Viral Campaigns Waste Marketers’ Time
For a long time now, advertisers and journalists alike have been singing the praises of viral marketing campaigns, especially with the advent and rise of social networks. However, a new report out by JupiterResearch could have marketers playing a different tune.
In “Viral Marketing: Bringing the Message to the Masses,” JupiterResearch analysts have found that a mere 15% of viral campaigns launched within the last year have proven successful. The report also stated that within the next year the use of this particular method will decrease as much as 55%. The ineffectiveness of viral campaigns comes mostly from misdirected tactics, preventing brand delivery and lasting power.
The response of analysts is to target “influentials” when launching a viral campaign, but to do this; marketers must first understand their audience. Emily Riley, analyst for Jupiter said in a statement that, “Viral marketers often send one campaign to all influentials. Different influential groups not only respond very differently to advertising campaigns, but also influence other in very different ways.”
Continuing, the report said that “relatively younger” users are less likely than “relatively older” users to forward advertising messages and communicate with friends about ads. Older users have an increased use of email and video where younger users are on social network more often.
JupiterResearch president, David Schatsky said in the statement, “There are definitely pitfalls associated with the social networking sites. While these sites may appear to be the most effective manner of delivering a message regardless of brand appropriateness, by failing to truly understand the audience, viral marketers stand to alienate as many consumers as they interest.”
He concluded, “Advertisers should be cognizant of the fact that attempts to reach outside their brand images or target demographics and only end up looking like they are trying too hard.”
Reader Comments.
- Pingback from 5691gerg » Blog Archive » Anti Virus??
- Pingback from 5691gerg » Blog Archive » Why the Disconnect?
Leave a Comment
Article Sponsor
More News
Features
- Automakers Need to Become Better Conversationalists July 2nd 2009
- Affiliates can win in the media buy game July 2nd 2009
- Crowd-Sourced Ads: A Measured Response June 28th 2009
- Is the government coming for you? June 28th 2009
- Customer Loyalty: How to Earn It June 25th 2009
-
Loading ...
Latest News
- Readers weigh in on ATT, ad networks and the iPhone July 2nd 2009 ADOTAS — In our weekly poll, readers overwhelmingly said that [...] more »
- Hiring, promotions, location, partnerships and product news July 2nd 2009 ADOTAS — Internet Oldtimers Foundation, Jumptap, eXelate, Kampyle, The Digital [...] more »
- OPA large ad units unfurl across the web July 1st 2009 ADOTAS — The Online Publishers Association said a group of [...] more »
- Email spam in June worst since 2007 July 1st 2009 ADOTAS — MessageLabs Intelligence released its numbers for June, and [...] more »
- Joost becomes YouTube roadkill, starts layoffs July 1st 2009 ADOTAS — Despite reworking its technology to work in a [...] more »
- Ad networks, not websites, choked on Michael Jackson news July 1st 2009 ADOTAS — The news of the pop star’s death saw [...] more »
- StrongMail doubling down on social media, buys PopularMedia July 1st 2009 ADOTAS — StrongMail has announced that it acquired PopularMedia, a [...] more »
Spotlight
Trust Me – I’m a Professional … SEOADOTAS — At WebMetro we typically provide SEO Action Plans as part of campaigns. As the name implies, an SEO [...] more...
Reader Favorites
Layoff Tracker
- AOL - 700
- Apple - 50
- Clear Channel - 2,800 total (1,000 currently)
- Google - 340
- IBM - more than 7,800
- Joost - about 90
- MySpace - in June, about 720
- World Avenue - 30 percent of workforce
- Yahoo - 2,220 total, about 700 currently
- Zango - closes, about 90, in addition to earlier layoffs
Classifieds
Recent Comments
- minnickup: Hello, I found your forum is www.adotas.com after I have been surfing the internet to be
- Josette Davids: Great article and an amazing time was had by all at this event. I'm an
- Mike Poserina: There is also a tragic flaw rumored in Bing's ad placement engine. When resolved,
- Andy: Erin, Never mind the commenters who can only see the negative side of things. I thank you
