Top Viral Marketing Strategies

If you are like other motivated entrepreneurs, viral marketing plays an important role in your marketing strategy. Viral marketing, when successful, has the ability to skyrocket awareness and profits.

What Is Viral Marketing?

Viral marketing is content that has captured the attention of the mainstream consumer. It is content that people bookmark, forward, post on social networking sites and link to. Viral content has the ability to spread from one corner of the globe to the other. It spreads like a virus and can change a business overnight.

9 Top Viral Marketing Tactics

First, let us be clear. Viral marketing is content marketing. However, when you are creating your content, your goal broadens. You want to offer value to your prospects and customers. However, you also want to go beyond offering basic value. You want the content to be so compelling that it goes viral. There are several types of content that can help you reach your viral marketing goals.

#1 Lists

People love lists. In fact there are many popular books that are nothing more than a long list. For example 101 Uses for a Dead Cat. This book was a big seller and was nothing more than a long, and perhaps humorous, list. Lists are easily downloaded and shared, and they are often linked to. They make great viral content. Think about your audience and the value they are seeking. What lists can you provide that might go viral?

#2 Quizzes

Ever notice that just about every magazine has some sort of quiz inside? That is because people like their content to be interactive. Quizzes offer the opportunity to learn something about yourself or reinforce something you know about yourself. They also allow you to interact. Quizzes, like lists, can be funny, interesting and informative for the user or interesting and informative for you. You can use a quiz to learn more about your prospects and customers.

#3 Tools

Tools are things people can use. One great example of a tool might be an iPod application or a downloadable worksheet. A tool is also something that makes your prospect's life easier. It offers value.

#4 Video

Video may be the most popular type of viral content. Most often the videos that go viral are funny, but they can also be informative or heart wrenching. Randy Pausch's Last Lecture is an example of a viral video that is heart breaking and inspirational at the same time. Explore your audience's needs and preferences and then brainstorm ideas for a video.

#5 Images

Photos and cartoons are common viral images. They can capture an idea, make people laugh, or inspire them to take action.

#6 'How to' Content

When it comes to standard content forms, it does not get better than the 'How To'. Your 'How To' content can be video, audio, or print - whatever your audience responds to.

#7 Funny Story (or meaningful/touching story)

Humor tends to be the most popular type of viral content found online. However, a touching story, life lesson, or an inspirational story also spreads quickly. If you have a story to share, craft it well, make it public and then share.

#8 Controversy

Loud opinions about situations always stir up a controversy. Many people will want to weigh in and share their opinion too. Reports are a great way to create viral marketing content that is controversial. Blog posts work quite well too because they provide people with a format to respond. One way to capitalize on controversy is to create a free report, promote it and discuss it on your blog. This way you are reaching your audience quickly and the viral report will spread quickly.

#9 Sweepstakes, Contests and Giveaways

Finally, the last type of content that can easily go viral is a contest or sweepstakes. This is because everyone likes to get something for free and everyone likes to win. The bigger the prize, the more quickly word will spread. For example, if you are giving away an iPad on your blog, you will likely gain a ton of traffic. People will be linking to your blog and there will be quite a commotion. Give away a free report and you are not going to have as much activity. The key to capitalizing on this type of viral content is to build your opt-in list at the same time.

Creating viral content is the first step to a successful campaign. You will also want to integrate it into your overall marketing strategy. Use every tool available to get the word out quickly.

Whether you are marketing a business, service, or yourself, learning new marketing and communication strategies and using online tools can help give you that 'edge' to get ahead of your competition.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5307156

How Can You Use Twitter to Market Your Business and Website?

Twitter Marketing and your Business-How can you use Twitter to benefit your Business?

Twitter is different than social networks in general. It is for conversations, sharing information, context, content, and a lot of different things. It is often called the "Human Seismograph" because, at any moment, you can see what has our attention, and that information is broken down by geography and interests. Entrepreneurs use Twitter to help mold their business strategy as well as market their business.

Twitter and Marketing

With so much focus on Facebook, it seems that Twitter has somehow become the forgotten social network. But Twitter is still thriving. It is pervasive and has evolved into an information network, rather than a social network. Smart marketers are utilizing Twitter to the maximum capacity. This article will show you how.

Inbound and Outbound Marketing with Twitter

Twitter is both an inbound and outbound tool for marketing.

