New Media, Social Media

The rise of Instagram

This April Instagram, the photo sharing app, passed 3 million users. It reached this number after only six months. For a service that is only available on iPhone this is a staggering figure.

Instagram is a phenomenon. The rapid growth of the service means that it’s one of the hot topics in social media.  To recap: Instagram is an iPhone app that enables users to take a photo, enhance it using 12 different possible effects and then share it on Instagram.  It’s simple and easy to use interface makes it an attractive proposition to users.

However, what also makes Instagram such an appealing platform is that it is also extremely social. People can follow other users and comment on their photos, meaning you can build an entire network of friends around your Instagram photos. The app has also managed to add seamless social integration to sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, FourSquare, and Tumblr.

There are also plans for further growth. Its founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, have set out a strategy that would see the app evolving from being ‘merely’ a photo platform for friends to share photos, into something larger and more powerful. Their vision is for the platform to be seen as “a storytelling service” which allows people to connect with news events in a rich way.

Instagram and brands

These features are obviously very appealing for brands. Indeed, Instagram is proving particularly popular among brands. Innovative brands are already using the app. For example, when Starbucks unveiled their new logo, they immediately shared it on Instagram to get feedback. Burberry has over 13,000 followers and promote Instagram hashtag campaigns like #TheArtOfTrench to help build brand engagement.

Red Bull has also been inventive in its Instagram presence, posting a ‘daily awesome’ image and naming the winner of its first #redbullwinter hashtag contest.

The introduction of hashtags has opened the service up to social media brand campaigns. It means that brands can organise content using a hashtag and push out content to fans creating powerful communities.

The fact that it also works across social networks means that brands can expand the portfolio of their social media offering. Kate Spade’s (Fashion label) Instagram presence features not just product shots but also pictures of New York and iTunes songs. These are regularly posted onto Tumblr and Twitter which can leads viralability.

The future of Instagram

Brands and users will be even more excited by news that the founders are looking into creating an Android app and website. However, their grander goal for the product goes beyond this with the service becoming something where people use it to see the world as it happens.

The founders have a clear vision for the service and how it can be developed, most notably how they will monetise the platform. They recently told TechCrunch: “We’re moving in a very clear direction that will allow us to make money in the future. In the history of advertising the most profitable avenues of advertising have been pushing images to people. As we see outside of the digital world those verticals are struggling in one way or another, money is moving online. We’re going to be one of the largest ways to push images to people, that entertainment platform I was talking to you about. That puts us in a really interesting spot in terms of making money on advertising in the future.”

It will be extremely interesting to see how this idea develops as more and more brands develop a presence on the app.

Top 5 Tips for Social Commerce

Will Facebook commerce be the game changer in 2011? There’s a real feeling among a lot of people in the industry that social commerce is the second online commerce revolution. Many brands have already started to utilize Facebook as an e-commerce platform and it will become increasingly important for businesses to use Facebook to deliver a truly social shopping experience.

Here are five tips to make the most from Facebook Commerce:

1. Make the User Journey as Easy as Possible

Given that Facebook commerce is still in relative infancy, businesses need to clearly demonstrate that buying from Facebook stores is easy and beneficial.

For Facebook commerce to maximize its potential Facebook needs to mirror traditional e-commerce in terms of proving its usability, customer service, security and privacy – as well as its ability to generate revenue. Businesses also need to clearly demonstrate the unique value proposition of a Facebook store compared to a brand’s website by providing instant rewards and unique personalized relationships as well as providing a clear call to action.

Greater transparency in terms of user experience, along with improvements and innovations which will simplify the process such as accepting Facebook Credits – Facebook’s own currency – for payment, can also only help to make the Facebook commerce proposition even more popular.

It shouldn’t be difficult to get Facebook users on board: the ability to have a complete brand experience – from engagement and product browsing right through to checkout – without having to navigate anywhere else is an extremely appealing one.

2. Remember it’s SOCIAL Commerce

For Facebook Commerce to be successful brands need to remember that this is social media. That means the Facebook Store shouldn’t simply be a bolt on to your Facebook Page, it should be a fully integrated part of the user’s social experience.

