Word of mouth and viral - an overview

Nothing beats word of mouth

……but remember if you get things wrong, that can break you as well as make you.

Check out Malcolm Gladwell’s blog, What is the Tipping Point? The Tipping Point is a brilliant insight into Viral marketing – His book Blink is also a favourite on our shelves – you’ll also find that on his Blog.

Seth Godin's idea virus

One of the Internet's top marketers, he developed a simple formula for viral marketing. Here's his formula, in his own words:

"For an idea to spread, it needs to be sent and received”

No one 'sends' an idea unless:

1. They understand it
2. They want it to spread
3. They believe that spreading it will enhance their power (reputation, income, friendships) or their peace of mind
4. The effort necessary to send the idea is less than the benefits

No one 'gets' an idea unless:

1. The first impression demands further investigation
2. They already understand the foundation ideas necessary to get the new idea
3. They trust or respect the sender enough to invest the time

This explains why online ideas spread so fast but why they're often shallow. (a video of a teenage kid doing a funny song and dance routine that was downloaded over 1 million times in 2005), spread like wildfire because it was so transparent, reasonably funny and easy to share. You can click here to read Seth's full article on his blog, What makes an idea viral?