As a tool for marketers, it is a wonderful way to learn intelligence, focus groups and trends, which in-turn provides you the opportunities to apply those insights to design more informed strategies. As a tool for marketers, it is both an in-bound an out-bound tool. Inbound meaning it is a wonderful way to gain intelligence and then implement those insights into more informed strategies.

Further, inbound marketing is about having someone who is in charge of listening and trend analysis. Shared interests and trends, specifically what type of conversations people are having, are very valuable for informing companies and brands at national and local levels.

Outbound marketing engagement strategies include content marketing and getting your content out to your followers. Outbound marketing includes engagement strategies. Twitter is an excellent way to market your content, provide content to your followers and build a community through content marketing.

Content Marketing Tips

If you are in the business of creating content, if you are a blogger or you manage a blog, you must know that first impressions are essential. When creating content for Tweets, pay attention to these tips. You can spend hours slaving over an article, however, if you do not follow these tips your article might never be seen.

When people see your article for the first time, a person is making a quick decision, literally in a matter of seconds, as to whether or not they want to continue to read your article. The first couple of sentences need to be very short and your paragraphs need to be very short. Start out with asking a question and then summarize what the article is about and what benefit the article will have for the reader.

1. Very short sentences and paragraphs
2. Ask questions to frame the article
3. Introduce what the article is going to be about. Long introductions are like a brick wall and stop many readers from reading the rest of the article.

When someone reads your introduction, you want the reader to be motivated to take time out of their day and read the rest of the article.

A carefully organized, planned and well-written library of articles can be a gold mine to a Twitter marketer, but only if that content is read. By creating tweets with links to your content, you not only provide valuable information to your Twitter followers, but you also funnel followers into your blog or website. Twitter is a way to introduce your business to the Twitter community, and links in your tweets are the vehicle at which you allow those followers to find your website or blog.

Twitter Statistics and its Evolution

There are 175 million tweets daily and 20% of Americans who are using the web are also using Twitter with 8% of those people active on Twitter every day. Twitter has become an extension of our public conversation at which people are finding value. Twitter is something very new and very dynamic. Although it may not be for everybody, it is evolving and people are using it more and more as a communication outlet, such as texting. Even people that do not tweet, are listening and watching trends on Twitter. It's greatest value is that it is a platform for shared experiences-what you are doing, what you are eating, what you are witnessing. It is a very human network, engaging and live network. News no longer breaks, it tweets!

Twitter is still in its infancy, but it is well on its way. People are using Twitter, but not as many of those people are affected by Twitter. It wasn't that long ago where broadcast networks did not want you to tweeting about their events live because that would ruin tune-in, and they wanted people to see the content on the television screen, for example. But in time, television producers and marketing executives learned that when they use tweets to talk about exciting moments and if they could design more "tweet-able" moments, it meant that they could actually drive tune-in because people would want to see what everyone was talking about.

Multi-media and Twitter

Twitter used to be about only text, but now Twitter has the ability to integrate images and video into tweets. The multi-media aspect on Twitter illustrates that Twitter is a platform for shared experiences and as such, you realize that experiences are not limited to text, but rather they are a sensation. Text is a natural way to share something but with others; a visualization of that moment makes more impact. People appreciate the tweet more if you combine all of the above (text, images or video) or two of the above and mix it up over time. So, multi-media in tweets actually means that the person creating the tweets is assuming the role of a producer or a publisher. You need to be thoughtful about what you are creating because you have an audience who has their own audience. If you are not engaging, if you are dry, if you are not putting much heart and soul into it, you get what you deserve. People will un-follow you and stop re-tweeting your content and responding. The more you share, you more thoughtful you are-you can create a community that is unique and inspiring, which in-turn motivates you to create tweets that are more insightful and more engaging. People appreciate it. Twitter is real-time. It is sensational and dynamic.

Twitter for Business

Other than just scheduling tweets to go out at random times using like a buffer app, some businesses are managing their Twitter campaigns differently. There is no one answer to Twitter for marketing. Large companies can have hundreds and hundreds of Twitter accounts with too many channels with no standards in engagement. Many companies treat Twitter as a strategic platform play. They started with some branding questions. What are we trying to do here? What is the story we are trying to tell? What is your business focusing on in the coming year?

