Internet Viral Marketing for the Love of Lists & Surveys

As the internet evolved, email was often one of the first places that people started their experience. Before long, sending personally created emails was not enough, and forwards started shooting from outbox to inbox.

Jokes were often a topic of these forwards, but eventually they weren't enough. Surveys and lists have since come to be popular, and they remain as such currently. Only now, users are not just forwarding them to their email address lists, but rather posting them to their blogs and profiles on social networking sites such as the hugely popular MySpace and Facebook. Many members even post them on their main page, which allow them to be seen each time another member enters their profile.

Why are they so popular? Users of these sites often want to express themselves, and surveys of these types allow them to do so and easily communicate it to their audience.

This can be accomplished by creating the interface and survey with an easy to pass-on URL. The users fill out the information and submit, and then they are provided with HTML code that can be posted on their site. This code can categorize them into desirable groups or classify them as relating to a known character. The code itself can also create a link to take the quiz if someone clicks on the result that has been posted... and so goes the cycle.

As for lists, Matt Coddington of netbusinessblog.com explains primal reasons why they are so appealing to the masses (ironically, using a list). Go ahead and read it, you know you can't stop yourself!

So why not think about including surveys or lists for your viral campaign, or at least include them as a component?