Using Articles For Viral Marketing

Using Articles For Viral Marketing
By Paul Majestyck

Viral marketing methods are used today for one good reason – they work. There are many different techniques that you can use, but it tends to be better to focus on one strategy at a time and work at it until you get the results you want. If you are already into ‘bum’ or article marketing, a great strategy is to turn your articles into a viral marketing report or eBook.

As you have already written the articles, it requires very little work on your part to develop something that will bring in traffic (and sales) for years to come. Compiling the articles into a single document is relatively easy although you may need to do some work in re-branding and making it aesthetically pleasing. In addition, there may be some effort required in adding viral elements. Many authors are not so subtle and put in blatant advertisements. You may get more success by adding some value to the reader and disguising the marketing component. A popular technique is to add a review of several products in the particular niche. You will need to include your own affiliate links, but to make them less obvious you should consider cloaking them.

Distribution can be done in many ways. If the resulting publication is of high quality you could consider selling it. In order to make it viral you would need to include reprint rights. Not only do you get sales from the book (which is practically written already), you get others spreading it around on your behalf.

If you really want the material to spread you should consider giving it away and encourage others to do the same (with the proviso that the material is not changed in any way). You can advertise your giveaway in forums and in list emails. One area that can be very useful but is often neglected is on the download page of any related products you sell. People love to be provided with unadvertised bonuses. Because it is on the download page, it is seen as a part of the actual order and most people will download it.

A viral marketing campaign costs a lot less to implement than traditional advertising. It needs to be remembered that viral marketing is just one component of your marketing repertoire. It should be linked with other strategies such as setting up squeeze pages to collect opt-ins. When combined with other essential business building strategies it can help to generate traffic to your web site, build a huge and solid customer base, add to your sales and contribute towards your success.

Sphere: Related Content