Viral Marketing, What’s Next

 The future of viral marketing is best realized by ongoing education through advertising schools and self-education through constant monitoring of the internet…since this is a medium that changes constantly.

Social Networking

Presently the most noticeable and effective vehicle where viral marketing is concerned is the ever-growing number of social networks such as Facebook. Sites like these are popping up like weeds worldwide. And even though they are intended for personal interaction, they have become an extremely effective means for marketing for those who are harming enough to draw attention to their products and services in a friendly fashion that causes the subscribers to share the information, which eventual becomes viral.

Likewise the near innumerable internet sites intended for mere entertainment by visitors has also become a jumping off point for viral marketing. Take for example YouTube. This site has caused sensations such as pop star Justin Bieber to acquire lucrative results by simply posting there in a way that caused a viral marketing frenzy which has now bled over to fame though recording, television, live performances and most every other marketing means imaginable.

Phone It In

Then of course there is Twitter. This mobile phone phenomenon has become so popular that it can hardly be dismissed as a mere fad since the number of people worldwide who “tweet” almost continually on a daily basis is growing by leaps and bounds and shows no signs of fading in its popularity anytime soon. This too is intended as a social networking device, but it is already being employed by gigantic

conglomerates like AT&T as a means to advertise their goods and services in a way that causes multiple “tweeters” to pass advertising messages along to all those involved in this non-vocal conveyance.

Obviously, where the internet is concerned in general, it’s important to realize that unlike most other print and electronic means of marketing (television, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc.), the internet is a means of marketing far more likely to cause a viral effect due to the almost universal usage it currently displays. In other words, some people read ‘Time Magazine’, watch the commercials included

within ‘CSI: Newark’ on network television or actually pay attention to the audio advertisements on radio. But most everyone who hasn’t been living in a cave and can read accesses the internet multiple times during their waking hours, often obsessively.

Looking at the Past and then the Present

Not only the present but also the future of marketing (viral or otherwise) resides within internet based technology. This boon to mankind’s communications (basically less than 20-years-old where “working class” access is concerned) has become a staple of societies worldwide far more rapidly than other amazing innovations of the past such as radio and television.

In the very near future the internet will become a hub for all communications and will obviously become the starting point for all marketing ventures. So it’s important to keep in touch with all its innovations.

Jump Aboard Cheap!

Unlike previously conventional means of marketing, advertising on the internet can prove to be almost free. For example, even the most computer-illiterate users can establish web sites of their own by means of easily accessible services that are not only inexpensive, but also tax deductible as a business expense if properly conveyed. And if you have the talent to properly post your views independently in a provocative manner your intentions can immediately become viral in nature.

Do the Math

When all is said and done, most would agree that the future of viral marketing exists within the use of exponential mathematics. In other words, by keeping your eye on present marketing resources while noting the “next new thing” coming up, you can make one marketing enterprise lead to another…that connects to another…then another, etc. by means of internet postings which include devices like hyperlinks,

advertising billboards and easily accessible communication vehicles such as e-mail and phone.

And of course, education on all such topics should not be discounted, in that education is power that is now easily accessible and affordable by means of not only community colleges and your local library but also by means of online schools.

This is a guest post written by Kayla Tanner. Check out Kayla’s site at OnlineSchools.org.