The Viral Marketing Glossary

• A/B Testing: The process of testing two different versions of a marketing message or campaign to determine which performs better in terms of engagement and conversion rates.
• Amplification: The process of increasing the reach and impact of a message or piece of content through targeted promotion and advertising.
• Brand Advocacy: The process of turning satisfied customers into advocates for a brand, often through the use of referral marketing or other incentive-based programs.
• Branded Content: Content that is created and distributed by a brand for the purpose of promoting its products or services.
• Buzz Marketing: A marketing strategy that creates excitement and anticipation around a product or service through targeted campaigns and promotions.
• Call-to-Action (CTA): A prompt that encourages users to take a specific action, such as sharing content, making a purchase, or signing up for a newsletter.
• Content Marketing: A marketing strategy that involves creating and distributing valuable content to attract and retain a specific audience.
• Contagiousness: The degree to which content is likely to be shared and spread among a wider audience.
• Contagious Marketing: A marketing strategy that aims to create content or messaging that is highly shareable and likely to spread quickly through social networks.
• Contest Marketing: The use of contests or giveaways as part of a viral marketing campaign, often to encourage users to share content or engage with a brand.
• Conversion Rate: The percentage of users who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form, after engaging with a piece of marketing content.
• Dark Social: The sharing of content through private messaging channels, such as email or direct messaging, which can be difficult to track and measure.
• Earned Media: Media coverage or attention generated by a brand through organic or viral means, rather than through paid advertising.
• Emotional Appeal: The use of emotional triggers in marketing content to elicit a specific response or action from users.
• Engagement: The level of interaction that users have with content, typically measured by metrics such as likes, comments, and shares.
• Experiential Marketing: A marketing strategy that focuses on creating immersive and engaging experiences for customers, often through events or activations.
• Freemium: A free basic version, with paid premium features.
• Gamification: The use of game-like elements, such as points, rewards, and challenges, in marketing campaigns to engage users and drive specific actions.
• Going Viral: The process of a piece of content spreading rapidly and widely through digital channels, often achieving a high level of visibility and engagement.
• Growth Hacking: A marketing strategy that focuses on rapid experimentation and optimization, often using data-driven tactics to drive user acquisition and engagement.
• Hashtag: A word or phrase preceded by the pound sign (#), used on social media to categorize content and make it easily discoverable by other users.
• Inbound Marketing: A marketing strategy that focuses on creating content and experiences that attract users to a brand or product, rather than interrupting them with traditional advertising.
• Incentivized Sharing: The practice of offering rewards or incentives to users who share a piece of content with their friends or followers.
• Influencer: A person who has a significant following on social media and can influence the purchasing decisions of their followers.
• Influencer Marketing: A form of marketing that involves partnering with individuals who have a large following on social media to promote a product or service.
• K-factor: A metric that measures the number of new users generated by each existing user who engages with a piece of viral content.
• Meme: A cultural phenomenon or trend that spreads rapidly through social media and the internet.
• Meme Marketing: The use of memes or other viral cultural phenomena as part of a marketing campaign, often to tap into popular culture and engage younger audiences.
• Micro-Influencer: An influencer with a smaller following (typically between 1,000 and 100,000) who may have a more engaged and niche audience.
• Multi-Channel Marketing: The use of multiple digital channels, such as social media, email, and search advertising, to promote a marketing message or campaign and reach a wider audience.
• Network Effect: The phenomenon where a product or service becomes more valuable as more users adopt it, creating a virtuous cycle of growth and engagement.
• Organic Reach: The number of people who see a piece of content without paid promotion, typically influenced by factors such as engagement and shareability.
• Outbound Marketing: A marketing strategy that involves reaching out to potential customers through traditional advertising channels, such as TV, radio, or print ads.
• Paid Reach: The number of people who see a piece of content as a result of paid advertising or promotion.
• Referral Marketing: A form of marketing that encourages existing customers to refer new customers to a business or brand.
• Retargeting: The practice of showing ads or content to users who have previously engaged with a brand or visited its website, with the aim of encouraging them to take further action.
• Seed Audience: The initial group of individuals targeted by a viral marketing campaign with the aim of kickstarting the spread of the message.
• Seeding: The act of strategically distributing content to a specific group of individuals or communities with the aim of encouraging them to share it with others.
• Shareable Moment: A moment within a piece of content that is particularly engaging or attention-grabbing, and likely to be shared by users.
• Shareability: The quality of content that makes it easy to share with others, often measured by social media engagement metrics like
• Social Currency: The perceived value or status that users gain from sharing content that is seen as trendy, cool, or socially relevant.
• Social Listening: The practice of monitoring social media and other digital channels for mentions of a brand or product, in order to better understand customer sentiment and identify potential opportunities for engagement.
• Social Media Influencer: An individual who has built a large and engaged following on social media, and is able to influence the purchasing decisions of their audience.
• Social proof: The psychological phenomenon where people are influenced by the actions and opinions of others, and use this information to make decisions.
• Social Share Buttons: Buttons or widgets that allow users to easily share content on social media platforms, often placed on websites or digital content.
• Viral Content Strategy: A strategic approach to creating and promoting content that is highly shareable and likely to go viral, often involving the use of data analysis and other research techniques.
• Viral Co-creation: The process of involving users or consumers in the creation of viral content or marketing campaigns, often through the use of crowdsourcing or user-generated content.
• Viral Growth: The process of a brand or product achieving rapid and sustained growth through viral marketing and word-of-mouth referrals.
• Viral coefficient: A metric used to measure the rate at which a viral campaign spreads, based on the number of people who are exposed to the campaign and the number of people who subsequently share it with others.
• Viral Loop: The process by which a viral message or idea continues to spread and gain momentum over time, as more and more people become aware of it and share it with others.
• Viral Marketing Campaign: A marketing initiative that is designed to go viral, often through the use of highly shareable content or messaging.
• Viral Product Design: The process of designing a product or service with the aim of encouraging viral adoption and growth, often through the use of gamification or other incentive-based features.
• Viral Video: A video that has achieved viral status, often due to its entertaining or engaging nature, and has been shared widely across digital channels.
• Word-of-mouth marketing: A marketing strategy that involves encouraging customers to share their positive experiences with a brand or product with others, in order to create a viral buzz and generate new customers.