Location, Location, Location
A quick look at the iPhone App Store will show you several dozen social network connectors. These include the ones you’d expect: mobile apps from MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and Wordpress.
But there are also a whole lot you may never have heard about: Twinkle, Limbo, CenceMe, Whrrl, Who’sHere, iCrowdSurf, and more. What’s interesting about these is that they are location-based social networks. They’re using the iPhone’s built-in GPS to put you (and your friends) on a map–so you can tell which of your friends are nearby, or meet new friends with similar interests.
I can just hear the howls of protest now: "I don’t want anyone to know where I am!" "Why would I want to meet random people I don’t know?" and, of course "What the heck does this have to do with marketing?"
Well, all those howls are just fine. Because, you know, if you don’t want people to know where you are, or you aren’t looking to meet new friends, these services may not be right for you. Just like many people choose to abstain from MySpace and Facebook, there’s nothing that says you *have* to participate in these new location-based social networks.
What you have to remember, though, is that there are plenty of people who are comfortable with sharing their lives. If not with the wider Internet, perhaps with their families. Or imagine the busy traveler who wants to spend some time with friends when they’re in the area. Or the virtualized company which wants to make its sales team even more efficient.
Or, at an even more basic level: imagine how many people would like to know if that hot guy or attractive girl across the bar might be compatible with themselves. Or in class. Or in a bookstore. Or at the coffee shop.
Now, I’m not going to place any bets on who’s going to be the MySpace or Facebook of this emerging space, or if established players like MeetUp are going to step in, or if MySpace or Facebook themselves are going to own the location-based social spaces, but the bottom line is clear: put together location and relationships, and you have the potential for a very, very big bang.
"But what about marketing?" you ask. "Beyond location-based ads for local businesses, where is the payoff?"
Ha. Well, first, let me ask this: If the *only* payoff is in location-based ads for local businesses, coupled with advanced behavioral targeting based on openly available social profiles and usage, do we even have to go any further? This is a huge payoff, with huge potential for advertisers.
But beyond that, consider MeetUp. How much business is done at these informal meetings?
Or, consider simply the power of meeting face to face. How comfortable are you in doing business with people you have never met?
That’s what I thought. So don’t be so fast to dismiss these new location-based social networks. It’s just another way for people to connect. And that connection can be for business just as easily as for personal reasons. The potential is enormous.
And it begs the question: how much potential business walks past you . . . invisibly . . . every single day?
