There many gadgets and tools out there that can help make web marketing easier, but none of these would prove to be as popular as the tell-a-friend scripts. Also called as the refer-a-friend script, the tell-a-friend script is handy viral marketing software that helps users recommend a site to their friends and family. If you have visited webpages from commercial blogs and websites, chances are you have already seen one in action. But what are the advantages and disadvantages of using this software to promote websites?

The main advantage of using refer a friend scripts is that it uses the word-of-mouth to spread marketing messages across the existing online communication medium of e-mail. Through the script, visitors are able to recommend the website to their friends and relatives easily with e-mail, and the people who get the recommendation in turn can refer it to others. If done correctly, the messages can spread across large online networks rapidly and thus catch the attention of hundreds if not thousands of people. What’s more, since everything is done almost entirely by e-mail, the script uses little or no resources to set up and maintain.

However, because it relies heavily on the power of viral communication the results of a viral marketing campaign suing refer a friend scripts is mixed; the script may either bring in little traffic or a large amount. Also, it takes a significant amount of time for a tell-a-friend script to achieve positive feedback, so if getting a quick boost from the script in terms of traffic is nearly impossible.
Although tell-a-friend scripts are known to be effective, they should not be relied on as the sole marketing tool for a website. It is recommended that the script be complemented with other marketing tools and effective strategies in order for it to operate at premium effectiveness