Tips for Managing B2B Viral Marketing Campaigns

At first sight, it might seem like an impossible job to create a viral marketing campaign targeted towards a B2B audience. For example, promoting a software product through viral means is more demanding than promoting a chocolate through the same means. :)  You have to think of new ways of promoting your product that are both ingenious and effective.

For B2C products, the job could be a lot easier. There are many viral videos out there, it is not a demanding job to create a contest or to use another technique that sparks a lot of buzz, but the purpose of a B2B campaign is very different :)   So what do people use for B2C marketing campaigns? Some techniques include funny videos, celebrity endorsements, sharing means, coupons, discount codes, the option to “tell a friend”. All these promotion means can apply to B2B campaigns as well, but there are many notable differences to be taken into account as well.

The difference between B2B and B2C is that the target audience is more selective. It is harder to get its attention; this is why you have to offer very interesting marketing content.

B2B viral campaigns can be made to promote launches of products, events invites or other significant services. Viral strategies must be inserted since the start of the campaign. So what is it that makes a B2B campaign truly viral?

Obviously, the main element is the content. Easy to share, funny, captivating content is the way to go.  But what if you are sick of the classic, wanna-be-viral videos? Especially since, in B2B, the number of views for example, on Youtube, is not the main criteria on which the success is validated. If the ROI is good, then the campaign is successful :)  The content must conjure feelings, which should be positive

My advice would be to use visual materials (infographics, ebooks, or industry studies) or other potentially viral pieces of content - funny apps, games.  Do not be afraid to think out of the box.

Some valuable tips would be to include a clear call to action, to use polls and surveys, and to make sure you have a special landing page.  Make your entire content social and easy to share. You can try to integrate content from what the friends/LinkedIn connections share on social networks.

Last but not least, make sure you have the right tools to measure signups, conversion rates, views or other metrics that are relevant to your campaign. This will help you ensure that your campaign can achieve its set up targets and that the ROI can be easily quantifiable.

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