Web Development

How to Utilize the Gmail Invite Marketing Model

The very first successful use of online viral marketing strategies can be credited to Hotmail.com. It was in 1997 that the term “viral marketing” was coined by Tim Draper, a Harvard Business Scholl graduate, to describe the successful campaign of Hotmail.com to attract new email subscribers. The method used was actually simple. It mainly involved placing a self-advertisement link for every outgoing message sent by the email subscribers. The advertisement link offered free email accounts. When clicked, the link also automatically opens a subscription page. This viral marketing method served as a template model for the Gmail invite marketing campaign.

Although there are similarities with the Hotmail.com marketing campaign, the Gmail invite marketing campaign was more sophisticated. It has overcome the limitations of the original Hotmail.com marketing model. The latter’s viral marketing campaign was limited in terms of speed and reach. Although it was very successful, it was not as fast or as far-reaching as the Gmail approach. This was primarily because it relied mainly on the outgoing email messages from subscribers. It did not have automated referral leverage. One outgoing message is only equivalent to one possible new subscriber. Multiple outgoing email messages need to be sent to also ensure multiple exposure of the advertisement link. The advertisement link, on the other hand, can also be easily ignored.

The Gmail invite marketing model uses a referral form that can automatically send invitations to multiple recipients. Signing-up for the Gmail services will also require new subscribers to enter referrals. This method significantly multiplied the leveraging potential of the campaign. Similar methods are now used by many startup online businesses in promoting their products. Although higher level of automation and leverage is now possible, the Gmail model served as the basis for multiple simultaneous referrals. The newer versions are much faster and convenient but the underlying principles are based on the Gmail marketing model.

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 22nd, 2009 at 4:21 pm and is filed under Web Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.