Linked from Resources page of Viral Marketing by Marshall Burns.
Archived from http://www.wilsonweb.com/cat/cat.cfm?page=1&querytype=category&subcat=mm_Viral on 2002 12 02:

Viral Marketing

includes 55 items.
Category Listing:  Viral Marketing
  1. It's Not About the Technology  by Sean Carton, ClickZ , 08-12-2002 . Success in viral marketing is elusive. Real-world examples of viral success suggest 3 rules to follow: information must be widely appealing, it must be timely, and it must be easily portable and transmittable.
  2. Marc Schiller of ElectricArtists  by Pamela Parker, ChannelSeven , 07-01-2002 . How do you get someone to want to tell a friend, or forward an e-mail? Expert reveals secrets of success in creating "buzz," establishing performance benchmarks, identifying "tastemakers" and reveals why some companies fail to achieve desired results.
  3. A Power Viral Marketing Primer: Buttons, Links and Clicking - Oh My!  by Brad Powers & Bryan Eisenberg, Adventive.com , 06-01-2002 . Explains how to use eyecatching graphical buttons to encourage viral growth. Referral tool must: (1) stand out from page clutter, (2) be instantly understood, (3) embody a clear call to action, (4) give clear instructions on how to act, (5) be placed effectively, (6) offer an incentive, and (7) make the offer simple, clear, and obvious.
  4. Pssst… Let Me Tell You a Secret  by Sean Carton, ClickZ , 05-06-2002 . Letting people think they have special inside information is an excellent (and cost-effective) way of generating buzz. Cases show how Web businesses both big and small have used the technique to get results.
  5.  by Christopher Saunders, CyberAtlas , 05-09-2002 . The most direct example of viral marketing is word-of-mouth recommendation and referral, spread by satisfied customers. Yet e-tailers often ignore the value of keeping customers happy as a way of generating new business.
  6. Viral Marketing That Grabs Women's Attention , MarketingSherpa.com , 04-17-2002 . Care2.com is a mainstream portal that never spends a penny on traditional advertising, relying exclusively on viral marketing instead: eCards, newsletters, free e-mail boxes, and petitions. "A viral tool keeps on producing value into the future," while an ad campaign stops when the budget runs out.
  7. Weekly World News Raises Newsstand Sales 15% with Web Site Publicity Stunt , MarketingSherpa.com , 03-12-2002 . Case study of a humorous online promotion campaign that delivered excellent offline sales results for a tabloid newspaper. A slightly outrageous concept attracted attention that built on the viral marketing concept.
  8. Case Study: Singapore Airlines Tests Viral eCard Campaign , MarketingSherpa.com , 03-07-2002 . A big-budget viral campaign that encouraged visitors to send e-cards to friends in order to enter a contest and opt-in for airline info offers lessons that apply to viral marketing on a smaller scale: use interactive incentives to encourage repeat use, be aware of the limited productive time frame of a viral campaign, be prepared to respond to a flood of interest.
  9. Can Viral Games Work for Business-to-Business Marketing , MarketingSherpa.com , 02-26-2002 . Case study describes how Web design firm Unleashed Media generated serious business sales and leads through an innovative game-based viral marketing campaign. It succeeded through uniqueness, entertainment value, and addictiveness.
  10. Get Your Buzz to Breed Like Hobbits  by Marc Weingarten, Business 2.0 , 01-01-2002 . Tells how New Line Cinema cooperates with fan sites rather than attempt to close them down. By partnering with the sites and feeding them inside tips, the company has extended its marketing reach to a worldwide audience of tens of millions.
  11. Catching The Buzz  by Gregory M. Jarboe, Iconocast . Warns that no single CRM application currently offers a comprehensive view of a company's customers, but that improved tracking and analysis tools can reduce customer acquisition costs by 27%, increase average order sizes by up to 60%.
  12. Yes, Virginia, Viral Marketing Really is a Key Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Component  by John Lustina, Viral Marketing Monthly , 07-01-2001 . Author observes that creating a buzz with a free download is a way to create many links pointing to a site -- increasing the search engine ranking.
