Virgin Mobile teams with Facebook to enhance mobile downloads

We love the idea of viral marketing, so we have little bad to say about the recent partnership between Facebook and Virgin Mobile. The idea is called “My Mobile,” and it’s one of the most effective forms of advertising we’ve yet seen.

Once Virgin Mobile customers activate the “My Mobile” feature on Facebook, everything they download — games, wallpapers, ringtones — will be listed in their profile. This goes hand-in-hand with their once-controversial News Feed feature. Now everyone can see what mobile content you’re using.

The idea is to “plant the seed.” Once other Virgin Mobile customers see what their friends are downloading, they’re bound to do one of two things: either copy their friends and download the same content, or rush to their phones and download something “cooler.” There is little doubt this will increase overall revenue from mobile downloads.

The links in “My Mobile” will direct users to the Virgin Mobile website, but not everyone is a Virgin subscriber. So if this proves to be effective (and we believe it will), other carriers will reap the benefits, too — especially from the “me too” people who just download what their friends have.

Of course, we’re not in favor of the mindless imitation of anyone, whether it be friends, family, or the President of the United States. But hey, this is a business. There is ample opportunity, and Virgin is really paving the way for everyone else. Look for plenty more features like this from other wireless service providers in the near future.

[Virgin Mobile USA] [Review of Virgin Mobile]