The last decade has seen a revolution with the emergence of social networking services. These services facilitate the creation of online communities through which people can interact. Some of the most well known examples of social networking services include Facebook, Bebo and Twitter and as these services have rapidly incorporated mobile technology, they present an array of exciting marketing opportunities to businesses.
Social Networking sites go right back to the early days of the internet. Through chat rooms and other rudimentary online communities users could interact with others; often by linking in email addresses. These online forums quickly evolved however and it wasn’t long before the first social networking services appeared allowing users to build their own sophisticated online communities with which they could interact in a diverse range of ways. Presently, largest of these services is Facebook which has over 500 million users. 100 million of which have access on their mobile phones.
The injection of mobile technology into social networking is where it becomes really exciting for advertisers though. Recently, Red Bull used the location-based social networking service Whrrl to create the Red Bull Society as part of its promotion for the New York Air Race. Individuals who joined up to the society were able to access ticket information, drink specials or other exclusive content through their mobile phones. The notable feature about the Red Bull campaign was that the content reflected a members physical location keeping them up to date with any local developments or offers they may benefit from.