Marketing Through Social Networks

With the launch of OpenSocial the flood gates have opened for the mass development of mini platform applications for popular social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Orkut to name a few.

These mini applications which are available for installation through a users profile page, offer a unique marketing opportunity and a channel in which to engage and target a precise market.

Companies can have a viral application developed to indirectly promote themselves through a clever user experience, or sponsor a previously developed application which is related to their demographic.

However it’s important to stress that for an application to be successful you must adhere to the moral and ethical rules of the network. These are not imposed by the network administrators but by the users themselves.

Early applications provided a negative user experience and proved to be just crude advertising vehicles. This kind of behavior not only resulted in the user deleting the application but also damaged many brand reputations.

It pays to concentrate on a concept that is not shamelessly aimed toward brand promotion but provides a valuable user experience and has viral potential.

Of course this is easier said then done. Many developers are turning to an Alexa style stats site called Adonomics which is dedicated to the Facebook platform. Adonomics provides a stock-market-style analysis of popular applications and gives deep analysis of the most popular trends.

While the true potential of Facebook marketing is yet to be seen, great opportunity exists to develop some truly immersive and creative brand experiences through these platforms.