Advice You - Business

In my experience and research, I’ve found that viral marketing can be a positive or negative advertising method. Some companies use it correctly while others let campaigns turn negative and spiral out of control. And some people believe that viral marketing campaigns are so expensive that only big companies can implement them on larger scales. This, however, is entirely untrue as viral marketing can work for any size business. This articl

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

e will define viral marketing, describe how it works, and discuss examples and strategies for small businesses.

The specific definition of viral marketing differs from person to person. However, everyone generally agrees that viral marketing is an advertising method that gets customers to market your products and services for you. More specifically, I would say that it’s an advertising method that capitalizes on humanity’s predisposition

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

to share ideas, make new connections, and, of course, get free stuff.

When Does Viral Marketing Work Best?

Viral marketing is a touchy advertising method. Use it at the right times with the right products and your name can spread like wildfire. However, employ it incorrectly and you could see some very negative results. Viral marketing works best when a product or service is easy to

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

use, easy to explain, has a low level of commitment, and is generally seen as “cool” in your customers’ eyes. Let’s look at these characteristics in order:

Easy to use – Because you are having your own customers do the marketing for you, it is preferable that their experience with the product is positive. If it’s difficult to use and they dislike the product, why would they refer it to a friend?

Easy to explain<

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

strong> – Your product needs to be simple – that is, people can quickly share it without being bogged down by details. Ever wonder why those videos on file sharing websites get passed around the Internet so quickly? All you have to do is tell a friend about a great video on the Internet and give them the link. It’s simple with no explanation.

Low Level of Commitment – Finally, your product must have a low level of commit

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

ent. A friend once wanted me to sign up for one of those Internet pyramid schemes that offer a free IPOD or flat panel TV if you get 10 people to join a program. If you actually follow through with one of these things, it takes about 30 minutes to sign up because you have to give endless amounts of information, uncheck every free email box, and finally sell your soul. No one in their right mind would do this more than once.

Gener

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

al Coolness Factor – It’s obvious that people only want to talk about the most exciting products they use. No one walks up to a friend and describes the latest underwear they’ve bought. Instead, they describe their new cell phone, poster, CD, or book. If your product is cool, people will talk about it. And in most cases, the “coolness factor” can be changed based on how you position the product in your customers’ minds. In other

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

ords, it’s all based on the advertising that goes along with it.

Viral Marketing – The Distant Cousin of Buzz Marketing

So we’ve established that a product itself can bring about a viral result if it has the four characteristics. But viral marketing can still work for products that do not meet these criteria if you can generate an adequate buzz for them. Buzz marketing is generated fro

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

m catchy advertising and works when your customers talk about your product in day-to-day conversation.

In recent years, buzz marketing has worked for companies like Volkswagen and Burger King. However, I’m saying that buzz marketing has worked for these companies – not viral marketing. Buzz marketing all too often generates hype about the ad campaigns that feature the product and not the product itself. Sometimes this can be neg

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

tive and divert attention away from your product. Although some would argue that Crispin Porter’s attempt at targeting VW enthusiasts’ hearts was genuine when they came out with the “MyFast” and the “Unpimp” commercials, they do not make me want to buy a VW – an item that definitely falls outside of the four criteria.

Sure you can have catchy advertising, but make sure it’s advertising that focuses on product. Buzz marketing is more of a

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

awareness campaign. And in my experience, small businesses need to see a return on their advertising investments – they can’t afford to just promote awareness of their products. You can’t just produce a buzz-worthy campaign that people will forget the second the advertisements come down. The goal is to get the product in peoples’ hands for the viral effect to occur.

Can Viral Marketing Work Offline? And for a Small Business?

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

Sure it can. I’m sure you’ve read viral marketing success stories involving Hotmail, NetZero, Skype, and even the comedian Dane Cook who used MySpace.com for his viral marketing campaign. This might get a lot of people thinking that they need large scale campaigns that utilize websites, emails, and constant updates to online material. But there’s one great example I’d like to share with you where a business employed a vira

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

marketing campaign without much use of the internet and on a very small scale.

A local gym that I once went to had a great idea to hand out free t-shirts if members signed up for their “Guests First” program. They stopped everyone at the door, handed them a t-shirt, and told them that they could get a free guest pass every time they wore the shirt to the gym (the shirt had the gym’s logo and location on it). To sign up, the members only

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

had to verify the information they gave when they first became a gym member. It was a win-win for customers. Everyone started wearing the t-shirts and the guest passes started flying. Whenever a guest came in, they had to give their name and email address to the front desk. Later, an email would be sent to the guest to gauge their satisfaction with the gym. It also acted as a follow-up contact to the guest. This was, by far, the most int

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

lligent and well thought out marketing scheme I had ever seen. The gym built a database of new potential customers, generated hype about the guest passes in town, put walking advertisements out on the street, and, in the end, got more people in the gym. And it was all done on a small scale.

Would Viral Marketing Work for Your Business?

As I said before, there are times when viral marketing works and times when

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

t doesn’t. You really need to take a close look at your products and the behavior of your customers to see if it’s right for your business.

Products – Take one of your cheap, low cost, low involvement products and start handing it out for free. If you are a service-based business, start offering free trials of your low cost services. Start advertisements about the giveaways to get more people in your place of business. B

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

e humorous and ironic – it tends to work better with viral marketing campaigns. If the products and services get high visibility, you will see a more viral effect. Even if you only carry expensive products that get low visibility, research on the internet or spy on competitors to see what types of giveaway items have worked for other businesses. Remember, choose something that people will always see or have a use for and associate it with

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

your brand and business.

Customer Behavior – A successful viral marketing campaign also relies on the behavior of your customers. You need customers who are outgoing, friendly, and lead an active lifestyle. The more people that surround your customer, the more impressions your viral marketing tool will have. Remember, viral marketing, or any advertising, works best when you can achieve multiple impressions with the least

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

amount of effort. The last person you want to test viral marketing on is some recluse that sits inside eighteen hours a day and emerges only to restock the fridge and drive to work. It’s about getting your customers to do the work for you and advertising is all about visibility. It only makes sense that you need a highly visible customer base to do this type of advertising.

Go Out and Do It!

Viral marketing ca

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

work for almost any business. You know your business and customers the best. Set aside some time in the next few weeks to try and think of some great viral marketing tactics that you can employ. If you think the risk is too great, start small to test the water.

Every business has customers. Few businesses have fans. The trick is turning your customers into loyal fans. Then you will be surprised at just how easy viral marketing really is

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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Advice You - Viral Marketing for Small Businesses

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