Facebook Evolution

I know what’s going through your head. I was thinking the exact same thing for the last few weeks: “Thanks a lot, Zuckerberg. Way to make our work ten times harder!” Well maybe it’s just me. Working as strategists in the digital industry, anytime a major platform like Facebook makes considerable changes to their site, the result is lengthy research, strategy sessions and detailed reports. Facebook changes = less sleep. But as of lately my feelings have changed. As I research all of the transformations taking place I have become excited rather than overwhelmed. Brands and marketers will have such versatility when developing a Facebook strategy and I am excited to embrace them. But what do all of these changes mean for the end user? Our privacy and security are becoming increasingly limited while our personal information becomes exposed. Will we continue to allow the collection of our personal data to large corporations or take a stance and demand change? In a two-part blog, this addition will focus the positives emerging from the Facebook changes and how they benefit the brand and the marketer.

Timeline: The most significant change of the bunch, the Timeline is going to drastically change the overall appearance of your profile. Facebook users will soon be presented with a Timeline of their history on the site. Fully equipped with images, video, audio, status updates, personal information changes (jobs, relationship status, etc.) as well as many others. In addition, users will be able to add changes to their timeline themselves, i.e. adding to the timeline prior to your account creation.

What this means for brands: This is a huge shift for brand presence on Facebook and how brands interact with their fans. We used to focus on the conversation, now we’re adding deeper profile information and content sharing. The Timeline will reflect company and brand history that was previously hidden away in the Info tab. This will provide marketers the opportunity to get very creative with their brand profile. Building a deep Timeline including achievements, milestones, product launches and charity successes can deepen the impression and impact on a customer and will help to distinguish one brand from the next.
Lastly, the Timeline will also encourage users to check-in to Facebook Places and it will add to their story, especially when travelling. We will know more about the people we’re connecting with, it will be more visible, easier to get at and hopefully, allow for the discovery of more common ground.

Ticker: The Ticker is located in the top-right corner of your homepage. Posts that are not deemed Top Stories will appear in this feed rather than in the News Feed. Updates including picture comments, picture tagging and posts with little or no engagement will be left to the Ticker.
What this means for brands: Posts that are not engaging will have very little projection or visibility even to fans of that brand. The onus to provide relevant, compelling, and interesting posts just got more serious.

Control tab on posts: Users can now address a post on their feed by clicking a small control tab on the top-right corner. This presents the ability to, “unmark as top story.” Facebook will consider this input in the future when deciding to place a post in the News Feed or into the new Ticker.
What this means for brands: Don’t get voted off the wall. Boring, repetitive, uncreative posts will no longer exist in the News Feed. As above, brands and marketers will need to create engaging and relevant content to post or risk losing that communication with their fans.

Open Graph: This will allow developers to have more freedom in creating a Facebook App. Users will be able to share experiences such as listening to music, watch shows, etc. Rather than simply being able to “Like” a page, the Open Graph will allow the use of other tabs such as “Love”, “Want” or “Own”.
What this means for brands: Customers are now able to express themselves beyond the “Like” and can demonstrate a stronger connection to a brand or product. Eventually users will be able to see which of their friends “Owns” a particular product. The creation of a Wish List will allow users to develop a list of products that they “Want,” providing friends a list of ideas to purchase for gifts. This will also be a scenario for obtaining customer reviews.

Media Partnerships: Facebook has partnered with several companies including Spotify, Hulu and Yahoo! News. You are now able to watch TV programs and stream music right on Facebook.

What this Means for Brands: The advertising possibilities are yet to be fully discovered but there will definitely be a large impact on brands, particularly if the brand is in television, music or news industry.

“People Talking About”: The last addition I will reference today involves Facebook insights. “People Talking About” will be a metric added to your page metrics. This will track various impressions such as comments, likes, shares, mentions and check-ins.

What this means for brands: Number of ‘Likes’ will no longer be the only measure of a successful Facebook presence. Marketers and brands will have a much better idea of overall reach and engagement. Analyzing which types of posts have the greatest reach and engagement will allow for efficient posting and continuous improvement of messaging.

In short, Facebook is evolving into an even more complex (and efficient) marketing tool, providing more opportunity for brands and marketers, assuming the consumer goes along with the increased personal exposure. Brands that embrace these changes will enhance their image and will maintain effective communication with fans. Either way – don’t get trapped in the Ticker. Being motivating, interesting and engaging just became price of entry.