A true viral campaign gets forwarded because consumers are compelled to do so by the glory of the content, not because you bribed them with points or something else.

Stop with the enforced e-mail forwards already! Trying to force or bribe people to forward your info to a friends or relatives in order to be rewarded or win looks skanky in today’s ultra-permission-based world.  when you tell visitors nothing about their friend’s or family’s privacy in the space directly next to the e-mail form.

Suggesting that e-mail recipients forward your message to their friends & relatives will not work. Adding a line at the bottom of your e-mail that reads “Please feel free to forward this message to a friend” is more likely to get it deleted than forwarded.

What absolutely will not work:

Offering something worthy of sharing like a valuable discount, vital information or offering an incentive for sharing like additional entries into a sweepstakes or an added discount or premium service will work.

What absolutely will work:

Relevant or timely information, research, or studies that are included in your e-mail might encourage the recipients to share with their relatives & friends. Interactive content like a quiz or check,  if it’s fun, will inspire forwarding.

Jokes & cartoons are almost always forwarded to everybody the recipient knows.  Why?  Because they are entertaining & entertainment is meant to be shared.

A  lovely multimedia experience is always going to achieve a lot of pass-along. Rich media is new & the novelty & tech factors alone are often  to make the e-mail recipient eager to share it.

Oops!  almost forgot one  important thing….You can craft a amazing e-mail following all the rules, but if a consumer visits your site & has an experience less that what was promised, you are going to achieve viral marketing, alright…the bad kind.  So be certain that your product or service is ready & is as advertised.