Viral marketing can result in an avalanche of traffic to your website overnight but with little to no cost involved. It behaves much like a virus which passes from person to person. The difference is that instead of airborne, viral marketing works through word-of-mouth and networking. Many webmasters have begun to take advantage of this type of marketing, and if it is done properly it can benefit your business for years to come.

 

In the beginning, e-mail was the main medium for viral marketing but since that day, viral marketing has gone from an unknown guerilla strategy to a popular technique in mainstream marketing. There are many ways to accomplish a successful viral marketing campaign.

 

Below is a list of seven types of Internet viral marketing techniques and how you can take advantage of it, beginning today.

1. E-mail: It was first but it is still around and still used. It is, however, getting a little harder to use as more and more government restrictions are placed on it. Still... it does work.

2. Newsletters: This is an extension of e-mail but it a very effective tool. If you include enough timely and valuable information, a good newsletter can drive up the number of visits to your website.

3. Blogging: Providing the tools on your website to enable bloggers to interact with one another is a terrific way to get the message about your product of service out there and being talked about. Bloggers have their ears to the ground for new products and services.

4. Chat Rooms: A chat room on your website can and does encourage interaction among your customers and that can''t be a bad thing. Also, you can use the chat room to schedule special events like having an expert available to answer questions on a given day at a given time.

5. Tell-a-friend Script: If you add this with a statement saying that e-mail addresses supplied will never be shared with third parties, you can increase your potential customer list greatly.

6. Video Clips: Including cool video clips on your website will keep the interest up and increase traffic.

7. Flash Games: Although they are a little costly to start, they are an extremely effective tool to get your viral marketing campaign going. Once they are launched, they require nothing more from you.