Boris Veldhujzen van Zanten from the Next Web has a great post called Forget Viral Marketing. It Is All About Reverberating Marketing! . I completely agree with his choice of HATING the term viral marketing. I have never been able to fully stomach the term “viral.” I understand the concept of spreading but Boris hits it right on the head when he says:
I never liked the term Viral Marketing. It just sounds like bad karma. Viruses are associated with diseases and death. Do you want to associate your product or service with that?
It also sounds too easy. All these marketeers being asked for, or offering, a quick ‘Viral Campaign’ by clients. That is like asking for a quick number one music hit or a quick successful start-up. Wishing for it doesn’t make it so.
He proposes to use the phrase Reverberate Marketing instead of Viral Marketing. I like the concept of Reverberation as an echo… spreading from individual to individual. You could also use the term Echo Marketing.
Echo and Reverberate Marketing has a lot to do with social media marketing. Whether you are a small business or corporate entity, we all strive to create a story that will be repeated (over and over again). Social media marketing is the one platform that allows for echo and viral marketing to happen.
How do you utilize social media to spread a story? How do you use blogging, facebook, linkedin, and Twitter to communicate with potential and current clients?
Do you Echo?
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I have been echoing Google’s message since being introduced to them by a couple of geeks in 2002.
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but Google’s ad budget consisted of three billboards in silicon valley, their message has been reverberating freely ever since.
Viral Marketing? Doesn’t exist. Nobody can create a viral. It’s the people who decide if something goes viral or not.
Viral Marketing = Digital Word of Mouth Marketing = Word of Mouse Marketing. One can pass the word by a single mouse click.
I know what you’re saying, but neither Echo or Reverberate Marketing really do it for me.
For one reverberate marketing is a bit of a mouthful!
But mainly because viral marketing suits the action! Viruses, like viral marketing campaign grow exponentially, beyond anything envisaged usually.
Echoes and reverberations get generally weaker with every itteration.
At the end of the day, its all semantics and we should all be able to deal with it.
That my tuppence worth . . .
Great post! I totally agree with your dislike of the term “viral.” It’s kind of like “buzz” to me. “Buzz” indicates quick, meaningless interaction. If we’re striving to create a story that will be repeated, we need to focus on sustainable interaction and dialogue.
[...] thought about this after reading Kyle Lacy’s post where he talks similarly about the use of the word ‘viral.’ His alternative? Echo and [...]