Media Spotlight: Viral Loop - The Power of Pass-it-on By Adam Peneberg
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Over the last 20 years the way in which we interact with people has been redefined by the internet.
Everything from dating, meeting up with and talking to friends, checking the football scores, listening to music and watching films is possible via the web.
And it goes without saying it’s also fundamentally changed the way in which we do business, and no more so than in the mortgage market.
Yes, you still hear of the odd Luddite who hasn’t embraced the online revolution. One lead generation firm recently told me how it was amused to get a phone call from a broker who didn’t have a computer but didn’t see that as a barrier to getting online leads.
Instead they wanted a member of staff to read them the details over the phone. Needless to say, the broker was left disappointed.
For many firms their shop window is their website and using the internet to interact with consumers and increase their client base is a big part of the job.
Viral Loop The Power Of Pass-It-On by Adam Penenberg takes a look at how internet brands like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Hot or Not, used viral marketing to become sites that we now use in our personal and business lives.
Penenberg starts his analysis of online viral marketing by first looking at early viral marketeers in the US in the 1900s, from the illegitimate scams of Charles Ponzi in 1919 to the legitimate selling of Earl Silas Tupper’s Tupperware boxes.
In 1948 Tupper developed and patented his Tupperware boxes, but selling them was a trickier thing. His saviour was the improbably named Brownie Wise, a single mother who started arranging Tupperware parties to flog lunchboxes.
What sold the boxes was word of mouth, one person is introduced to something and they tell another person. This idea has continued to grow to this day with people using it to sell everything from sex aids to gold.
US sub-prime brokers, as a recent documentary revealed, were even using church groups as social networking opportunities to flog their wares.
But the main thrust of the book is how early pioneers of the internet, from Netscape and Hotmail to Bebo and eBay, used viral marketing and social networking to expand their user base. Essentially it’s using Joe Public to market your brand on your behalf.
For example, the early pioneers of Hotmail, before Bill Gates got involved, had the bright idea to include an advertisement for the site at the bottom of every email that was sent out by their users, thereby spreading the word.
Good brokerages have long based their businesses around this principle and the credit crunch has emphasised what a vital marketing tool your client bank can be. For example, your client might not need another mortgage, but how about a will or protection policy?
Online marketing tools like Twitter, LinkedIn, social network creator site Ning and Facebook take this to another level. Why write a single email when, by leaving regular updates on social network sites, there is the potential to not just target your existing client bank, but also friends and family who are linked to them?
Penenberg’s book is a fascinating examination of past and present viral strategies, and shows how we can all use the internet to better market our businesses.
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