We're extremely pleased with our results. But there are some problems that could derail viral marketing activities, analysts say. Since companies running viral marketing programs often pay users based on the number of referrals they bring in, the temptation is to bombard strangers with marketing messages for personal benefit. To combat the potential problem, some retailers are limiting the number of other customers that a single person can recruit. We don't consider sending five e-mails to friends spam.
Many sites also have strict anti-spam policies.
Customers who abuse e-mail promotions lose out on the rewards. Viral promotions should never seem like pyramid schemes. Even with the dangers, retailers said it is nearly impossible to launch a new Web site without using some viral marketing techniques. Snapfish offers free photo developing and free online photo albums. It hopes customers will send photo album links to their friends and relatives, who will then order reprints and other products.