Viral Marketing also has a number of barriers and/or disadvantages when attempting to convey a proposed message or advertisement to an intended audience. With regards to new media technologies, these limitations not only occur in the form of email style marketing, but also through marketing on mobile phones.
More and more caution must given by marketers when they begin viral campaigns, as it needs to be realised that a widely used format needs to be in place, as it is no use having an extremely effective advertisement if it uses a format that the majority of the target audience does not have access to. “The most common viral marketing delivery method-HTML e-mail-can pose a technical problem. Marketers who use this type of e-mail as a delivery vehicle are often shut out�? (Bannan, 2000). This problem happens with a number of companies and internet service providers, one such example is “America Online, which is the nation's [America’s] largest Internet Service Provider, has 22 million users, but its proprietary e-mail program doesn't support HTML-based e-mails�? (Bannan, 2000).
Another problem that potential consumers may encounter is the size of the viral advert files, this is because high quality definition and the like, requires much more ‘electronic space’. Thus, it must be taken into consideration that not all internet uses have a broadband connection, and it may take a long time for them to download certain advertisements. As this may be the case, the individual may not take the time and effort, hence, it should always be remembered that viral advertising needs to be as easy for the consumer as possible. To further the issue of ease of use, and letting the consumer feel they get try without any obligations, in the case of a promotional or game style of advert “asking for referrals should be an option immediately after the game, not as a condition to play�? (Wikipedia).
It must also be noted that “With more e-mails making their way into consumers' inboxes, the chance that commercial e-mail - even opt-in marketing-will be viewed as spam also increases�? (Bannan, 2000). Another limitation is that a majority of these consumers receive forms of viral advertising through the internet while they are at work. Given this, a large number of offices install antivirus programs on their computers, therefore most of the viral adverts would be discarded as a form of spam.
As another form of media targeted by viral marketing campaigns, mobile phone technology is also subjected to a various limitations, whether it be technology based or, customer based.
One of the bigger problems facing viral marketing with regards to Mobile Phones, is customer annoyance. Since certain customers may get irritated with the frequency and type of text messages that are sent to there phones, a model of how to target potential customers may need to be established. Also when individuals are asked to reply, they can be “unhappy when marketers assume a response to a text message assumes a blast of future messages; [which is] somewhat limited from a multimedia point of view�? (Advertising Age, 2005).
There is no doubt that viral marketing can be a very useful tool and form of communicating advertisements, even if it does have certain barriers and limitations.“The challenge then is to create a marketing campaign that balances content with caution. Retailers and advertisers need to learn how to intent people without incensing them�? (Advertising Age, 2005).
Bannan, K. (2000) “It’s catching�?, Brandweek. Vol. 41, Iss 23, pIQ20. ISSN 10644318 “The “Ad Age’ guide to mobile marketing�?, Advertising Age. (2005) Vol. 76, Iss 18, p16. ISSN 00018899 “Viral Marketing�?, Wikipedia. (2005) retrieved 25 October, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_marketing
Daniel clark 08:58, 28 Oct 2005 (EST)
