http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt5/viral-principles.htm

             The internet has changed the method in which businesses can connect with people and distribute their message.  For example, in the modern electronic age, the spending on internet advertising has exploded as companies take advantage of the cheapness and efficient nature of online advertisements that target users more precisely.   As a result, the rate of spread of information has  increased exponentially.  As companies adapt new strategies to connect with people online, the phenomenon known as viral marketing has proven to be an effective method of reaching large numbers of individuals and quickly creating a customer base.   The goal of a viral marketer is to create buzz or a popularity wave about a product or idea, so that the idea spreads widely.Viral marketing is an strategy in which companies create an type of ad or media that connects with views and by its unique nature encourages viewers to spread it to their acquaintances.  This tactic relies on exploiting the digital version of the old-fashioned word of mouth phenomenon and can result in the marketer’s ad being rapidly spread throughout a network, like a virus, at little to no cost to the business.  Although it is cheap, one of the drawbacks is that the company does not have direct control of the message as it is being passed along, so it is possible for it to be

        Initially, viral marketing was grounded in chain emails that promised the receiver some sort of compensation such as free services, gifts, or promotions.  A famous example of this is Hotmail’s huge growth of 12 million users using chain emails by encouraging people to forward the email to their friends with the promise of free and fast email account.  With the introduction of YouTube and Facebook, viral marketing moved into videos and applications.  It is interesting to note that the success of a viral campaign is dependent on how well it is able to reach the viewers on a personal level.  If more people are able to identify with the campaign culturally, morally, or ideologically, the rate of spread increases.  It is also interesting to observe the evolution of viral marketing in correlation with the technology available.  As technology increases, the viral campaign available to the viewer is able to reach them on a more individual level.