Viral marketing campaigns are internet word-of-mouth initiatives which use social networks to increase lead generation and brand engagement. They work across any online platform and easily scale from large to small, exponentially increasing their reach with minimal effort on the part of the marketer. All too often smaller organizations shy away from viral campaigns, assuming that they are time-intensive and require big budgets. This is simply not true. In fact, once you have made the initial investment your fans do much of the work for you.

Your viral campaigns will be the most effective when you have a clear goal in mind. The three most common are increasing customer acquisition, brand awareness, or customer loyalty. No matter your goal, it is important that you clarify it from the beginning because you will use different tactics depending on your desired outcomes.

There are many types of campaigns, but what they all have in common is their tendency to evoke a reaction: laughter, shock, surprise, or what you will – that triggers people to take action and share the content. The most common viral campaign tools are video, interactive flash games and images. And among the plethora of distribution channels, you’ll find something for every budget.

When you are creating your campaign you will definitely want it to be easy and actionable; remember: the simpler, the better. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes for someone to digest and react to your offer. To support that quick and instant reaction, you’ll want to build your campaign on established platforms. Video, images, e-mail, Twitter, and so on and so forth, are readily accessible and understood.

For customer acquisition campaigns, consider methods to introduce yourself and attract prospective clients who would otherwise not consider your brand. Twitter and Facebook are great viral tools for sharing content, video, images and more. Contests and giveaways are classic popular viral strategies.

Brand engagement, on the other hand, is all about increasing the power of your current client relationships. This strategy is permission-based, as these individuals have given you permission to reach out to them through various channels. They have already seen value in what you provide and are interested in engaging with you further. Twitter, Facebook, e-mail marketing, and promotions are all ways to enhance engagement with your current customer base. Hey, you can even use text messages!