For most businesses, the chance to achieve viral growth seems small to nil. They see vitality as something that happens to the odd post on social media and certainly not something that will happen to them. They’re discounting some of the most impressive success stories to have come out of marketing circles in recent years, though, especially where new tech-based products are concerned. Keep reading to learn how your business can leverage insights from these cases in order to generate your own viral growth in the coming year.
Leading With the Product
You might think that you always lead with your product in your marketing. After all, it’s the thing you’re trying to sell. However, most marketing also involves a brand, a vision, and a claim that shoppers will not be able to verify without first buying and trying your product. This is where product-led growth (PLG) comes in. In this strategy, you offer your product as cheaply as possible, and with as little friction as possible, in the hope that those who engage will become your marketing champions in their own right, introducing your offer to friends, family, and colleagues.
Some of the best examples in this space come from the tech world. This is a strategy pioneered by the likes of Amazon and Netflix. Both have dabbled with the free subscription model to show off what customers get, hoping that users will be so impressed and enticed that they will end up paying for the service and introducing others to it. It’s proven highly successful for those firms and for thousands of others, and it could prove successful for you, too.
Introduction Discounts
A different form of the product-led growth idea centers around using your existing customers as marketers too, but this time in giving them rewards for introducing others to your business. In many cases, this can be coupons they can spend in your store, free months of subscription to your service, or even just a cash reward they can spend as they wish. You determine the reward and send out emails informing your existing customers of what they can earn. All that remains is for them to contact their networks in order to accrue these rewards.
This strategy has proven to be remarkably successful with many businesses, especially those that offer monthly packages that they send to consumers, for instance, wine or groceries. By offering existing customers a free package, firms saw a huge uptick in the number of new sign-ups. This process can theoretically continue exponentially, seeing you pick up viral growth on the back of your generous reward system to existing customers.
Using Social Media
Virality as a digital concept was first developed in response to social media. It was here that posts could turn “viral”, getting the likes and shares necessary to be seen all across the world. Viral social media posts have now been studied by academics and marketers alike, revealing some of the key dynamics at play in getting a post to go viral. Companies often fare less well in going viral, but when they do, they see a huge reward in terms of brand exposure and engagement.
So, how can you go about setting up a viral growth plan on social media? The first step should be hiring someone who has a track record of delivering brilliant social media traffic and engagements at businesses. They will help you form an action plan that achieves more impressions, more clicks to your website, and more sign-ups or purchases. Over time, this can develop into a long-term strategy of viral growth.
Get Covered
Finally, you could always choose the traditional path of going viral, which is to say you could choose to go via traditional media, such as newspapers, television, and radio. Here, you don’t want to simply run advertisements, although these, if executed perfectly, can lead to viral growth on their own. You want to become the news, the talked-about subject, and to do that, you need to think of an off-the-wall way to market your brand to journalists.
Countless examples of this form of marketing exist, including the famous Pepsi advert that promised a Harrier fighter jet to the person who collected a certain number of codes from the cans of the soft drink. That became a story in itself, generating sales and talking points that enhanced the cola drink’s standing in the market.
Consider using one or more of these viral marketing tips to see your business achieve high levels of growth in the coming year.
