the worlds largest free e-mail providers is an example of viral marketing. The strategy is simple:

1. Give away free e-mail

2. Attach your company name to the bottom of every message sent out: "Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com"

3. Watch while people e-mail to their own network of friends and associates

4. Those friends and associated sign up for their own free e-mail service

5. They then send your company name further from the original user - building an ever-increasing circle of friends and associates.

Obviously not every marketing campaign is successful, the same with a viral marketing campaign. There are six basic elements to include in your strategy. A viral marketing strategy doesnt need to contain all of these elements, but the more elements it embraces, the more powerful the results are likely to be. An effective viral marketing strategy includes:

1. Gives away products or services

2. Provides effortless transfer to others

3. Can easily scale from small to large

4. Exploits common motivations and behaviors

5. Utilizes existing communication networks

6. Takes advantage of others' resources

Gives away products or services:
"Free" is a very powerful word in marketing. Often, we see the terms cheap or inexpensive in advertisements, but these terms generally only generate only small waves of interest. "Free", on the other hand, will usually get the boat rocking. Many viral marketers understand giving away a product will not generate immediate income but over the long run, giving your product away will result in serious name recognition which results in increased sale, which leads to income.

Provides effortless transfer to others:
Viruses are easily passed along between carriers; viral marketing operates the same way. For example, Hotmail allows for its users to quickly pass along its brand and signup form. Viral marketing works well on the Internet because instant communication has become so easy and inexpensive. Creating files or products in an electronic format makes copying simple from one user to another.

Another thing to keep in mind is simplicity; you must keep your marketing message simplified so it can be transmitted easily and without degradation. Short is often better in this situation. For example, "Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com." is compelling, compressed, and copied at the bottom of every free e-mail message.

Can easily scale from small to large:
Making it easy to pass along allows users to do just that pass it along. If one person told only two others, your product would grow to over half a million people in only 20 layers. Think about that half a million impressions of your product within a few conversations. Your biggest concern at this point would be to have the infrastructure to handle the sudden publicity of your product.

Exploits common motivations and behaviors:
Successful viral marketing plans must take advantage of common human motivations. For example, most humans have the desire to be accepted. Furthermore, humans are driven by greed, the desire to be loved, and be understood. This results in the urge to communicate. By designing a marketing strategy that builds on common motivations and behaviors for its transmission you will have a successful viral marketing campaign.

Utilizes existing communication networks:
The average person has a network of 8-12 people close to them. The next layer, including social and business contacts, can be in the hundreds or thousands. By using these existing contacts to your advantage, you have the potential of reaching hundreds of people each week for every one person "touched" with your product. Learn to use affiliate programs, e-mail lists, and popular websites to get the word out initially.

Takes advantage of others' resources:
Creative viral marketing plans use someone elses resources to get the word out. By using affiliate programs, for example, which place text or graphic links on others' websites. Many authors who give away free articles are often seeking to position their articles on others' webpages leading to a larger contact group. Another avenue to consider is a news (press) release. Press releases can be picked up by hundreds of periodicals and potentially seen by hundreds of thousands of readers. Now someone else's newsprint or webpage is relaying your marketing message.

As you can see, there are many options to get the word out about your business. Use these tactics and you will see an increase in your publicity. Soon, you will start seeing your product in newsletters, on websites, and being talked about by others.