Viral marketing is all the rage. The success of many products and brands demonstrated the eclectic power the digital media possess in inspiring consumers to respond to a more intimate interaction with a brand. This phenomenon has caught the attention of sundry businesses including Dagley Insurance and Financial Services in Katy, Texas. The marketing team at Dagley looked at social media outlets as the optimal medium that to promote and sell auto insurance, homeowners insurance, commercial insurance, life insurance and financial services.

The question is, what is the role of viral marketing in the social media campaign?

Viral marketing is the process of distributing promotional materials through user-initiated efforts. In other words the company provides content that is entertaining, informational or otherwise interesting to the target demographic and that target demographic under their own volition forwards the information to friends and family in their circle. Chances are that you have been a critical link between the company who created the branding message and thousands or even millions of uninitiated viewers of this subliminal type campaign.

Let us look at two giant companies who initiated successful viral marketing campaigns – Nike Japan and Dove, Campaign for Real Beauty.

Nike Japan wanted to re-ignite the youth’s affinity to their tag-line “Just Do It”. They encouraged young people to submit a video of themselves doing a killer move in any physical activity of their choice. The chosen videos were used by Nike in traditional advertising campaigns but the multitude of submissions were the real home run for Nike as they were sent back and forth over and over again reaching millions on the web branding their name and successfully re-igniting the tag line.

Dove’s Campaign For Real Beauty was a simple video that was developed to have the vital components of previous videos that have gone viral interwoven with their marketing creativity.  It simply showed the transformation of woman’s face in a way that was captivating.  This too was sent around the virtual world effectively providing the impressions that the company sought.

A few things to consider: First neither company was trying to sell a product, just branding, and secondly they take a single-minded proposition. Both are true of all top viral marketing efforts. Further, and most importantly, when considering how this could be implemented for a small company, the Nike model can be initiated with little or no cost, it’s called user generated content (UGC). The very idea of this should get all business involved in some capacity. Dagley Insurance sure isn’t missing the boat.

Yes, they identified that social media marketing and all of its aspects and nuances are vital to growth.  It truly offers them the best opportunity to promote their full line of auto insurance, homeowners insurance, commercial insurance, life insurance and financial services as well as to develop a more intimate relationship with their market. It is, after all, the most honest medium to date. Viral marketing is a step above traditional media because it offers immediate opportunity for your brand to be accessed by the consumer but beyond that, it is still very close to the good old traditional advertising. It still needs a single-minded approach, needs to be short and to have a breakthrough idea.

If you are in a business you need to know that social media marketing must now be a line item I your marketing budget. Additionally, you need to know that all clients of Dagley Insurance are provided with a social media-marketing package as a benefit of being a client. They extend their knowledge so that it helps grow your business. What’s your insurance company doing for you?

Contact Dagley Insurance if you would like to be more than a client.