Facebook's Changes Present Opportunities For Brands

by Reggie Bradford, Sep 29, 2011, 7:57 AM

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As we've all heard by now, Facebook made some pretty big changes last week. And with those changes, Facebook made a statement that it wants to be the place where the world goes to discover, interact with and share all kinds of content. In 2009, I said that Facebook would become the operating system of the Internet, and this is its boldest step yet in that direction.

These changes represent tremendous opportunity for marketers, especially for those brands marketing to teens. They're designed to take engagement and sharing to all new levels as users "express" themselves through what they play, watch, listen to, and share. Facebook is now letting fans go beyond the "Like," with their social activities, almost any activity, automatically and instantly shared. We know that teens, perhaps more than any other demo, define, identify, and even group themselves through the music they listen to, the places they go, the clothes they buy, and what they do for fun. Facebook's changes have essentially given teens a multimedia platform on which to effortlessly amplify and express who they are.

And that's where the opportunity comes in for brands. The changes are a perfect fit for teens and will resonate with them strongly. Teens spend the most time on social networks, led by Facebook. A Nielsen study (June 2011) showed that almost 80% of 12-17 year olds regularly visited social networks or blogs. Below are a few "best practices" marketers should keep in mind so they can get the most out of the "new" Facebook.

Content is King ...Now More Than Ever: The changes gave us a revamped news feed and a brand new Twitter-style Ticker. But competition to get into the feeds just got harder with the new "GraphRank" system. Marketers must place a renewed emphasis on content that's creative, relevant, interactive and genuine. Brands need every social marketing tool and technology they can get their hands on that will allow them to deliver cutting-edge content that's engaging, highly targeted and relevant. Content like photos, videos and wall apps will garner more interaction. The Nielsen study referenced earlier shows teens 13-17 are the heaviest mobile video users. Video is a highly engaging application, and teens are consuming it in droves.

The Ticker Offers a New Avenue: The Ticker is a real-time stream of what all of your connections are doing. It gives brands another outlet through which to reach users. But put on your Twitter hat, and make your posts short and incredibly catchy so they'll get noticed. Remember this generation grew up with texting and talking in bullet points. Long-winded messages will fall on deaf ears.

Sponsored Stories Just Got Better ... By Default: The new Facebook changes automatically make sponsored stories more relevant and genuine. Now, brands can take users' actions ("Mike is eating a Big Mac at McDonald's" or "Sara is shopping at The Gap" or "John is listening to Foo Fighters on iHeartRadio") and create authentic and actionable sponsored stories. This is crucial, because teens can smell an advertisement a mile away. But give them engaging content or ways to interact with your brand and the results give you a powerful "owned," "earned," and "paid" media combination.

Timeline Lets Teens Express Themselves: The Timeline lets users write their own multimedia autobiography with every social action they take. Never before has the "diary" concept been taken to such a degree that you can express yourself in whatever way you'd like, from birth to one minute ago. Teens are especially captivated by this concept, as they are exploring new things during some of the most social years of their lives. The desire to share these discoveries and experiences is an irresistible draw. Consequently, when they experience your brand, it had better be the kind of experience that they want to leave on their Timeline (where it's automatically placed). If you successfully achieve that, you become a permanent part of teens' social lives. That is powerful.

Brand Pages Coming Soon: We're talking about all the great new capabilities and opportunities on Facebook, and yet we haven't even seen the revamping of brand Pages yet, which you can bet are coming ... and most likely soon. Facebook executives have hinted that changes could be similar to Timeline. Perhaps you'll be creating the story of your brand's life in the near future. Imagine scrolling through the history of MTV and its personalities or McDonald's legacy and development through the years. Brands and Pages are also sure to benefit from the expanded social graph and new crop of social apps functionalities.

Bottom line: Relevant, targeted and interactive content, as well as custom-branded social apps, must now be a focus for brands. Almost 90% of all purchases are made due to peer recommendation. This is especially true for teens, who want to instantly share and express what "defines" them across their social web. Facebook is making those connections and interactions easier, more visible and more meaningful. And brands marketing to teens can to benefit.

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0 comments on "Facebook's Changes Present Opportunities For Brands".

1. Chris Simpson from AU/SOC
   

   commented on: September 29, 2011 at 10:49 a.m.

   
   Best practices? Sounds more like blood sucking to me. The author's promotion of the claim that 'kids' minds are ours to suck, and that is a very good thing ' actually damages kids, families, and society.

   Pause, just for a second, to consider the repression and violence that will take place in authoritarian societies as a result of these Facebook practices. Then ask yourself how Facebook's own authoritarian initiative is likely to play out in a United States where corporations claim to own every aspect of people's lives.

   Honest people can resist by speaking out and by documenting how abusive such practices actually are.

2. Jill Kennedy from Manka Bros.
   

   commented on: September 29, 2011 at 3:44 p.m.

   Facebook must be stopped. There is something frightening about a company that is attempting to become the only gatekeeper for entry on the internet. They want you to stay logged in forever... and now they're trying to get the government to sign off on that plan...

   http://mankabros.com/blogs/onmedea/2011/09/01/facebook-must-be-stopped/
   

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