There is a lot of confusion about what is viral, I will try to shed some light on it from my understanding.
Here are my definitions for the different types and uses of the viral (in reference to web/marketing), which seem pretty simple...
(disclaimer: I am literally just coming up with these from my understanding and reading. I am yet to find a good book on it, so correct me if i am wrong or if you have further thoughts).
Viral Medium
I am taking this from this video on Guy Kawaski's blog. This is outside what people normally are talking about when they say viral but it is, to me, the most interesting. Viral mediums are simply ways in which people communicate and come across new things (virally). Originally this was word of mouth, phones, newspapers etc. But this completely changed with the rise of the Internet. People now communicate more often and with more people (including people they don't know).
The main viral mediums across the web that didn't exist before are:
- Email
- Instant Messaging
- Blogs
- Social Networks
In the video above Max Levchin (slide.com) makes an interesting point that if you can come up with the next power viral medium, or you can find a way of making an existing channel of a viral medium then you would be sorted (can't think of better word)
Viral Products
Best example of this is youtube, the product is just asking to be viral. You want to paste it on your blog, send it to your friends and spread its name. You will champion the product for its content not because you particular care what it is.
Social networks by there very nature are viral products, since you want to add your friends to the website. Anything where you create something lends itself to being a viral product because once you create something you will want to also distribute it (I am talking about blogs, videos, music etc.)
If you are doing a consumer website start-up and can not produce a viral product (or a viral enough product) then you would have a very hard time.
There is a lot more to be said in this category.
Viral MarketingWhen most people say viral, they probably mean viral marketing.
Wikipedia says it well
Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness, through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can often be word-of-mouth delivered and enhanced online; it can harness the network effect of the Internet and can be very useful in reaching a large number of people rapidly.
This is kind of fun but not really that interesting.. well it is interesting but everyone is already always talking about it. The only thing I would say is that its getting harder and harder to do viral marketing so it may seem easy and cheap but its not.
Viral = GoodI can't remember who I am getting this definition from so I apologise for not crediting them. Some people do just genuinely create something good or see something good and say thats going to "be viral" or thats "so viral". For example if you see a good video you might think its viral or if you see a good game etc, etc. This is very different from viral products, which are viral by there very nature, and the fact that these good things are viral might be because they go across viral mediums that never existed before. But essentially if all they are is good then its not really viral, is it?
The Viral = Good definition might be used to do viral marketing. If it is then I guess you can call it viral, but this is why I like the viral products and viral mediums better because they actually mean something tangible and something you can aim for and harness.
