Social networks are an attractive target for brands because of their extensive reach. MySpace had nearly 45.7 million unique visitors in June alone, with users spending an average of nearly two hours on the site at a time, according to Nielsen//NetRatings.

Not everyone is embracing MySpace as the ultimate marketing tool. iMedia contributor and managing partner at WIT Strategy Mark Naples noted in a recent column, "What I regard as acceptable and what 99.9 percent of all marketers with an ad budget regard as acceptable are probably fairly aligned. But, these two are way, way out of alignment with what 99.9 percent of 16- to18-year-olds would regard as acceptable on the web. A disproportionately high number of MySpace profiles would make regular MTV watchers blush."

If brands are willing to accept the potentially questionable content, sites like MySpace can add to a brand's cool factor by joining fans where they hang out online in a setting that's somewhat third-party. Fans aren't dealing with brand.com-- they're hanging out on myspace.com/brand. And the brands don't come across as corporate entities; instead, they're "friends" with their consumers.

There are traditional banner advertising opportunities amongst social networks, but why not join fans and potential customers on their turf?

Watch this space next month when we present an at-a-glance review of social networks other than MySpace where you and your brand can reach current and future customers.

Additional resources:

MySpace in the Marketing Mix
MySpace + World Cup
MySpace Drives Ad Spend
Google, MySpace & the Velocity of Change
Don’t Get Burned by User-Generated Media