Viral marketing

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Viral marketing and viral advertising are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses or computer viruses. It can be delivered by word of mouth or enhanced by the network effects of theInternet.^[1] Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, or text messages.

The goal of marketers interested in creating successful viral marketing programs is to create viral messages that appeal to individuals with high social networking potential (SNP) and that have a high probability of being presented and spread by these individuals and their competitors in their communications with others.

The term "viral marketing" has also been used pejoratively to refer to stealth marketing campaigns—the unscrupulous use of astroturfingonline combined with undermarket advertising in shopping centers to create the impression of spontaneous word of mouth enthusiasm.^[2