Virus. What a word! Loaded. It used to pertain strictly to disease - the human kind. Then we began to think of our computers as living. So we ascribed all sorts of human characteristics to them. Including the vulnerability. Malicious programs written with the intention of bringing a computer to its knees began to spread like, well, a virus, and thus the word took on a new and very distasteful meaning.

But in the same way that bad could mean good in the 70's, there's another side here. The first time someone passed along a link to a youtube video, viral marketing was born. The message took on a life of its own. Of course youtube is just one example. In essence, viral marketing is any kind of campaign that encourages and facilitates the passing along of the message to others. Done right, it's incredibly powerful. As we see in the growth of social media, people like to tell their friends about something wonderful they came across. Customers become advocates for companies that have an interesting message.

Trade shows are a favorite topic here because we help companies to exhibit effectively. We've written frequently about the common mis-use of promotional products. Of course, we strongly advocate for promotional products as one of the best advertising mediums available, but only when they're used right. It's also very easy to waste a lot of money simply giving stuff away.

So we were pretty excited to come across an idea that combines the best of both worlds - promotional products and viral marketing. If you could hand a product to a prospect at your booth, and have them spend the rest of the day sending other prospects your way, you'd probably want to know how, right? We can do that. But we'll have to know a little more about you and your trade show goals. Give us a call at 800-204-4600 or send an email, and we'll get started.