Definition Of Viral Marketing

The term viral marketing gets thrown around quite a bit as if it was really something quite new. The truth is, viral marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing in existence. It's just that recently it has been taken to new levels and thrown out into the Internet marketing world with some new twists. In this article we're simply going to try to explain what viral marketing is and then point you to some resources where you can get more information.

To find out where viral marketing all began, you have to go back to biblical times. I told you it was old. The original gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke were spread by word of mouth. The first actual "written" bible didn't come until long after. That was viral marketing at its very best. Over 2000 years later the message is still getting across to people. So right out of the gate, if you're going to ask if viral marketing works, this one example should give you the answer.

But what about viral marketing today? Well, it doesn't quite exactly work the same way over the Internet, though it certainly can when we now have chat rooms with voice capability. However, most viral marketing today does take the form of the printed word. Except it is done with a little bit of a twist.

The most common form of viral marketing is the free book. Many people would think that giving away an ebook for free wouldn't be very profitable. The truth is, it's one of the most profitable ways to make a living on the Internet today. What most marketers do is distribute these ebooks for free, or very little cost, and inside of them have several links to programs that they promote or products that they endorse. If the content of the ebook itself is good, then the person who has received it will probably believe that the programs or products endorsed by the ebook are good as well, and thus they go ahead and purchase these items using the affiliate links in the ebook. This is how the person who created the ebook makes his income, even if he gave the ebook away.

This is just one form of viral marketing but it should give you a decent idea of how the process works. If you're interested in learning more about this very effective form of marketing, there is a resource in my signature that I invite you to check out.

Viral marketing does indeed work. Just open up and bible for proof.