It might sound strange to not only talk about selling when it comes to social commerce but the idea is to use e-commerce to enhance the social aspects of your Facebook presence. There must be a smooth transition between engagement on the Wall and the user making a purchase – everything must connect. Brands must foster meaningful and personalized engagement with their fans before they focus on selling them anything.

The point is that you need to remain genuinely social by giving consumers the ability to engage in conversations about the brand and product with you and their peers. Your Facebook Page has to be your shop window, your customer service center and your store.

3. Monitor to Personalise

One of the great benefits of Facebook commerce is the opportunity to understand what your customers buy and what they want and use this to provide a personalized user experience.

Facebook has developed a range of tools that allows brands to gain further insights about their customers. Facebook Insights allow you to track the performance of your e-commerce platform – this includes metrics for specific features such as ‘Likes’ and shares as well as demographic information and user behavior. This information can then be used to understand what messages, deals and rewards will be most effective in gaining customers and maximizing sales.

This ability to understand your audience and tailor how and when you communicate with them is what makes social e-commerce such a compelling solution for brands.

4. Provide Exclusive Content

If customers are unsure whether to purchase through Facebook then one way to encourage them to engage and buy is to use social commerce to offer your customers a unique buying experience.

Be innovative. Make your brand stand out. Facebook provides all the tools you need to create a personalized relationship with customers and make them feel unique by offering exclusive Facebook deals and offers.

There are many examples of brands providing a special value proposition such as products ‘only available on Facebook’, one-time-only availability and offers limited to Fans of the Page to make products compelling. You can also reward loyalty by providing incentives for customers buying through Facebook.

Other innovative features have seen brands create Pop-Up Shops and integrate a wish-list into their Facebook store. You can also use ‘fan-gating’ so that content becomes exclusively available only to Fans of your brand or who ‘Like’ your posts.

5. More than the Facebook store

We’ve talked here about Facebook commerce as the Facebook store. However, you can also take Facebook to your e-commerce site by using the Facebook Open Graph Protocol and social plugins. These tools integrate Facebook into a business’ website enabling them to use Facebook member data to display information, goods and services tailored specifically to that user’s interests.

For users this means a personalized web experience based on their tastes, interests and relationships. For brands, by implementing a few lines of code, it means they can provide highly customized engagement experiences for their consumers. For example, retailers can utilize Facebook member data in their e-commerce sites to recommend certain products and allow people to easily share things they like.

Some of the biggest brands in the world such as Amazon, Levis and Trip Advisor have done this very successfully – integrating with Facebook to offer instant personalization and allowing people to share what they like with their friends on Facebook.

The Future for Social Commerce

Why is Facebook Commerce such an enticing prospect for marketers and businesses? Well, it offers a unique amalgamation of sales and marketing, where you can seamlessly turn a Fan into a customer. It also makes complete sense – it allows you to take your company to where your customers are. With 600 million users that place is Facebook.

This post was first published on Social Media Week.

Google +1 and the rise of social search

Yesterday, Google announced the launch of their ‘+1’ button. ‘+1’ is a continuation of Google’s desire to make social features more central to a user’s search experience and also challenge Facebook’s ‘Like’ platform . The button will allow anyone with a Google Profile to ‘+1’ their favourite sites and provides the ‘social search’ that Google has long been talking about.

What does the ‘+1’ button offer? Like the Facebook ‘Like’ button, users will have the ability to ‘+1′ different Google items.  All they have to do is log in to their Google Profile, click ‘+1’ on a webpage or ad you find useful and it will then start appearing in Google’s search results by friends, contacts and others on the web. (If you can’t yet see the +1 button in your search results you can enable it in Google experimental.)

These social results promise to be more relevant to the user searching through thousands or millions of results.  Google claim that “The beauty of +1s is their relevance—you get the right recommendations (because they come from people who matter to you), at the right time (when you are actually looking for information about that topic) and in the right format (your search results).”

The +1 button goes beyond showing up in search results – and this is where it will prove even more useful to brands’ online visibility. Google will attempt to rival Facebook’s ‘Like’ button by offering publishers a +1 button that lets users +1 something without leaving the business’ site. The appeal of utilising this is that the search giant has stated that +1 data will directly influence its market share dominating search rankings.

Where is social search heading?

It has been claimed that with the changes that Google are implementing search engine optimisation as we know it will be transformed. +1 is a clear indication that Google view the integration of social and search as the future – and that their search results will become more and more weighted by social interaction.

