'Net Features : viral marketing

Refer-a-Friend in Action

E-Commerce Express : feature — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 17:47:00 GMT

New social shopping site JoeShopping hopes to spend its way to awareness by giving away $5,000 to celebrate its launch. Through the site’s refer-a-friend contest, 20 members will win $100 each, while the grand prize winner will walk away with $3...(read more)

Lose, Falter & Fail at Launch

Pete Prestipino — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:50:00 GMT

There are millions of websites and businesses that show you (or try to show you) how to succeed. But few detail how companies and websites might lose, falter and fail at the launch of their product or service. Website Magazine has been fortunate in the past five years to watch thousands of companies go through the launch process – some with great success and others suffering epic failures. That experience has honed our ability to separate the future winners from the losers. The following is a list of reasons and corporate traits that will be most detrimental to your website or product launch. Ignore them at your own peril.

Customer Development: Whether building software, creating a Web destination or selling products on the Internet, customers (clients and users) are always the engine drives revenue growth and your ultimate success. Often, those seeking press coverage from Website Magazine do not have customer stories about the usage of their products – an immediate indication they don’t take customers seriously. Having a stable of users and early adopters prior to launch will offer input on your product or service and a head-start on new customers and brand awareness.

Street Credibility: Even if your launch is months or years away it will be well served if your reputation is already established in certain circles. For example, say you are in the product development phase of a new and innovative electronic gadget. If you’ve spent time building up some followers (see the viral component section below) your opinions and beliefs are going to be respected and trusted. When you are ready to launch, the job of building trust in your new product or service will be far easier with established credibility. To earn some street credibility, create your own weblog and promote it anywhere that is relevant, offer up advice and expertise, and find a following.

Viral Components: In the age of sharing and social media there is no excuse for Web businesses not to have a “presence” and account for users’ willingness to spread something they like or appreciate. The benefit of doing so is that it dramatically increases the potential of message frequency (how often messages will be seen by others) – something that proves very valuable during a launch. It’s not uncommon for users (and those of us in the media) to simply ignore something until it can no longer be ignored; becoming too “big” not to consider. Adding in viral social and sharing components (Facebook Pages, share buttons on blog posts, etc.) pre-launch will ensure an optimal response.

Viral components don’t just stop at sharing and social, however. Affiliate and partner programs can provide a much needed boost and the savviest among them (should you make the effort to recruit them) will be excited to get in on the virtual land rush – scooping up all those early adopters. Build a second- or third-tier into your partner offering and you’ll get street credibility of which your competitors will envy.

Product and service launches are tense and tough times. Being customer-focused (supporting an environment where customers are valued and trusted), having a cache of credibility that you can leverage in the future, and giving the Web as a whole an opportunity to share and extend your brand message are basic but key steps in launch success. Otherwise, welcome to the dead pool.

Anatomy of a Viral Marketing Failure

Mike Phillips — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:30:00 GMT

Brown's Chicken is in need of a revival. Although a Chicago institution, the restaurant chain suffered major damage in the wake of a horrific mass murder at one of their locations in 1993. Recent news has brought that painful memory back to the spotlight - Brown's just can't seem to move past it. So it makes sense that a rebranding effort be launched.

The words "chicken" and "viral" aren't exactly pleasant bedfellows. Of course, we're talking about viral marketing here, not a deadly epidemic. But when Brown's Chicken recently tried their hand at a viral marketing campaign, the results were downright toxic.

About a month ago, an @ message landed on one of my Twitter accounts. It came from @SNiHatching: *bzzt* *bzzt* http://bit.ly/15ii70 *bzzt* *bzzt* (something new is hatching)

My first thought when seeing this update was ... SPAM. There is no indication who this tweet is from, nor where the link will lead. But in the spirit of investigation (and because it's my job) I clicked the link. But I can't be sure that most people would take the risk of clicking a cryptic link from an unkown sender. This was the first indication that this viral campaign was off to a rocky start.

The link leads to this YouTube video, announcing the SomethingNewIsHatching.com website and campaign. At the end of the video is the campaign URL and the Brown's Chicken logo. Naturally, the URL was my next destination. So far, I have no idea what this campaign is all about.

Over at the website, I am presented with the landing page seen here. Now, I'm ready to discover what's behind the campaign.

see for yourself. This leads to a page with four videos. Each is a variation of the video linked from Twitter. None, however, explain anything about the campaign, the restaurant, or what to expect whenever this new thing "hatches." Also lacking is any indication of what to do next - no call to action.
what is hatching? This leads to a brief explanation, including this: "Over the next year, Brown's is hatching new changes from the ground up. We're not certain exactly what all the changes will be." Also, "Chicago has been with us since 1949 and it's time we give back. Something new is hatching. Brown's is changing. And we're changing for the better." At this point I've come to understand something is going to change. However, I have no indication as to what it will be, and apparently neither does Brown's. That doesn't exactly instill confidence or excitement in me. It could be anything. And frankly, I've already clicked enough times through this campaign that I'm losing interest ... in nothing.
tell a friend. Let's say I was so intrigued, that I want to share this campaign with a friend. Fine - click the link and enter a friend's e-mail address. The only problem? It doesn't work. No e-mail was received.
what is new? Here's what you get when that link is clicked: "Coming Soon!" Well, thanks for nothing ... again.
At the bottom of the landing page, you'll notice a few links for Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Of course, this must be the path to discovery. Let's look at those three touch points.

Twitter: The Twitter page has exactly nine total updates, starting with one from September 14 and ending with one from September 24. None of the updates give any useful information. Also, the Twitter account has 15 followers, and they follow just 14 people.

