Viral marketing is a way of using existing social networks to reach an audience for campaigns and advertising on the internet. The idea is that, if the message is good enough, people will tell their friends about it through email, Facebook posts, Tweets etc. People are more likely to value the opinion of their friends, so if the message is successful then a large amount of viewers can be reached for a relatively small outlay.

Unions have been experimenting with viral marketing for a number of years, with varying degrees of success. The TUC was one of the first to experiment with this approach with the ‘Comfort breakdown’ animation in 2005. The humorous video featuring a dog undergoing work break issues was aimed at younger, white collar non-union members to promote the ‘join a union’ feature on the Worksmart website. More followed, including the ‘Why the long face’ song and video targeted at betting shop workers for the Community union.

Vadodaria cosmetic surgery wanted a website for their dimple creation service.

A key aspect of the project was search engine optimisation to ensure a high position in organic search results, and so a strategy was put in place to ensure good results on an ongoing basis.

The project also involved consulting on the use of social networking systems to increase the visibility and customers to the business.

Visit the website at www.dimplecreations.co.uk.

The increasing importance of the media has been a feature of recent general elections. This next election is no exception, but one thing that has changed is the emphasis on online campaigning.The Obama campaign was much heralded for clever use of online strategy. Some of this was hype though – the failed Democrat nominee John Edwards and Republican nominee Ron Paul actually had more advanced online campaigns. However, when it came down to a battle between Obama and McCain, the Democratic candidate’s superior use of the internet was seen a key contributor to his success. Now British political parties are targeting online campaigning like never before.