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Imagine walking down a city street, and suddenly your iPhone buzzes. You look at it, and there’s a message from that restaurant– Mel’s Diner– further down the street, offering a 15% discount on lunch for people who visit within the next hour. Do you go? And how did they get that message to you?

Welcome to the new world of marketing via your social network. It’s one of the key projects of companies like Digital Development Partners, Inc (You can see their stock profile and performance at Market Watch). You see, there are now SO many products in the world, and SO many people…. the dilemma for the business has been how to get the word out? Mel at Mel’s Diner can’t possibly search Twitter and Facebook for every resident of his city, and befriend them and message them. Mel is a cook, not a twitterer! So he may hire a marketing company to sift through and manage the massive information.

This kind of marketing is very unique; it’s an in-your-face kind of marketing. What do you think? It’s great to get discounts, and you may even discover new products and services to benefit your own business or employment… but it’s an invasive form of marketing. Social networking is traditionally (if you can call 6 or 7 years of Facebook a “tradition”) reserved for friends and family communications. To have Mel intrude into your Twitter is a rude awakening for some.

It’s probably no surprise that the idea of Digital Development Partners was started by a college student at Western Carolina University, funded by a business, and won a contest for innovation and enterprise. The company’s brainchild is YuDeal.com (currently in beta), which turns social networking and global marketing on its head, as seen with the example of Mel and his Diner. What do you think of all this?

Remember, I’m a pro-blogger and I am sometimes compensated with stuff or money to review or mention products or services! This was one of them. You can read more about my blog policy on my About page.