Twitter channels that are evolving include sub-brands. In other words, large companies have many different Twitter accounts, each with their own purpose. In order to maximize the potential of each Twitter account, marketers need to realize what Twitter followers expect. They expect entertainment, customer service, and engagement. Each brand needs to develop a strategy around each of these initiatives that works its way from the top down and the bottom up.

Personal uses of Twitter

Individuals use Twitter to listen. What are people asking? What are people talking about? What are people frustrated about? What are people asking? Use these informational pieces to inspire content development strategies and source topics that you can present to prospects and clients. Then share back to your followers. This makes your followers realize that you are listening. Also, by sharing other people's content, you can share content that you stumble upon or content that you have found that addresses people's needs. Marketers tend to look at followers and re-tweet so they can look at reach, but residence is more powerful to look at. For example, how long would a tweet or a social object stay alive in a twitter stream? The best tweets can last an hour but most last only a few minutes before they fizzle out. If you manage your Twitter campaigns successfully, you have a greater impact because your followers know that when you share something, it is going to be very profound and helpful, entertainment or funny. If you regularly publish value and regularly have conversations, it affects your ability to resonate, which is good for business.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Stephanie_Rosendahl/223042

Major Challenges - Blogging

The major challenge that many blog owners (bloggers) are facing is inadequate targeted traffic. Without targeted traffic, a blog will never flourish. When you realize that your blog isn't attracting enough targeted traffic, you shouldn't give up. 

It is normal for anyone to feel discouraged due to disappointments but giving up isn't a solution. Giving up is creating another problem of having not found a solution that works effectively. The best you can do instead of giving up is to find out how you'll drive targeted traffic to your blog.

So, why is your blog not receiving targeted traffic? Some of the reasons are as follows:

1.) Your blog is yet to be known since it is still new. It requires exposure.

2.) There is no enough content on your blog to attract people and for the search engines to rank your blog.

3.) The content you have published on your blog isn't of high-quality. Publishing mediocre content on your blog could be the reason why it lacks targeted traffic.

4.) The niche of your blog could be the reason for insufficient targeted traffic. If your blog is targeting a niche that is too competitive or the one that people are not interested in, then your blog will not attract any significant amount of targeted traffic.

5.) You haven't started selling a product that solves a particular problem or you could be selling a product that isn't useful.

6.) You haven't optimized your blog in the search engines. You have not used the search engine optimization techniques to optimize your blog.

7.) You haven't done list building and this has led you not to keep in touch with people who visit your blog. They visit your blog never to visit it again since they forget it.

8.) You have not captured people's attention. Your blog doesn't have content that is interesting for people to read. You haven't used headlines that will capture the attention of people. You haven't also posted videos or pictures that capture people's attention. You're not giving giveaways. People love getting things for free!

9.) Your blog contains many spelling and grammar mistakes. People will not want to go on reading a blog that has posts containing many spelling and grammar mistakes.

10.) Another reason for lack of targeted traffic is ignoring the readers and writing for the search engines. Focusing mainly to optimize your blog in the search engines instead of focusing on your readers will eventually make your readers to stop visiting your blog



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8065634

7 Steps For Results In Your Business - #7

So, here are the 7 daily action steps you must adopt to guarantee success in your business.

1. Personal Development,
2. Content Creation,
3. Posting and Sharing Content,
4. Developing New Relationships,
5. Fostering Existing Relationships,
6. Following Up With Current Prospects,
7. and Daily Gratitude.

Step #7 Daily Gratitude

Daily Gratitude is the last step. Simply show some appreciation. Send SMS message or make phone calls to people that you are grateful for. Do this every day. Determine that you are going to make a number of calls, send out text messages and personal messages to people, however you want to go about it, just make sure you do it. What this does is it connects us with others, you recognize how many people have helped you along the way. It actually gives you a feeling of wanting to give back. When you recognize it, it really feels so powerful. You cannot help but want to serve, to go out and produce that material and provide value. It definitely gives you an amazing sense of power and abundance.

In all, do what you do with love. Do what you do with a heart of service, and don't quit on your dreams because your dreams can come true. Now, possibly you are still unsure. Guess what, I was just like you. I had those uncertainties as well as those concerns. I didn't quit on my dreams. Even though there were times when I didn't know if I could do it. I knew there were other individuals just like me making it, leaders that built their business from nothing and accomplished things that were absolutely incredible.

Everyone has a different time frame and the only means to quicken your time frame is to actually take action.

