Facebook Big changes: Implications for marketing

Last week, Facebook revealed some important changes that will have profound consequences for users and marketers. The following is our point of view of companies using Facebook to attract customers and prospects.

Users have already noticed changes in Facebook, as the operating current of the posts in the right column called ticker and a new ranking of the top stories and recent histories. In addition, users can "subscribe" to aspects of food from friends or people who are not their friends - a nice feature for bloggers below or the producers of content as you would on Twitter.

The biggest changes in last week's updates include an imaging user profiles and applications use to interact with companies and their friends in real time. With this point of view is a summary of the latest articles and analysis that will give specific details about these changes, as well as the Facebook penetration strategy.

Market Landscape
Before analyzing the recent changes, it is instructive to examine the financial and competitive landscape. Google + Twitter and Foursquare, among others, are gaining momentum and Facebook compete for user attention, time online, and marketing dollars. The Financial Times recently reported that Facebook is delaying its IPO until next year.

Facebook is trying to defend themselves from other social networking sites and capture a greater share of user time and participation online. The stronger than cement his tenure at the time of the end user and the commitment line, the higher the share price.

1. Most personal data and user activity generated by advertisers a greater opportunity to behaviorally targeted ads. Again, more sources of income means a higher initial price.

2. Create a potential revenue stream from applications developed by companies seeking to Facebook users.

3. Management probably wants to have all these changes made before the distraction of key personnel related to the actions and payments start. Anyone who has gone through the IPO and knows that the focus is internal when the recovery time is coming.

Implications for users:

Users have the ability to create a timeline that takes the concept of profile to a new level, "tells the story of his life" to quote CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. It remains to be seen whether this is a response to the needs of the user or an opportunity for more detailed information about users for marketers and advertisers. While we think this may convince a younger audience, it is unclear how older professionals (the fastest growing segment of users) will respond. For many, Facebook is about connecting with friends in the here and now, not a trip to the past.

Implications for marketers

Fan Pages are not going to change now, but it is likely that the change in timeline format. If you have a fan page has to be aware of the new GraphRank that "decides" what goes on "top stories" in the user news feeds. Classification will probably depend on the overall quality of content and level of interaction. Will be more important than ever to have a coherent strategy that the content can be distributed through your fan page.