  13. Viral marketing overlooked by retailers , Nua Internet Surveys , 07-25-2001 . Jupiter Media Metrix found that only 7% of companies track e-mail pass-along rates, though 45% of consumers choose online retailers on the basis of word-of-mouth recommendations. Believes customer acquisition costs can be reduced 27% by using viral marketing approaches, as well as increasing order size 60%.
  14. Viral Marketing Really is an SEO Component  by John Lustina, InternetDay , 08-14-2001 . Viral marketing is actually a massive secret weapon in search optimization (SEO) success. Understand the relationship between viral campaigns and the development of link popularity for SEO, and use the techniques to mutual advantage.
  15. Word-of-Mouth Key to Customer Acquisition  by Robert Conlin, E-Commerce Times , 07-16-2001 . Although overlooked by most etailers, users who pass along e-mail special offers and other messages to friends and family are a key source of new customers. Web marketers should use tools that allow them to identify and capitalize on viral influencers.
  16. Comedians Stumble Upon Viral Marketing Concept  by Matt Hockin, InternetDay , 07-13-2001 . FreeJokeBooks.com combines the immense popularity of forwarding jokes by email, with the high marketing value of ebooks. The result is a highly successful viral marketing campaign.
  17. Props for Sale  by Michelle Jeffers, Business 2.0 , 06-12-2001 . Tells of Fox, Warner Bros., and Disney are using their film Websites to auction off costumes and other items used in their movies. Though not much revenue is generated, studios are attracted to the viral marketing aspect of the sales.
  18. The Truth About Viral Marketing  by Chris Yeh, ClickZ , 06-20-2001 . How (and why) does viral or word-of-mouth marketing work? You need to cultivate evangelists who consider your 'virus' to be unique, who believe in it sincerely, and who have used it themselves.
  19. Can Word of Mouth Save E-Commerce?  by Lori Enos, E-Commerce Times , 05-04-2001 . In a desperate move to save advertising dollars, some struggling dot-coms such as Webvan are begging their customers to help spread the word - literally - about their products and services, in word-of-mouth campaigns.
  20. Viral Marketing Alert!  by Ellen Neuborne, Business Week , 03-19-2001 . Observes that E-mails bearing ads are starting to raise consumers' temperatures. Says that like many good ideas, viral marketing has drawbacks, among them "viral overload." Warns that personal recommendations need to support a broad marketing program.
  21. Tips for Optimizing Viral Marketing Campaigns  by Brady Brewer, ClickZ , 02-22-2001 . Take care to ensure that your viral marketing campaign doesn't arouse concerns over sending unsolicited email. Tips: (1) offer an incentive, but place a quantity limit to avoid spam-like distribution (2) don't view resulting referrals as opt-ins, ask for further permission (3) make sure recipients can see that the message is coming from a friend (4) track and analyze results.
  22. I Think I Caught Something: Viral Marketing  by Jim Meskauskas, ClickZ , 01-30-2001 . Coming up with a viral marketing concept that will click with a target group isn't easy. It needs to demonstrate intrinsic value the its audience, which generally requires that it deliver entertainment value, utility, palpable reward, and/or uniqueness. Most often, a viral campaign succeeds by accident.
  23. Viral Marketing With Incentives  by Adam Posman, ClickZ , 01-03-2001 . The best part is that viral marketing costs virtually nothing once it's set up. And often, the smallest incentive works as well as a huge prize. Examples of successful campaigns, one with a large incentive (Tripeze.com), the other more modest (Danier).
  24. How To Make Viral Marketing Work For You  by Phil Chandler, Joscon Networks , 12-09-2000 . Explains how small businesses can utilize viral marketing techniques.
  25. The Power of Viral Marketing  by Blake Rohrbacher, ClickZ . Definition and explanation of 4 distinct categories of viral marketing, and how you can (or can't) use each. (1) 'value' (Amazon, Harry Potter books, Palm Pilots) (2) 'guile' (Quixtar, MyPoints, incentives) (3) 'vital' (Macromedia Flash, eBay) (4)'spiral' (Hampster Dance, JenniCam).
  26. Birdcast Site Reader Recommendation Script , BigNoseBird.com , 05-02-1999 . Helps promote site. E-mails current URL to an unlimited number of recipients, logs pages referred, provides message area for the sender's comments, returns the reader to original page. Perl 5. Web interface. Freeware.