‘+1s’, Likes, comments and Tweets are going to become increasingly important when it comes to site optimisation and ensuring your business ranks highly. It is therefore crucial that brands engage across social platforms. Businesses must drive engagement and encourage people to share content in order to optimise their site and generate organic traffic.

By increasing social media functionality and interaction in what they offer Google is changing the face of search and how the user will experience it. For businesses this means they must engage with people on social spaces and get people to ‘+1’ their content in order to optimise their presence on Google.

Social ecommerce: how social media is transforming ecommerce

Social ecommerce is a term you will be hearing a lot. It is at the forefront of marketers’ discussions and looks set to redefine ecommerce. In August 2010 Mark Zuckerberg stated that “If I had to guess, social commerce is the next area to blow up”. Since then social ecommerce (or Facebook commerce or F-commerce, if you prefer) has moved on apace. You can now rent films, book plane tickets, make donations to charities purchase clothes and even buy Tomato Sauce – all through branded Facebook Store tabs.

The rise of Facebook ecommerce has transformed Facebook Pages, allowing brands to not only engage with fans but also sell to them. Businesses are starting to realise the value of using Facebook not just to engage but to translate the conversations they are having with fans on Facebook into conversions.

Facebook now provides a tangible difference to a business’ bottom line. This is obviously a very enticing opportunity for marketers. There are more than 30 million people on Facebook in the UK alone (out of a global potential of 600 million). Social ecommerce means that brands can provide a one-stop-shop where consumers can get everything they need without ever leaving Facebook. This is a huge opportunity to convert Fans into customers.

However, how do you leverage your Facebook store to maximise profits and brand engagement?

• Holistic social ecommerce solution

Brands need to understand that social media is about trust and relevance. There are a number of key elements that must feature in any social media community – and your social ecommerce programme must utilise these. This includes ease of use, brand trust and personalised offers, coupled with high levels of customer support and advice. Creating such a holistic solution ensures your social ecommerce activity fits seamlessly into your social media offering.

Retailers must focus on keeping brand advocate experiences social and engaging – adding value to your customers’ brand experience at every stage of the buying process – instead of solely focusing on sales. It is through providing this complete brand experience that you will maximise sales.

• Social ecommerce and sharing

Social media has reinvigorated word of mouth marketing – and likewise social ecommerce encourages a personalised shopping experience, based on sharing and the trusted opinions of peers.

The very nature of social media means that brands are dealing with consumers to whom discussing and sharing things with their friends is second nature. Brands must therefore use Facebook share, ‘Like’ and review APIs to maximise the visibility of their brand, their products and their Facebook store tab.

Brands need to provide shareable, relevant content. Get this right and you have an audience who are willing to recommend you to their peer group. Facebook store apps make this easy – they include many social features which means shoppers can easily share products they Like with their Facebook friends as well. This produces a social domino effect, with your brand featured on more and more users’ news feeds – and it will optimise your online visibility and sales.

• Facebook ‘Like’ to Facebook ‘Buy’

For marketers and brands alike social ecommerce offers so many possibilities because it provides a concrete link between ‘Likes’ and a business’ bottom line.

Facebook has developed a range of tools that allows brands to track this. Facebook Insights allows you to track the performance of your e-commerce platform – this includes metrics for specific features such as ‘Likes’ and shares as well as demographic information and user behaviour. The information can then be used to understand what messages, deals and rewards will be most effective in gaining customers and maximising sales.

This ability to understand your audience and tailor how and when you communicate with them is what makes social ecommerce such a compelling solution for brands.

The future for social commerce

Facebook’s ecommerce solution has created a huge potential marketplace – and explains why it such a hot topic. However, it is also here to stay. Facebook audiences are receptive to brand messages, willing to share information and buy products from brands. A Facebook ecommerce tab is a cost effective, tangible and unique way for brands to provide a complete user experience in a social space.

It’s crucial for brands to understand exactly how they can convert ‘Likes’ into buys and, most importantly, how they can make their ecommerce platform a fully integrated part of their wider social media strategy. It is only through this process that brands will not only maximise sales but also encourage brand loyalty.

