Using Viral Marketing can be an incredibly powerful technique to increase exposure for your company. The term was coined by a Harvard Business School professor, Jeffrey Rayport, in an article for Fast Company called “The Virus of Marketing” in December 1996.

The very nature of the internet actually encourages viral marketing techniques - eyegrabbing graphics and animations, and animations will engage a user with your Viral.

And the fact that everything is connected on the web, one corporate blog post, one photo, video or article can spread like a virus. SO, if you create a campaign targeted to this specific end, your virus can become a very positive thing for your company!

Create something like a Flash Game to engage your user and encourage them to play again and again, then forward that game to their friends, and you’ve created your viral campaign, something that spreads through the veins of the communication paths of the internet.

Some Typical examples of Viral Marketing avenues and techniques:

+ Social Media channels, such as DIGG, Mixx, and Reddit
+ Social Network sites, such as mySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn
+ Viral Flash Games
+ Email Campaigns
+ Advertising Campaigns and games
+ Interactive Multimedia campaigns, using SMS, Telephony and Internet

These are all classic Web 2.0 techniques - every effective campaign will harness all the potential of the Web 2.0 world.