Marketing Strategies I Learned Studying Epidemics

During my years training to be become a pharmacist, I studied epidemiology ---the study of disease origin & spread--- and subsequently did a rotation at the New York City Poison Control Center & Bellevue Hospital. Not exactly cocktail party conversation! Studying the history of epidemics taught me a lot about marketing although I didn’t realize it until years later. Most of us have seen the media hype about the swine flu but what you don’t see is the behind the scenes activities of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), WHO (World Health Organization) and other agencies involved. There are very controlled, predictable, scientific and highly measurable methods being applied to quickly isolate the origin of the illness, know ideal conditions for infection, ID the organism markers to create a vaccine, and ultimately prevent the spread of it. So while the media was questioning whether or not this would prove to be a devastating pandemic, I had 100% confidence that it would be contained sooner than later (with prayers going out to those who have been affected).

The nature of an epidemic is predictable once you understand what to look for and while the world is working on activities to PREVENT the spread of the illness, some of these same activities can be applied BACKWARDS in marketing to achieve “epidemic” results (or “viral” results as it’s more commonly called). I apply these strategies when marketing for new customers, meeting ideal investor candidates, or attracting perfect Joint Venture candidates.


1. Identify the point of origin.
Every epidemic has a first encounter--- the first infected--- and it’s important to know who that person is to better understand the inherent characteristics that activated the spread of the disease. In marketing, those would be your IDEAL clients. What conditions must be present for them to not only have a sense of urgency working with you or buying from you but also cause them to TALK about you? Who benefits the most from what you do? Who has the most to gain? Experiencing the biggest results? It’s not necessarily a demographic but a physical person --- especially if you want to recreate the same conditions in others!


2. How is it specifically transmitted?
As it relates to the Swine Flu epidemic, the method is close airborne transmission. Therefore people are encouraged to wear masks, avoid contact with eyes and wash their hands frequently. When you understand who your ideal client is, then it’s important to understand how to enable them to quickly spread the word about you. Word of mouth, video, some type of collateral material? You’ll want to do what it takes to make it very easy for your client to carry out this activity. Study their patterns and then completely enable and simplify the process. Don’t make it complicated!

3. Follow the formation of clusters.
You’ll inevitably have isolated clusters of individuals being infected. From a marketing perspective you want to study and recreate those conditions to increase the frequency of clusters until all the clusters are ultimately connecting. You could start out simply by following in the footsteps of your ideal client by going where they go, know who they know, etc., until you connect with others with the same characteristics.

4. Focus your efforts on those most “susceptible”.
The entire population could be at risk for infection but realistically there’s always a smaller subset that is most susceptible and that’s usually where resources are allocated. If the risks are dramatically reduced with that smaller group, then the larger population will most likely be safe. So in marketing, it’s wise to allocate your resources on a subset of the population—your niche. You’ll be able to penetrate that market quickly with laser focus and then will be able to spill over to the rest of the population.

5. Watch for mutation and respond according.
It is expected that the infecting agent will change and mutate as time goes on--- that’s precisely why a new flu vaccine is released once each year in August and then destroyed after May. Accepting that “change is constant” in your market will help you stay on top of your game and prepare accordingly. Stay in touch with your ideal clients, make sure you’re regularly meeting their needs.

6. Gather all your data and formulate a vaccine.
Ideally there will be enough initial epidemiology data to immediately start working on a cure (if none is available) and a vaccine for prevention. As part of your marketing campaign, you’ll want to carefully study what’s working and package that into a process that can easily be duplicated over and over. That’s a key to automation and quickly getting your message out to the masses.

7. Be bold, communicate big, make a lot of noise!
The agencies involved with any epidemic have a very defined emergency response program in place to reach the general population with warnings and instructions. They depend on the coordinated support of others to help them in this regard. Includes reverse 911, daily reports to the media outlets (newspapers, TV and radio), schools texting students, and much more. Your marketing (in the form of education, instruction, relationship building, etc) should also include big and bold communication with the help of others so people will listen to YOUR message and take action.

You can actually watch these events being played out during the current Swine Flu epidemic. ~~ Maria Simone helps those who want to transform their talents to create 6 and 7 figure businesses. Learn more at http://www.passion2prosperity.com/