Mobile users are a social lot

There has been a lot of press recently that search will be a huge mobile marketing revenue stream in the near future. It appears mobile social networking may be another hotspot.

by Kristina Knight

itsMy.com, a mobile social network, signed up its 500,000th user this week.

"itsmy.com is a mobile internet service giving you a truly mobile experience. We have to think mobile. To feel mobile. And that does not work from the view of traditional online media.” says Antonio Vince Staybl, CEO of Gofresh, the parent company of itsmy.com.

The social network offers users a free mobile social networking page as well as mobile blogging capabilities, private messaging with pictures and mobile television channels by which users can connect with one another.

itsmy.com isn't the only mobile social network. A few weeks ago, Coca-Cola launched a mobile only community that offers free content and social networking features aimed at increasing brand awareness.

Whether online or in the mobile space, social networks are growing by leaps and bounds as more users sign on to share their thoughts, reviews, pictures and videos with friends. Jupiter Research expects the social networking ad spend to reach in excess of $35 billion by 2012.

The key to social advertising is now and will continue to be targeting the market. Whether advertising on huge networks like MySpace or Facebook or choosing a niche social network such as Boomj, knowing who the target market is and where to advertise will greatly improve campaign ROI.