Social Networking as a Marketing Tool: The Case of a Small Australian Company

This case study examines a Web 2.0 exemplar, MySpace, as a marketing tool for a small Australian company targeting traveling youth, Go Workabout (GW). Members of a popular social network site (SNS), MySpace, create profiles and connect with other MySpace members including individuals and businesses such as travel organizations Contiki and STA Travel. As one success measure is the number of friends in one's profile-both companies have over 1,500 friends-GW hopes that emulating Contiki and STA's MySpace profiles will yield many friends, thus creating awareness for GW and its services. The initial results seemed promising with 101 friends, but friends dwindled to 93 after a few months, and to 88 after nearly 2 years. Aside from adding to the limited knowledge in SNS tourism marketing, this article illustrates difficulties, realities, and potential benefits of SNSs as a marketing tool for a small company.