Online Marketing and Project Management

WBD5300

Successful marketing plan

Consist of three components:

intention, context, and tactics.

Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat

- Sun Tzu, The art of war

Marketing strategy that includes social media should be more outcome-focused instead of activity-focused

E.g. “Increase event ticket sales by 25% from social media sources.”

When you market your online business through social media, you reach people at a time and place when they aren’t expecting it.

You’re selling in context. Your customers are not looking for something to buy right now, they’re enjoying what their friends, family, and colleagues are doing.

Social media represents a much more intimate connection between businesses (or brands) and customers

Viral Marketing

Viral marketing gets its name from the way in which physical viruses spread, which each individual unit replicating ceaselessly, creating exponential growth.

A viral marketing campaign relies on social media sharing and other online word-of-mouth tactics to reach large numbers of people through their friends and contacts.

A viral marketing campaign presents messages that consumers cannot resist sharing with their friends.

Viral marketing campaigns

Evian found great success with its Roller Babies campaign, which is the most-viewed viral advertisement of all time.

Department store John Lewis created a heartwarming ad featuring Buster the Boxer, a dog who loves jumping on a new trampoline.

The holiday themed ad drew a lot of attention on social media and other online platforms. According to AdWeek, the video received nearly 2 million shares online.

One of the most viral items of 2016 was the release of the mobile augmented reality gaming app Pokémon Go

The team did very little actual marketing for the release.

But because of the unique nature of the game and the recognisable characters and basic format, it caught on quickly. In fact, it broke the App Store’s records for most downloads within the first week.

The game is born out of an popular series which is loved by everyone. Therefore it already had a plus point.
Unique idea. The idea of the game is truely one in a million and the way it has been implemented is even better.
It's free. Since the game is free and easy to get it grew rapidly
A social network. The game itself creates a social network and it has now become a way of socializing. Peer pressure has led many people to download the game.
Social media buzz. The game soon became a social media buzz and it gained a lot of popularity

How did Pokémon Go became viral so quickly

References:

Sheahan, J., Spencer, S., Matzan, J. (2014) Social eCommerce: Increasing Sales and Extending Brand Reach. Beijing: O’Reilly Media