Advantages of Viral Marketing through Content Distribution
The principle of viral marketing works very much like a computer
virus. Left unchecked, a computer virus will affect one PC to
the next. But unlike a computer virus, which is harmful, viral
marketing is harnessed for good. It is very effective in
spreading word about your business. The logic is very simple.
Catch it, and then pass it on.
So, how does viral marketing fit with content distribution? I'm
glad you asked. If you offer high quality articles, white
papers, reports, ecourses or ebooks, you can be sure that they
will be passed around to others, and others will pass them on to
others and so on and so forth thus producing a 'viral' effect.
Unlike a computer virus, this kind of virus works for you and it
harms no one. Soon you'll find your writings circulating around
the Internet.
Drive targeted web traffic to your site
An effective way to introduce your website is through content
distribution. Targeted visitors will arrive at your website when
they click the links in your ebooks or resource box at the end
of your articles. You stand to gain more website traffic through
the 'viral' effect of content distribution.
Earn credibility
Writing quality articles, ezines, ecourses, ebooks, white papers
and reports will quickly establish you as an expert in your
field. You will earn credibility if the content you have written
provides solutions to people's problems. That's the reason why
'How tos' articles and ebooks are popular and in great demand.
Increase link popularity
Another advantage of distributing free content is gathering
inbound links. When people post your articles or distribute your
ebooks on their website they are in essence providing one-way
links to your website. If these one-way links originate from
quality websites it will boost the pagerank of your web page.
Writing and distributing quality articles or ebooks will
increase your web page link popularity.
Make backend sales
The primary reason experienced marketers offer free content is
to build their opt-in lists. They offered what they termed
'front end products' in the form of free content. Their strategy
is to get people to their website to signup for their mailers.
Eventually through the mailers they make 'backend sales'.
Make extra income through affiliate programs
Another added advantage of distributing free content via ebooks
is the opportunity to make extra income through affiliate
programs. You could easily insert affiliate links into your
ebooks. Some words of caution here though...
1.You must insert affiliate links that are relevant to the
content of your ebook.
2.Insert affiliate links strategically, discretely and
sparingly. Don't turn your ebook into one mega sales promotion.
Provide your readers with quality content, not sales pitch.
Most newbies to Internet marketing do not take advantage of the
effectiveness of viral marketing to make profits and build their
opt-in lists. Their hands are already full, learning how to
start and run their online business, that they have no time to
write quality content for distribution.
Any aspiring online marketer should invest time to research and
write quality content for distribution or invest money to hire
someone to do the job. After all, the Internet is about
information. Majority of people surf the Net to harvest
information first and foremost. So, quality content is in great
demand now and will still be in the future.