Happy 10th birthday to viral online marketing
This, Part I report and tips from MarketingSherpa worth a read:
On July 4th 1996, Hotmail founders Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia launched what’s widely credited to be the first on-purpose Internet viral marketing campaign. Back then there was no online video, no easy peer-to-peer file sharing, no sophisticated games, and practically no HTML email.
Instead, this groundbreaking campaign was a just a simple line of text stuck at the end of every single email sent that offered recipients their own free account.
Within 18 months the service had 8.7 million users, and Smith and Bhatia sold out for an estimated $400 million to MSN.
Now, tens of thousands of campaigns later, viral’s settled into what you could call a rut. Despite the fact that every campaign’s success depends on being so creative, so utterly forwardable, that consumers can’t help but spread the news, most campaigns are cookie cutter.
You know the drill. The amusing video download, the interactive ecard, the engaging game, the forward-to-a-friend sweeps entry, etc. It’s all getting a bit too boring for both marketers and consumers alike.
Can viral be saved?
This post was written by: Kim Mickelsen