If you've got some value from this piece begin to execute what you have learnt. Put your spin on it and create content you can share. And see some magic happen.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9684417

7 Steps For Results In Your Business - #6

So, here are the 7 daily action steps you must adopt to guarantee success in your business.

1. Personal Development,
2. Content Creation,
3. Posting and Sharing Content,
4. Developing New Relationships,
5. Fostering Existing Relationships,
6. Following Up With Current Prospects,
7. and Daily Gratitude.

Step #6 is Following up with Current Prospects

There are various things you could do with capture pages. And there are numerous information individuals need. Some could need assistance with the best ways to do specific tasks, while some want information regarding business opportunities. If, for example, you have potential customers that have reached your capture page and left their contact for info regarding your business opportunity, then you have to follow up with them. Send them simple and pertinent messages. You can begin with a video or a webinar... then, you keep following up with them until they register. Though not everybody will register, however, if you keep at it, a lot a lot more will definitely register.

Aside from squeeze pages and capture pages you could connect with social media sites like Facebook or Instagram. The ultimate is to send people to a page where their details are captured, you then follow up by sending them emails and even more emails. If you are able to get their telephone numbers, you can get in touch with them this way also, and then register them. These are just a few manner by which you could follow up.

Come back tomorrow for Step #7

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Wale_Bello/2304223

7 Steps For Results In Your Business - #5

So, here are the 7 daily action steps you must adopt to guarantee success in your business.

1. Personal Development,
2. Content Creation,
3. Posting and Sharing Content,
4. Developing New Relationships,
5. Fostering Existing Relationships,
6. Following Up With Current Prospects,
7. and Daily Gratitude.

Step #5 is Fostering Existing Relationships

When you start to do what I have talked about, and you are doing it on a consistent basis, you are going to have people to connect with. These are people that have given you permission to connect with them.  

If you have been able to get their emails using a capture or squeeze page, then you have their consent to communicate with them over and over again. The bottom line is you need to keep communicating with your circle of influence to cultivate your relationship.

So exactly how do you accomplish that? One method is to make use of an auto-responder. You can start sending them email messages from the initial time you get their emails. You could send them emails based on things you just recently learnt, or handy videos you found on the internet, webinar invites and so on and so forth. Things that will add value and help your audience. It's good if you could do this every day, but they have to be topics of interest to your audiences. You must also have real interest when carrying out these activities. If you are really going to be establishing these connections with other people, you have to have genuine interest.

You could use whatever communication method that is best for you. If you intend to utilize email and just be emailing, cool. Possibly you intend to send messages, or possibly you like to be on the phone. Some individuals prefer to use personal messaging or WhatsApp. Utilize what's most effective for you. Identify how you can connect with people that you already have their permission to. I would suggest trying multiple platforms. See what works for you.

Come back tomorrow for Step #6

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Wale_Bello/2304223

7 Steps For Results In Your Business - #4

So, here are the 7 daily action steps you must adopt to guarantee success in your business.

1. Personal Development,
2. Content Creation,
3. Posting and Sharing Content,
4. Developing New Relationships,
5. Fostering Existing Relationships,
6. Following Up With Current Prospects,
7. and Daily Gratitude.

Step #4 is Developing New Relationships

This is another really powerful step. In establishing new relationships-- consistent activities yield positive outcomes. That's just the fundamental thing. You need to do this regularly, and when you do, you get results. If you do not inherently know how you can do this, you could learn. There are trainings that will show you the best ways to. This is what is important though-- have a daily target. Say 5-10 new individuals each day that you are going to meet. You have to stay focused in the discussions. I recommend that you commit specific times to this task. When you are sending messages to people and interacting, that's all you do.

Where do I find people to establish relationships? This is a very common question individuals have. You possibly have heard about all the old-school networking techniques... go to the shopping mall, the 3-foot rule... those are all great means to meet people.

It is a lot easier on-line though. However, you've got to be very careful you don't go spamming people. Ways to meet people online include-- going to social media groups; if you are going to a group, you have to find a group that's active. You should not go into groups where it's just individuals putting on link after link after link. You need to be in a group where people are actually interacting. Another location to discover people is fan pages of people of influence. It's definitely a phenomenal way. You are going to find people all over there. Fan pages that actually have remarks and threads where people are paying attention. Where there is massive engagement taking place. You'll locate all sort of people there that you could network with.

