Viral Marketing and the Long Tail

Geoff Long wrote in the the Bankok Posts, Database (every Wednesday) in the emergence of "the Long Tail" into a wider audience. He is predicting that the term will become more widely used that today.

The term was defined last year and the first cited example is that of a surge in the popularity of a book on climbing several years after it was written and referenced in a much more recently published book.

The long tail is ideally suited to many forms of content today. Examples are MPS downloads and Books (electronic and some printed) where you can easily develop the concept of a back catalogue that generates interest.

I know that I have 'discovered' a new author several books into their series and wanted to purchase and read everything else. This is certainly the case with Lee Child, David Baldacci and Stephen Leather.

This behavior leads me to the conclusion that the Long Tail is the ideal viral marketing technique. For me Skype was pretty viral. I have been using it for more than one year now but only a friend told me about it. As posted earlier this year this approach is still happening, many people are still finding out about Skype from friends and colleagues well into the growth and usage pattern.

So if you have a product that you you would like to market; forget the big release and grand openings create a very accessible portal (Web Page, Blog etc) tell some people and sit back and wait. Don't get disheartened when the hits are small keep the portal open and available and over time the Long Tail will allow people to find you.