Facebook: The Facebook page has exactly one update, from September 14. There are 35 fans (somehow) and no further information.

YouTube: The YouTube channel has one subscriber and two videos - that's two fewer videos than the number of videos available from the SomethingNewIsHatching.com landing page. That's a lack of consistency and a lost opportunity for maximum viewership.

Brown's Social Media Meltdown

Social media can be a powerful viral marketing tool. But it is not a "set it and forget it" medium. Success depends on several factors, three of which are consistency, activity and strategy. The Something New Is Hatching campaign appears to have failed in all areas.

You don't want to give everything away at once with these promotions. Teasers are good - you want people to have a feeling of anticipation so they look forward to the next piece of the puzzle. But Brown's offers nothing more than "something is hatching." Through every channel where this campaign exists, there is absolutely nothing that compels the user to check back for updates, subscribe to updates or - most important - share with a friend. The only real option to share is the e-mail function ... that doesn't function.

A successful viral marketing campaign through social media requires grooming. This campaign seems to have involved a miniscule two weeks worth of work - and not much work at that. Success on Twitter requires updates, and something of value that other Twitter users will want to "retweet" to their followers. And every Twitter marketer needs to follow some people to get the ball rolling. Brown's could have started following thousands of people (targeted by city) and provided incentive to get more followers, such as coupons.

Another Chicago restaurant with a rich local history is Superdawg, a hot dog drive-in. They also use social media for branding and campaigns. Superdawg's Twitter account has 1,737 followers (as of this writing) and they follow 1,721 other Twitter users. Their last tweet was just 19 hours ago. And, their updates are timely and useful, like this:

http://twitpic.com/npi6j - 4th generation Superdawger celebrating Halloween as an @superdawg.

And this one: If you come by @superdawg counter in a costume today, say trick or treat & we'll give you a free order of fries.

That's quite a difference from *bzzt* *bzzt* http://bit.ly/15ii70 *bzzt* *bzzt* (something new is hatching). Superdawg's tweets are interesting; they include photographs of actual customers. They are timely and useful; they tweeted a Halloween special, on time.

Brown's Chicken has a problem. Perhaps what's most damaging about this failed campaign is the now total loss of trust. Everything indicates that Brown's strong suit is not following through - can I trust that these "changes" will actually occur? As a user, I also got the feeling that my time was being wasted. And at no point did I feel compelled to share that someting exciting was coming from Brown's. Instead of building buzz, Brown's has given me the impression of a lazy, incompetent franchise.

In all fairness, perhaps they are simply understaffed or their big changes have been delayed. Either way, this campaign should not have been launched if it wasn't "all systems go." Or, if a snag did come up, at least communicate with the public.

If you want to launch a viral marketing campaign, it's imperative that it's well-planned and you're ready for the work that comes with it. Huge successes can be had. But damage can ensue if you don't follow up on your promises. You must provide value and you cannot waste users' time.

Targeting Social Networks for Sales

Mike Phillips — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:00:00 GMT

A recent report conducted by Sage Software and AMI-Partners shows that more than 260,000 small businesses in the US and Canada are using social networking tactics in some form or another - a surprisingly small number. Far and away, the most common uses are for customer engagement and networking. Advertising and promotion comes into play with just 33 percent of businesses. What's astonishing is that the actual selling of products didn't even enter the equation.

Perhaps one reason for this is the difficulty in calculating social media ROI. While it can be a challenge, there are ways to track purchases stemming from social networks; including custom landing pages and URLs, or special promotional codes.

When considering the incredible number of Internet users who belong to one social network or another - or several - the opportunity for direct sales is hard to pass up. Advertising opportunities abound (even behavioral and geo-targeted methods), as does the chance for product-focused campaigns to turn viral.

Below is some consolidated data from Quantcast.com. We examined five popular social websites to see where selling opportunities might exist. While a couple of these sites might not fit the social network mold, they are still highly trafficked and carry the potential for massive viral success.

	Est. U.S. Monthly Visits	Male/Female ratio	Over 18 years-old	With Kids 0-17	Household Income $60K +

Facebook	87.4M	54% Female	71%	48%	59%

MySpace	64.3M	57% Female	69%	56%	51%

Twitter	23.0M	55% Female	97%	39%	50%

YouTube	81.6M	50% Female	78%	43%	54%

Digg	12.4M	37% Female	89%	33%	43%

A few points of interest:

Facebook is the clear leader in terms of traffic. However, it's interesting to note that households with children are on the low end. It's possible that older users (a growing Facebook demographic) are influencing the data here, as their children are likely older than other users'. That said, Facebook users appear to have the most expendable income.

Twitter comes in fourth in expendable income and households with kids 0-17. But the user base skews much older than any of the other networks.

YouTube skewed relatively older than expected. As the second highest trafficked site, and as online video becomes a Web standard, businesses must find opportunities here.

Digg looks to be one of those niche social sites that could be a boon to some, but worthless to others. It scales overwhelmingly single male with low income. However, it has big viral potential and is popular with the tech-savvy crowd.

Without question, social networks present sales opportunities for small business. But to be successful, businesses need to track their efforts through analytics and by setting specific goals. Use special promotions and targeted advertising. It's also a good idea to test the waters of the various networks before committing to one or the other. Finally, transparency is key. Social networkers will not object to a targeted, valuable sales pitch, as long as they don't feel they are being duped. Be clear about your objective - everyone loves a good deal, they just don't want the runaround.