Branding and social media: living the brand

For brands one of the central goals of social media is to create communities who are passionate and interested in what you are saying – and as social media continues to play an increasingly important role in people’s lives it means that the opportunities for brands to do this are growing.

Brands need to take advantage of this. That means not just creating short-term campaigns, but long-term programmes that build the brand and foster a loyal audience. Brands can no longer simply push out a campaign message – they must deliver a brand experience. It is, in short, all about living the brand.

This is because social media offers unique ways of conveying a brand’s personality in a more tangible way than traditional media ever has.

Social media has allowed businesses to focus on understanding their audience further, how they can actualise the brand and provide a unique relationship that benefits advocates.

This is not a simple task. It’s a long-term process and brands need to create conversations and content that engage, entertain and keep the audience coming back. However, the rewards are vast. It means brands and businesses have the ability to impact on all areas of the buying cycle – from the initial consideration of the brand and the moment of purchase right through to creating loyal customers who come back again and again.

Here are 3 crucial ways businesses can achieve this:

Interact with your target audience

Brands must engage. It sounds simple but it’s crucial. Your consumers need to know that if they comment on your brand’s Facebook or Twitter Page, or any other community spaces your brand have a presence on, that they will get a reply within an hour.

They also need to know that your brand is authentic and transparent in what you are offering. This real time customer service means they are talking directly to the brand – and it is this personal touch that provides your brand with authenticity and trustworthiness.

Brands must also encourage user generated content and get people to share this content. The goal? Get as many relevant people as possible engaged with your brand. Word of Mouth marketing in this way is extremely powerful. The ripple effect of users receiving and viewing information about your brand from their friends and followers not only puts your brand name in front of millions of online users but makes users more receptive to your message.

Create valuable relationships

Social media offers the perfect tools to engage with customers, ‘live the brand’ and have meaningful interactions that add value. From conversations with their target audience to the promotion of special offers and events, there are a number of ways in which businesses can actualise their brand. By utilising the right platforms at the right time brands can create an emotional connection with their target audience and ensure they are front of mind.

Actualise the brand

Actualising the brand proposition online is all about ‘Why?’.  A customer’s attention is hard to maintain. With so many channels and businesses vying for attention, if brands are not relevant and interesting they will not be listened to. Social media incentivise people to become advocates – brands need to communicate their USPs, provide engaging content and offer a unique community experience. This is living the brand and means you can create brand ambassadors and ensure customer loyalty.

The growth of social search

The rise in importance of social media was demonstrated this month with the announcement that Google were giving increasing prominence to results from social networks.

On February 17^th Google launched major updates to Social Search, integrating information from Twitter, Flickr and Quora throughout its search engine – with Facebook conspicuous by its absence. This is undoubtedly because of partnership agreed between Microsoft and Facebook that brings “Like” data and profile search to Bing. This means Google doesn’t receive Facebook data that happens on personal Facebook walls in the way that Bing has been getting from Facebook. Google still doesn’t even have access to Facebook Like data because it objects to some of Facebook’s terms and conditions for having access to this information.

Indeed, it is almost certainly because of this rivalry and the competition posed by Facebook that Google has launched so many updates over the last few years in an effort to unite social and search. These reasons also mean that there will be a lot more updates from Google in the future to keep pace with the growing popularity of social media.

In summary: what the new changes mean

The new changes provide the ability to see results based on what the people you follow, and are connected to, are viewing and sharing. This means that if you are logged into your Google Account you may begin to see listings shared by your connections within organic search results.

Here are the most important aspects of these changes and how they will change your Google experience:

• Possibly the most important result of Google’s changes is that there will be a huge increase in social media’s appearance in search – now any content shared by your friends on Twitter, Flickr and new Q&A site Quora may now appear in your search results.
• The outcome of this is that different people will see different results. That’s because results will now be based on your individual relationship with the people who have shared content. The stronger your connection, the higher it will be found in the organic listings.
• By allowing users to connect their social profiles to their Google accounts the search giant can judge the strength of your connections by cross referencing your friends on Google’s network of sites and seeing if that list matches your friend list on other social networks such as Twitter. This will in turn influence your search results.