  27. Getting Viral  by Damian Bazadona, ClickZ , 10-10-2000 . Viral marketing can be highly cost-effective, but it isn't easy to do. Lessons learned from a practical case (independent film release 'Double Parked'): (1) create incentives (2) offer multiple channels (3) use simple technology (4) ensure privacy (5)track progress.
  28. Pass It On  by Joyce Slaton, The Industry Standard , 09-18-2000 . Thorough introduction to current viral marketing technology and practice. Covers methods of saving, organizing and sharing site links (BackFlip, ClickAbility, Click&Tell); e-mail systems that facilitate site referrals (Recommend-It, FireDrop);and advanced systems that automatically generate, send and track promotional offers for multiple types of users (Comet Systems).
  29. eWOMP: Your Word of Mouth Platform . Services provides advanced referral feature married to a points program. Tools to create, grow, quantify and manage a word-of-mouth platform.
  30. , CyberAtlas , 06-15-2000 . Certain groups of 'e-fluential' web users have a disproportionate impact on how word-of-mouth spreads in viral marketing campaigns, according to research for communications consulting firm Burson-Marsteller. Just 8% of the surfing population (9million individuals) influence the opinions of another 72 million Americans online.
  31. What Makes It Viral?  by Kathleen Riley, ClickZ , 07-06-2000 . Viral marketing isn't something you add to a marketing piece at the last moment; it's an integral part of a campaign strategy that is used to achieve results. Viral marketing generally means producing a message with a quality offer or an incentive forpass-along. Examples.
  32. Unleashing the Ideavirus  by Seth Godin, Do You Zoom, Inc. . Seth Godin's newest book is being given away in PDF format in order to create the talk about it that will drive paid sales of his hardback book that comes out in Sept 2000. Practicing what he preaches.The book discuses the difference between a rapidly-spreading "ideavirus" and normal word-of-mouth promotion. http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0970309902/wilsoninternetse
  33. Is Viral Marketing All It’s Cracked up to Be?  by Sandeep Krishnamurthy, ClickZ , 05-09-2000 . The pros and cons of viral marketing techniques, with emphasis on the drawbacks: loss of brand control, unexpected or unwanted growth, spam stigma, and the difficulty of measuring results.
  34. Viral Marketing , Iconocast , 03-30-2000 . Brief review of viral marketing examples. Notes that 80% of web start-ups use viral marketing in some form. Compares sending holiday cards to forwarding Ikea announcements (considered spam by many recipients).
  35. Viral Marketing Techniques the Typical Business Website Can Deploy Now  by Ralph F. Wilson, Web Marketing Today , 02-08-2000 . Discusses techniques that the average site can deploy easily to take advantage of viral marketing.
  36. Comparing Viral Marketing Strategies to the Six Principles  by Ralph F. Wilson, Web Marketing Today , 02-08-2000 . Comparison chart of various online companies and how their viral marketing strategies conform to Wilson's Six Principles of Viral Marketing.
  37. Review: Recommend-It.com  by Ralph F. Wilson, Web Marketing Today , 02-08-2000 . Positive review of referral program Recommend-It.com, which allows visitors to easily recommend your site to their friends, and encourage word-of-mouth advertising.
  38. The Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing  by Ralph F. Wilson, Web Marketing Today , 02-01-2000 . Describes that theoretical basis for viral marketing, that causes a geometric multiplication of replications of your marketing message.
  39. Viral Marketing Plan Case Study: DoctorEbiz.com  by Ralph F. Wilson, Web Marketing Today , 02-08-2000 . Explanation of viral techniques to launch a new e-business newsletter.
  40. Viral Marketing – On The Internet You Can Fly  by Peter Greene, InfoStar.com , 02-28-2000 . More examples of effective viral marketing strategies.
  41. Viral Marketing  by Steve Jurvetson and Tim Draper, Business 2.0 , 11-01-1998 . Explains name due to a "pattern of rapid adoption through word-of-mouth networks." Uses HotMail as example of this phenomenon, which appended to the end of every message: "Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com." Other successful examples:ICQ, Tumbleweed Software, Homestead, Netcentives. Outlines typical viral marketing strategies.
