Viral promotion involves:
a. leveraging a firm’s customers to promote a product or service.
b. sending a pre-written set of messages to customers or prospects over time.
c. emphasizing customer retention and satisfaction, rather than a dominant focus on sales transactions.
d. paying celebrities to use a product visibly to lure customers into unwittingly buying the product.
e. offering rebates and incentives to customers for adopting a product or service.
The correct answer and explanation is :
The correct answer is:
a. leveraging a firm’s customers to promote a product or service.
Explanation
Viral promotion, often referred to as viral marketing, is a strategy where businesses encourage their customers to spread information about a product or service, much like a virus spreads from person to person. This technique leverages word-of-mouth and social sharing to create exponential awareness and engagement.
The core principle behind viral promotion is that people trust recommendations from friends, family, or influencers more than traditional advertising. Companies design their campaigns in a way that makes it easy, exciting, or rewarding for customers to share the content. This could be through social media shares, referral programs, contests, or user-generated content.
A well-executed viral promotion can significantly boost brand recognition and sales without a massive advertising budget. Examples of viral marketing include:
- Social Media Challenges – Like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which raised millions for charity.
- Referral Programs – Companies like Dropbox grew rapidly by offering extra storage for users who referred friends.
- Meme Marketing – Brands use humorous or relatable memes to engage audiences and encourage sharing.
- Influencer or User-Generated Content – Encouraging customers to create and share content featuring a product.
Unlike traditional paid promotions, viral marketing relies on organic engagement. However, achieving virality is unpredictable and depends on various factors like timing, audience interest, and content appeal.
While other answer choices involve promotional tactics (e.g., rebates, celebrity endorsements, and customer retention efforts), they do not fit the definition of viral promotion, which focuses on leveraging customer networks to spread brand awareness.
Here is an image visually representing viral marketing, illustrating how content spreads through a network of people via social media