So, social search results will now be found with all other results, not just along the bottom of the page. However, it will be easy to spot which results are taken from social networks – they will be indicated by a sentence underneath the URL which will tell you which of your connections shared the link.  As you can see below (click on the image to make it larger):

Much has been made of the battle between social and search but it seems that they are becoming more and more closely integrated. The question is: will Google and Facebook ever be able to resolve their differences?

Ask The Experts: agency:2 interview with MDC Magazine

As part of their Ask The Experts feature  Mike Filsaime of Marketingdotcom.com interviewed agency:2’s Joel Davis for MDC magazine. The interview covered a range of topics concerning social media marketing, including how to successfully utilise social media, best practice and the future of the industry. Here are Joel’s answers:

1) What should an online marketer’s primary goal be when utilising social media?

The primary goal when creating a successful social media strategy must be to maximise ROI. Social media is uniquely positioned to provide businesses with measurable results – allowing them to spend less and invest smarter. At agency:2 we believe that driving ROI must be at the heart of all social media activity.

Another fundamental principle of social media is the need to follow strict legal and ethical practices. Being honest and open is not only ethical and legal but will protect the client’s brand and online reputation. That is why all the social media marketing campaigns that we run are completely transparent.

2)  What, in your opinion, is the most effective way for online marketers to use social media?

We are obviously big believers in what social media marketing can help brands achieve. It means we can provide businesses with unique insights into their customers so that they have a clear picture of how they relate to their brand.

There are a range of highly effective ways in which online marketers could – and should – use social media to interact with consumers at every stage of the buying cycle. By listening and engaging in a timely and useful manner with the target audience, brands can enhance their proposition and drive leads.

3) Facebook and Twitter are often cited as the two primary social media sites that online marketers should use.  What other social media sites are also worthy of attention?

If you have an international brand with a global reach then an understanding of the social marketing landscape within each country is crucial.  Whether it’s RenRen in China, Mixi in Japan or Orkut in Brazil and India, you need to know the big players in each country so that you can reach these netizens in the most effective and efficient ways.

4)   What tools and software would you recommend for assisting with social media management?

We use a mix of our own in-house tools together with best of breed monitoring tools to ensure that we know exactly what is going on. Workflow and project management tools are also vital in streamlining your processes and ensuring that you are able to track and respond to all opportunities.

5)  What new social media opportunities can we expect to see over the next 12 months?

With social media continuing to grow and develop so rapidly, and in so many directions, it is always difficult to predict whether there will be a new, big start up just around the corner. However, recent developments suggest that the existing industry leaders – such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – will refine and develop their offering, incorporating new technology, such as geo-location, into their existing offering and cementing their dominance of the market. Facebook’s development of Places and a messaging service, together with other innovative features, are prime examples of this.

Social Media and the ASA Cap Code

March 1^st 2011 will be a significant day in the history of digital and social media marketing and advertising. That’s because from this date the ASA’s (Advertising Standards Authority) remit will extend to cover all brand owned websites, their social media pages as well as video and mobile campaigns.

What does the Cap Code mean for your brand?

The ASA now has the power to regulate all online and mobile marketing communications and ensure compliance with the Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (The CAP Code). This covers all businesses, regardless of size, and extends to other non-paid-for space online under your business’ control (e.g. messages you post on social networking platforms such as Twitter and Facebook).

At agency:2 we feel this is a very important and significant step forward.  As one of the Founders of the DMA, we have constantly adhered to strict ethical guidelines. We are proud of always working ethically and legally for the good of our clients. Our aim as a Social Media Council member has always been to focus on legislation and social media best practice.

Being honest and open is not only ethical and legal but also adds value to brands and, most importantly, the audience. That is why all the social media marketing campaigns that we run are completely transparent. We believe the new remit will ensure that the same high standards which exist in other media published in the UK will now consistently be adhered to in digital marketing communications right across the board.

The rules in the current CAP code will now apply to digital communications and the ASA will be able to use these powers to ensure that misleading and falsified marketing and advertising communications online by any business within the UK are removed.

How will they implement this?

• Current practice includes unfavourable publicity arising from an ASA adjudication as well as the withdrawal of trading privileges, including media space.

New sanctions:

• The ASA will provide details of an advertiser and the non-compliant marketing communication on a specifically designed ASA microsite, which draws public attention to the offending piece of communication.
• The ASA will also work in conjunction with search engines to remove any paid-for search advertisements that link directly to the page hosting the non-compliant marketing communication.
• They will also place paid-for advertisements on search engines highlighting the continued non-compliance of an advertiser’s marketing communication, linking through to the ASA microsite.

