Last holiday season, Office Max hired Jib Jab to produce an innovative viral piece. Jib Jab isn’t a marketing firm, but if your budget is big enough they know what entertains. And they proved it with “Elf Yourself.” The site received 192 million visitors in 6 weeks – results you expect from a super bowl ad, with a budget that is miniscule by comparison.

But what did they miss? Only 40% of the visitors knew the piece was sponsored by Office Max. And only 30% of that 40% said they would be more likely to make a purchase from Office Max. Granted, you’re still talking about connecting with 24 million people in exactly the right way. But then there’s that other 168 million.

The problem is the rules – the rules say that viral marketing has to fly under the radar. They say that once people register it as marketing, they won’t forward it to a friend. But the rules are wrong. The problem with flying under the radar is that hardly anyone sees you. It is true that pieces of negligible value can be killed by a prominent logo or offer. But the real rule is: create content that people love so much, they’re proud to be a part of your brand.

Then leverage this incredible awareness tool by injecting it with a direct response component. Give people a coupon for forwarding it. And do it now, while people are hungry for this stuff. Because in six months or a year, there’s going to be so many viral “must-sees” out there that consumers will hit their saturation point and you’ll be playing the same game you play with radio, TV and print.