The "horrors" of viral marketing


Viral marketing is a simple word for the phenomenon when consumers like information so much that they share it everywhere. In order for information to become viral, it must affect the most natural instincts that each person has. For example, fear, sex, etc.

But one word “Boo!” Will not be enough to make people fearful. Remember the terrible stories of childhood that we all listened to in children's camps and schools. Everyone, probably, had a case when the most charismatic or soulful friend was amusing or scaring friends with horror stories about the “black coffin on wheels” or “the little girl in the forest” for the night.


Adults also love horror stories. Therefore, so often “black2 marketers use this method to prepare people for the perception of this or that information. No, product advertising does not go in the most terrible story! Everything happens a little differently.

Let's look at one example and at the same time listen to a very scary story, which was issued as a real sensational news.


In one electric train in Japan, electrical wiring caught fire and passengers urgently left the cars. After that, in one of the cars, the police found a terrible find - a plastic container of a dissected girl inside. The most shocking thing was that the girl was alive! The number “72” was written on the container. The police then could not figure out what happened to this child, because someone had cut her vocal cords.

Only a few years later, when the girl was 20, the world learned about what had happened to her.

A Kikumi girl once got into a car to an unfamiliar man who put her to sleep. She woke up in the room with the operating table in the middle. There were girls who had arms and legs amputated. Kikume herself also realized that she did not feel the howl of her left hand. She could not scream.

The story told about an old man with kind eyes, who collected live dolls. He cared for the girls, fed and watered, loved in his own way ...


In general, then the Internet was filled with this content, the world gasped and everyone turned to Japan. And there…

It turned out that only the musician Dan Kubo, who recorded the track 72 (The Story of Kikumi Totoro), won in this story.


What are the conclusions for marketers?

Viral marketing is a rather complicated matter. Most often, it requires a lot of effort and energy (at first, it will still need to invest in distribution), and the result can be very short-lived, since viruses do not live long, as the wave of interest in such content quickly subsides. However, there is a chance to catch the second wave, but this is not calculated.

It is best to use this type of marketing for brand awareness and SEO sites. After all, people love to refer to sources of information. The main thing here is that disappointment in the virus does not affect your brand. Therefore, with this type of marketing you need to be as careful as possible.


The company Futureinapps is engaged in the promotion of online business. We will help you develop without risks and offer the most effective promotion tools and the best specialists.

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