 
avant|marketer: What manner of firm should be seriously considering incorporating Viral Marketing tactics into their marketing mix? Are there certain categories of company or product that your research has shown to benefit more from leveraging Viral Marketing tactics than others?
Emanuel Rosen: A good first test is to ask the question of whether people talk about your firm's product already or not, even before you have tried any Viral Marketing. If they do, that's a good sign that there may be potential for stimulating additional discussion.
Typically, Viral Marketing works best for products that are, at some level, important to people, so that they would care enough to talk about them. And, in general, people talk about products that they find exciting, innovative, complex or risky in some way. Products and services that are based on personal experience
are also [more] likely [than average] to be talked about: hotels, music, cars, books, etc.
avant|marketer: In The Anatomy of Buzz, you speak about the effective identification and harnessing of "Network Hubs" as being critical to the success of Buzz Marketing campaigns. What exactly are Network Hubs and how do marketers effectively identify and harness Network Hubs in the online context, for Viral Marketing purposes?
Emanuel Rosen: Network Hubs are people who communicate with more people than average about a certain category of product. So, for instance, it may be someone online who tells everyone about the latest N'sync album.
The two most important characteristics of these people are that they are vocal and they are always hungry for new information.
How do you find them? Some of them are actually quite easy to identify, because they approach your company for new information. Firms need to treat such individuals well, and not scare them away. You'd be amazed how many companies don't even respond to emails from these people.
Another way to identify Network Hubs is to look for individuals who are vocal. In the online world, you can go to chat rooms and newsgroups and try to identify people who are obviously more influential in that group. You can also conduct surveys to identify these individuals.
Once you identify Network Hubs, you want to start working with them by letting them know about what's coming up next and by starting a conversation with them. The strategy is very similar to PR, but on a much larger scale.
avant|marketer: Why do you say, "on a much larger scale"?
Emanuel Rosen: Although "PR” stands for "public relations", many companies limit it to press relations. There's a significant difference between working with two hundred journalists and going after a broad, less visible population of thousands of Network Hubs.
avant|marketer: If a firm is contemplating the deployment of a Viral Marketing campaign, what steps do you advise that they take? What are the most important considerations to keep in mind, in your analysis?
Emanuel Rosen: Firms must begin by asking a simple question: When end-users use our product or service, is there any actual or potential person-to-person interaction with other individuals who might also use the product or service? Once you have identified points in the usage pattern of the product where there is - or may be - some interaction, you need to devise ways to stimulate or intensify that interaction.
A small example: Gardening products. The main interaction between the user and other individuals, in this case, is after the fact. People are proud of what they have accomplished and want to tell the world about it. So, the question here becomes: Is there a way to stimulate consumers to show what they have done to additional individuals? Perhaps, you let people post "before and after" pictures of their garden on your web site as part of a contest. Then you make it easy for them to invite their friends to view their entry. This isn't necessarily the best example - a little too complex - but it illustrates the concept: Identify why people want to talk. Then, give them an easy way to do it that ties to your brand.
Whatever specific Viral Marketing structure is employed, it must incorporate a reason for people to pass on the information that you give them. The ideal scenario is when a consumer forwards your message because they think very highly that your product or service. This is the best type of buzz, because it's likely to lead to actual sales. But often you can add something that will stimulate additional discussion - say, a funny picture or a clip that people will pass on to their friends. Perhaps, it's something you give for free. We've already discussed the concept of Network Hubs, so I won't repeat myself on this. But, identifying Network Hubs in different clusters, and then working with them, can be very effective [and should not be overlooked].
avant|marketer: Based on your research, what are the areas in which companies most frequently go astray in deploying Viral Marketing campaigns?
Emanuel Rosen: Viral Marketing is a relatively new field and people are being very creative, which is good. One thing to keep in mind, however: Firms must make it easy for people to spread the word. This was an important part of what made Hotmail spread so quickly. A new user could sign up in just 45 seconds. They kept this simple. They also kept their message simple.
Speaking of this example, it's important to keep in mind that, for the majority of companies, Viral Marketing should be part of a larger mix. Companies shouldn't disregard the basics [and put all resources solely into Viral Marketing]. Even in the case of Hotmail, they did use some Advertising. They did work hard on PR. And, they paid significant attention to interface design. It wasn't simply about adding that famous line, "Get your free e-mail at Hotmail.com."
avant|marketer: You mention the need for traditional advertising. What should the relationship between standard Internet Advertising - particularly branding-oriented advertising - and Viral Marketing be? Should advertising and Viral Marketing efforts be closely coordinated to achieve synergistic effects? If so, what manner of coordination is required for positive synergies to be realized?
Emanuel Rosen: It depends. In certain cases you can tie the Viral campaign very closely to your regular Internet Advertising. In other cases, this may work against you as you'll remind people that they are spreading an ad here. Everything depends on how people feel about your brand and ads, and on the nature of your Viral Marketing efforts.
avant|marketer: But, should Viral Marketing efforts precede traditional advertising efforts, and thereby be used to lay a solid foundation for traditional campaigns, or - conversely - should traditional advertising efforts precede the deployment of Viral efforts? For many of the more highly publicized cases of successful Viral Marketing, we seem to have instances in which Viral campaigns preceded any larger-scale traditional advertising efforts.
Emanuel Rosen: Typically, it is best to start with a Viral Marketing campaign and then follow-up with Advertising. Buzz happens when information is distributed unevenly. That is to say, when certain people possess information that others don't. The moment that information becomes common knowledge, there's less of a reason to pass it on.
avant|marketer: The most frequently cited Viral Marketing success stories, such as Hotmail and ICQ involve products that propagated very rapidly and widely without the use of incentives other than the inherent benefits of the products and services themselves? Yet, the suggestion is often heard that in order to successfully implement Viral Marketing campaigns, external incentives must be offered either to Network Hubs or to end users. What are your thoughts on the role of incentives in Viral Marketing?
Emanuel Rosen: I'm glad you make this point about Hotmail and ICQ. These are classic cases by now, but we should keep in mind that they are both communication tools that were given away for free, and the benefit to many users was significant. Giving something valuable for free is definitely going to help your message spread, but it isn't always feasible.
External incentives can be an effective addition, but they shouldn't be the main motivation for the recommendation. An incentive should come on a foundation of a product that people really like.
Another important consideration is to make sure, ahead of time, that your target group is comfortable with your incentive. A cash incentive that may be acceptable by one group of people, may make people in a different group uncomfortable. The sensitive issue here is that people don't want to feel cheap and that they are "selling their friends".
The ideal scenario is one in which you have a product that is well-liked by your customers, and then, you provide an incentive to these customers [to propagate your company's message] and reward the new customers [that the old customers generate], as well.
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