Location Based Social Networks/Games should have a much larger profile in 2010. As Mashable points out in this new post,
Location, Location, Location: 5 Big Predictions for 2010 , we could see explosive growth if Facebook, Google or Twitter dive deeper into integrating location into their services. A Facebook integration alone would push location into the mainstream (along with the privacy issues that come with it). Given the rise of Twitter over the past year, you have to believe the location feature of Smartphones will be more important to the average user in the coming year. After all, do you see the average Joe user using a portable blogging tool or utilizing their phones GPS to find the nearest restaurant or store while they are out? I am always blown away that we don't hear more talk about Google Maps and Marketing Opportunity that exists there. If you have never searched Google Maps with your phones GPS on while you were out to find a certain business, you should try that right now. You will quickly understand how this will quickly become the Yellow Pages on steroids in the coming decade.
The talk and hype over the past several years about Mobile has been how it is the most personal device, it's always on, it's always in your pocket etc. etc. Well, location is another piece of the puzzle that plays perfect into all of those in that the message has more relevancy due to the proximity of the recipient. The industry has been so excited about SMS and the conversion rates there. Can you imagine how the conversion improves if, say you are a restaurant near a busy shopping area, and every Saturday and Sunday around Noon, you blast an MMS with a picture of your most popular dish to every user on your list within 3 miles of your establishment? When considering location, you could actually build an entire campaign around location by including ideas like the above and by utilizing upcoming location based ad platforms like
AdLocal or
Placecast. 
Add to your campaign a component involving Gowalla and/or Foursquare or Mobile coupons from
Yowsa! or up and coming
Coupious and you will start to see how big Location can be in 2010.
Posted via email from Dimo Mobile
