Social networking has been one of the greatest successes of web 2.0; the transformation from a monologue to a group discussion has completely transformed the way people consume and contribute to the growth of the internet. This has also transformed the way we communicate with our near and dear ones. With Facebook and Twitter always available, you don't even have to ask your friend, their status on Facebook or 'What are you doing now' updates on Twitter can answer most questions. 

This omnipresence of the social media has spawned the interest of the social media marketers into looking for ways to promote and monetize this social networking crowd. But is that possible? Can people who come to a website like Facebook to poke friends or to talk to friends be in a position to be marketed to?

Obviously, as marketing would teach you, it is as much about the time you pitch your product to your customer as it is about the sales pitch itself. It is hence that contextual targeting has taken off like a rocket. A similar contextual targeting is not possible to a social network audience and hence marketers are looking for alternate ways to market to this crowd. 

So how can these audience be marketed to? One of the most effective ways to reach the social networking audience is viral marketing. Viral marketing hinges on creating funny, conspiring or addictive content that will make users share the content among themselves helping in automatically branding the product. This apart, banner advertising also works. Close to 20% of all banner advertising today happens on social networks and the reason is clear - Brand awareness.