  42. What is ... Viral marketing? A definition , What?Is.com . Defines viral marketing as "any marketing technique that induces websites or users to pass on a marketing message to other sites or users, creating a potentially exponential growth in the message's visibility and effect." Gives other possible names forthis technique.
  43. The Virus of Marketing  by Jeffrey Rayport, FastCompany.com , 12-01-1996 . Considers methods of biological viruses: (1) stealth, (2) patience to work "free" for pay-off later, (3) let behaviors of the target community carry the message, (4) look like a host, not a virus, (5) exploit the strength of weak ties (e.g. Tupperwareparties), (6) invest to reach the "tipping point." Author calls it v-marketing in this 1996 article.
  44. How to Multiply Your Marketing Like a Virus  by Michel Fortin, Success Doctor , 12-12-1999 . Describes ways to spread the word using techniques such as affiliations, joint ventures, shareware, referral sources, centers of influence, and free articles on other sites
  45. The Top 7 Ways To Create Incredible Buzz For Your Business  by Christopher M. Knight, Top7Business.com , 05-04-1998 . Defines buzz as "anything which makes people talk about your business, in a cult like fashion, producing 'oodles' of free publicity for your business." He offers 7 ways to create this kind of self-propagating word-of-mouth advertising.
  46. Master Webpage Mailer  by William Botrager, WillMaster.com . Program allows visitors to e-mail the content of your webpages to a friend. CGI script written in Perl 5, easy to install. Freeware.
  47. Viral Marketing: Pitfall or Windfall?  by Kim Brooks, ClickZ , 02-24-2000 . Problems (and solutions) to expect in viral marketing campaigns. (1) Dilution of your brand message through re-interpretation, (2) association with negative sites or individuals, (3) spammers, (4) overloading your site or resources.
  48. Something Worth Talking About  by Nick Usborne, ClickZ , 12-10-1999 . It's getting harder to attract traffic to an e-commerce website. Here are some ideas to build traffic by generating some online buzz about your site: offer unique products, provide unusual service. Make every aspect of the site worth talking about.
  49. Growing A List Organically  by Kim MacPherson, ClickZ , 12-06-1999 . How to build an opt-in marketing list with viral marketing techniques such as: distributing freely downloadable funware carrying your sponsorship ad; offering incentives for passing along the marketing piece; or simply including sign-up links.
  50. The Basics Of Viral Marketing  by Darian Heyman, ClickZ , 11-19-1999 . What drives users to become evangelists for your service or product, and how you can encourage and facilitate the process. A detailed look at the success elements behind stories like Hotmail and eGroups.
  51. What Does Viral Marketing Really Mean?  by Jeffrey Graham, ClickZ , 10-11-1999 . How to use 'viral marketing' technique, creating pitches that recipients absorb and then pass along to others. It isn't easy, it can backfire: you have to create a message (or ad) that is compelling enough to spread and also firmly supports brandvalues and objectives.
  52. Send-A-Link.com . Java Script that puts a site recommendation bar at top of webpages you desire, so visitors can send info about your site to a friend.
  53. Chain Letter Marketing  by Dana Blankenhorn, A-Clue.com , 04-12-1999 . Sees forwarding "goodies" to one's personal list of friends as a powerful form of marketing, which he calls "chain letter marketing," more memorable than Audette's "propagation marketing" or Tchong's "multi-connected marketing."Bottom line: "If you offer real value up-front, people will be happy to pass it along, even if it's ad-supported, even if it's essentially a pitch."
  54. Germ Warfare: How to Spawn a Marketing Virus  by Kim Brooks, ClickZ , 10-26-1998 . Outlines ways to begin a word-of-mouth buzz campaign: create a link graphic, reward for talking, put your URL everywhere, make it easy to pass on, flatter them into talking, give away your site, sponsor give-aways on others' sites, allow reprints of yourcontent, and find partners who will distribute your content.
  55. Recommend-It.com , Digital Demographics, Inc. . Free button on site allows user to recommend a site to a friend. Service is paid for through targeted e-mail signatures on the recommendation e-mail, and through sign-ups to the service's free e-mail newsletters that are advertising supported.

Linked from Resources page of Viral Marketing by Marshall Burns.