by Dana Lynn Smith
Viral marketing is a form of online word of mouth marketing in which a message or link gets passed along by others. Here's a recent example illustrating the convergence of blogs, ezines, and social networking to create viral marketing.
Recently, I posted an article on my blog about how to get the most benefit from subscribing to publishing and book marketing ezines. I linked from that article to a web page listing some of my favorite ezines for authors. I also created a permanent link to the "Ezines for Authors" page from the "Author Resources" section on my site.
Then, I posted the following message on Twitter, which gets automatically fed to my "status update" box on Facebook:
Next, I sent an email to the publishers of these eZines, letting them know about the blog posting and my promotion via Twitter and Facebook. Most of these folks wrote back immediately to say how thrilled they were to be included on my list of top eZines for authors.
Several of the ezine publishers, including Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Penny Sansevieri, did Twitter posts about being included on the list, which brought more traffic to my blog. Others, including Lynne Klippel, wrote in their own eZines about their inclusion on this list.
This promotion is a win-win for everyone:
- I provided a service to my blog readers by introducing them to some great eZines.
- I promoted several of my colleagues and their eZines.
- I introduced myself via email to several top experts in my field who did not already know me, and connected with others who did.
- I got introduced to the readers/followers of those experts who linked to my list.
- I got a spike in traffic to my blog, new Twitter followers, and new subscribers to my own eZine.
How could you use viral marketing to connect with experts/influencers in your field and encourage them to pass along your message to their own readers?