And, what about friends of friends? There are lots of them that you can meet online also. They are all over social media. There are lots of methods to meet new individuals on social networking sites.

Exactly what do I say when I meet new people? Just be yourself. Do not aim to be me or another person. Do not aim to be the guy that's in your company that's like the super mega recruiter that recruited like fifty percent of Lagos and all of Accra or New York City. Don't be that person. Don't be the woman that's super glamorous and constantly getting her hair perfect and her nails done, that's not you. Be yourself.

For me the most convenient way to begin a conversation, is simply Hello. It literally can be just that simple. Remember, there are going to be errors along the way. Occasionally, you are going to say the wrong things to the wrong people. That's okay. Just keep things simple and you'll have some success. If you don't try at all, how do you make mistakes? How do you want to be successful?

Come back tomorrow for Step #5

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Wale_Bello/2304223

7 Steps For Results In Your Business - #3

So, here are the 7 daily action steps you must adopt to guarantee success in your business.

1. Personal Development,
2. Content Creation,
3. Posting and Sharing Content,
4. Developing New Relationships,
5. Fostering Existing Relationships,
6. Following Up With Current Prospects,
7. and Daily Gratitude.

Step #3 is Posting and Sharing Content

This is a truly vital step. You need to get your value in front of people. Your value needs to be something that you can share regularly with people to get them to be attracted to you. If you have their permission to connect with them, then do, regularly. The good thing about constant communication with your audience is that it also offers you the chance to share your business opportunity with them.

When sharing content, you have to get the most out of your time. There are lots of methods to do this and there are various tools that you can make use of that will help you get the task done. Tools that will permit you to publish and share your materials to the most places the fastest. Nonetheless, whatever tools you are going to utilize... don't utilize tools that make you appear to spam.

For instance, when you cut a YouTube video, you have the option of sharing it on your Facebook page, Google+ and your Twitter page. You could just click on the 3 icons and it will share it for you.

So, it's definitely essential to get your content out there. Figure out where others share their content. Where else besides Facebook, Google+ and YouTube. There are actually hundreds of places where you can get your materials posted and discovered.

Come back tomorrow for Step #4

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Wale_Bello/2304223

7 Steps For Results In Your Business - #2

So, here are the 7 daily action steps you must adopt to guarantee success in your business.

1. Personal Development,
2. Content Creation,
3. Posting and Sharing Content,
4. Developing New Relationships,
5. Fostering Existing Relationships,
6. Following Up With Current Prospects,
7. and Daily Gratitude.

Step #2 is Content Creation.

Whichever platform that you make use of, bring value. Whether it is blogging, producing YouTube videos, possibly you are involved a great deal with social media sites, whatever you have to be adding value.

By adding value, I mean, giving something that's going to help other people. Can you bring something to your target market that's going to assist them, inspire them, encourage them and educate them? Something that's going to change their lives?

So, what you intend to do is, right after you've found out something new, you develop content from what you just learnt. If you are doing personal development, if you are watching, reading, listening to things that are empowering you, that are educating you and developing you, and you go into content development immediately after that, you are going to have plenty of materials to produce. You are never ever going to run out of content. It could be something that was directly pertaining to that thing that you just learnt, or a concept that was triggered but out rightly different from it.

If you have no content, then you have got absolutely nothing. You just must have content. Your content is like your online REAL ESTATE. If you are not creating content, whether it's an article or video, how are people going to connect with you? How are they going to discover you, and how are they going to understand what you are all about? How are they going to know what you have to offer if you are not developing content?

For some of you, perhaps this is new. You are like "How can I create content? What is content creation?" If you prefer to write, you could start a blog where you publish daily, you could also record video clips. You can create a "how-to" video clip of doing particular things. A lot of people prefer to make use of social networks. Use social media sites if you are comfortable with that. Certainly as you do these things, you are undoubtedly going to see results in your home based business. But be rest assured that there will be some flaws and there will be need to improve your skills in some areas.

Another thing you could do is re-purposing your content. That's a method to enhance your content. If you published a blog, you can probably cut a video of what you just wrote about. If you cut a video, you can write a quick article about that video clip. By doing this you are maximizing your content. There are all kinds of ways you could use one idea to make more than one piece of content.

Come back tomorrow for Step #3

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Wale_Bello/2304223