Hlinko ’89 Shares His Knowledge of Effective Viral Marketing

In Share, Retweet, Repeat (Prentiss Hall Press), John Hlinko ‘89 shows readers how to take their ideas, causes, and products, and craft marketing campaigns around them that create buzz—in a quick and cost effective way. In the world of constant communication using new technologies, the average consumers of information have become micro publishers of information as well.

Hlinko has been involved in the realm of viral marketing for most of the last 20 years, working with a range of Fortune 500 companies and helping lead MoveOn.org and DraftObama.org. In his book, he shares his expertise on how to create spreadable messages to optimize return on investment with any budget, large or small.

Hlinko suggests focusing on three key components that he calls the Viral Trifecta:

1) Crafting content that is “spread worthy”
2) Identifying and engaging the people most likely to spread it
3) Taking advantage of the technologies that will help you spread the content

In the introduction to his book, Hlinko writes:

“We’re in a time when consumers are more cynical than ever about the information they receive—especially from companies. According to a survey by Yankelovich, a research firm with a particular expertise in consumer attitudes, 76 percent of consumers don’t believe companies tell the truth in advertisements. Their friends, on the other hand, they do still trust … If you want your message to penetrate beyond the 24 percent who are still blissfully receptive in advertising, a peer-to-peer spreading component is critical.”

For more information about Hlinko’s book, go to http://shareretweetrepeat.wordpress.com/.