Will E-card Spam Be The End Of Viral Marketing With E-cards?

Writing by Nick Stamoulis Tweet

Are we nearing the end of the e-card as a viral marketing tool? One of my SEO friends says so.

There have been all sorts of viral marketing campaigns to come along:

• e-cards
• special reports
• social bookmarking
• podcasting
• viral e-zine/newsletter
• video marketing

That’s just to name a few. The e-card has been a good viral marketing tool because it’s free, but also because it’s been relatively easy to send. Just go to one of the several e-card websites and find your favorite e-card, customize it to your needs, and send it out to everyone on your list. Voila! Instant viral marketing campaign.

If done correctly, e-cards could be sent to thousands of people on your behalf. Start with a list of 100. All you need is two or three people to send it to their list of contacts and if each of them have a couple who send it out as well … well, you get the idea. That’s what viral marketing is all about, isn’t it? Eventually, your e-card could reach thousands of people in just a matter of hours. Your creation could spark someone else’s imagination and they’ll end up on your website making a purchase – all because of a little e-card sent to a few friends.

Lately, however, I’ve been getting a lot of e-card spam. Have you? My friend says this will be the end of the e-card business and unless those who have the most incentive to nip it in the bud do something about it, we’ll be seeing e-cards go by way of Geocities and Angelfire. I think he may be right. What are you doing to encourage your favorite e-card provider to stop the e-card spam?