Viral Marketing Results Tipping The Point Step 1

Perhaps you have heard of the book by Malcolm Gladwell called "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference".

Indeed you may have read it.

This is a seminal book which has tried to show how "things spread".

This could be a communicable disease jumping from one person to another or of more interest to you as an entrepreneur - it could be a marketing message or more specifically, your marketing message.

The last time I visited Amazon, "The Tipping Point" had more than a thousand reader reviews with an average review rating of 4 stars.

Obviously this is a book which has resonated with many people.

Why is this so?

Simply it brings to the fore some excellent points and observations on how as Malcolm said "...little things can make a big difference".

Speaking from a marketing perspective, the Tipping Point has common ground with an earlier book known as "The Influentials" by Ed Keller and Jon Berry.

So how can you get your message get to the right people and indeed to enough of them to unleash the viral marketing campaign you want to witness so your product or service reaches it's very own "Tipping Point"?

Before I answer this question, I'd like to make a few pertinent observations to the ideas proposed by Gladwell's hugely influential book.

It was February 2008 when I first came across the name "Duncan Watts".

Watts is a scientist from Columbia university who had taken a sabbatical working for Yahoo.

During this time he conducted a number of thought provoking experiments which challenge the credibility of the idea behind "influentials" and indeed the "tipping point".

Duncan has since gone on to write the book Six Degrees - The Science of a Connected Age.

The "influentials" theory is compelling in terms of certain people "sparking" a wave of communication - an virus to propel a product.

And as we all know some people are more influential than others...

Watts observations however show something completely different.

He found through study real world data and events is how highly connected people are NOT the important social hubs spreaders (or indeed "sneezers" as penned by Seth Godin).

So who's right and who's wrong?

To be honest there are pros and cons for both arguments as far as I can see but searching for the "right" answer is not worth arguing about.

What is more important is learning the lessons offered from both perspectives is I believe far more useful.

To me there is commonality to be found and this is best exemplified in a book called "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdini.

And that is the focus of my next lens.

If you'd like a copy of Tipping The Point Volume I for free which shows you how the steps involved in getting a successful viral marketing message off the ground - visit http://TippingThePoint.com for more details.