Viral Marketing by Tagging - Tag You re It!

When we were kids we played a game called tag, when someone tagged you, you were "it" and it was then your turn to tag someone else. With Internet marketing there is a viral marketing strategy similar to the old tag game.

Tagging is a fast growing Internet phenomenon also known as "folksonomies" (short for folks and taxonomy). This strategy is based on consumers (regular folks) organizing their online content in specific categories (taxonomy), and sharing the information via social networking/bookmarking (global taxonomy). For example, a person may take a picture of their new iPhone and post on a social site like Flickr filing it under the keyword or tag iPhone. The photo becomes available for viewing for the entire Flickr community under the tag iPhone. There are over 423,695 photos tagged as iPhone on Flickr. Folks are actually working together to categorize online content which makes online searches easier.

Tagging is powerful tool for viral marketing when used correctly. Simply by having your product or service associated with specific tags helps your target market find you via search engines and social sites. Savvy marketers research, watch, and follow tagging closely to determine what the general public is interested in and to position themselves to reach their desired market.

To launch a successful viral marketing campaign using tagging, marketers must be willing to join and genuinely participate in tagging communities. Upon joining such a community avoid only tagging your products and services. Contribute to the community by adding diverse tags that match ranging in interests (not just your business interests). Remember these communities are based on people not businesses, so take off your CEO cap and allow your personality to shine through by adding a personal touch to your tags, otherwise you might be perceived as a spammer.

Happy tagging and viral marketing.

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