Viral Marketing Referrals
By their very nature all viral marketing sites depend on referrals. But many of them do it tacitly, relying on the uniqueness or funny factor to induce people into passing it on.
That’s why this site is a new twist on the old theme - it overtly asks you to refer the site to your friends.
http://www.viralmarketinglessons.com/VirtualSeminar/ (this is a video showing the original site)
Here’s how it works:
1. You arrive at the site. In this case, it is a very attractive site with an easy action box on the right side. Audio is playing to make you feel welcome.
2. Once you optin you are asked to refer your friends to the site. It’s easy to do with the three blank boxes - and you are subconsciously asked to refer three people.
3. After your first round of referrals, you are taken to a page that gives you your referral link. Now they explain you can make money from sending your friends the coupon and you are given both a short and long email you can send.
Why does this format work?
1. This site is very attractive. It offers all of the features you want to see in a good landing page - good graphics, faces, audio, easy action box. Plus it has a scrolling list for even more movement. The names in the scroll list add more credibility to the site.
2. You have a choice. The action box gives you a choice of two coupons - $20 and $50. For the $50 coupon, they ask you to refer your friends to the site. So if you check that box you feel obligated to do so. The $20 coupon puts no stipulations on you, but how many people are willing to leave $30 on the table - instead of referring a few friends. Not many!
3. They make it very easy to make the referrals with both the fill-in-the-blank page and emails you can send. You feel good about offering a complimentary coupon to your friends and subscribers.
4. You can earn money by making the referrals - but you only learn that after you’ve valued the offer enough to take advantage of it yourself. So you are subconconsciously committed to the program already.
This viral marketing campaign is a good example of improving on the original idea of viral marketing and making it easier and more attractive for people to “pass it on.” If you want more people to pass on your information or offer, this is a good model.
Update: You can see the new version of the site here.
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Dr. Jeanette Cates is an Internet strategist who works with consultants and other experts who are ready to leverage their expertise into Online Success. She offers consulting at Brain Drain Special.