We are extremely hopeful that this will have the desired effect and that all online communications become more transparent and ensure people reading online are receiving honest and truthful messages.

March 1^st then – a date to put into your iCal.

New media: Quora

The rise of the Q&A site, Quora, seems almost inexorable if you believe reports. The premise is a simple one. The site describes itself as “a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it”.

In some ways Quora is a social search engine. It allows you to ask a question to real people, instead of a search engine, and then wait as users provide answers using their knowledge, experience and opinions. The ultimate goal of Quora is that each answer page becomes the best possible resource for someone who wants to know about that specific question.

Who will use it and why?

Quora opened from private beta to the public in June 2010 and in the last 8 months it has grown extensively.

It has been claimed that Quora has broad enough appeal to rival Facebook and Twitter. However, despite these assertions, at the moment it does not seem to be proving attractive to the average internet user and it is still dominated by those in the tech, media and social media industries.

It is these groups that Quora is proving most useful to – journalists looking to gain insights on topics they are researching as well as those in the tech industry who need answers to specific questions. Recruiters will also be able to make great use of Quora as, by following their chosen industry and topics, they can find candidates more quickly than they can on LinkedIn.

This is the great benefit of Quora – the ability to search through a vast collection of previous answers and track the responses. This allows you to see who the experts are in your industry.

This functionality means that companies can use it to track what people are saying about them and to answer questions about their business. Following questions allows you to keep up with the conversation, keep track of the competition and monitor the responses publicly. It also means that you can establish expertise in your field and mark yourselves out as the number one in your industry.

The future

Some have claimed Quora will be bigger than Twitter, others that it has the potential reach of Facebook. However, Quora does not currently have a mainstream audience and cannot come close to rivalling either of these platforms at the present time.

2011 should see the focus of the site shift due to the growth of the site and the subsequent arrival of a lot more non-technological users – there will be a broader range of topics and the site will be less tech-centred. It certainly has the potential to provide a platform for discussions that many other social networks have found difficult to achieve and in this way can be much more useful to the average internet user than platforms such as Twitter.

The competition

It does have rivals. StackOverflow has established itself as the best site in terms of problem-solving-for-programmers and gains sixteen million unique visitors a month. Since then StackExchange has been launched – a collection of sites, each based on answering questions for different categories.  In addition to this there are also Yahoo Answers, Cloudy, Answers.com and ChaCha, LinkedIn Answers, not to mention Facebook Questions which has been tagged the ‘Quora killer’.

So can 2011 be Quora’s year? Well, the SEO benefits are good, with results already starting to show up in Google. The high expectations and buzz around the site have seen a raft of new users. However, with more people signing up there may well be an increase in the volume of answers – but perhaps not in the quality and value. It will be interesting to see how Quora grows and whether it can deal with the clout of Facebook.

What you need to know about the new Facebook Pages

Facebook Pages

Last week saw Facebook roll out the much anticipated new look Pages. There are many new features: some good, some bad. Here are the main things that you need to know:

Facebook Images

The most striking changes you’ll notice when clicking on to a brand’s page are visual – they now feature 5 photos along the top. You may have seen personal profiles make the most of these by creatively taking advantage of this (as seen in Mashable). However, unfortunately for brands this isn’t possible. Unlike personal profiles which are ordered chronologically the Facebook Pages images are now selected randomly.

This means that brands must use this as a place to showcase images of products or promote themselves in other ways – the new layout provides businesses with the ideal way to do this.

Facebook Tabs & the importance of iframes

The navigation of the Brand Pages has also changed. The content that was previously accessed by clicking the tabs at the top of your Brand Page can now be found in the column underneath your Brand Page profile picture. Tabs have traditionally been central to the user experience. Moving them to the side could be detrimental to brands’ Pages – with the tabs not so prominent it could see a reduction in how many people click on tabs that are not the Wall or the default landing page.

However, it is not all bad news. When news of the new Facebook Pages was announced last year there were rumours that with the change in the style of the tabs brands would no longer be able to create custom landing Pages. However, this is not the case and it is still possible to have a customised landing page that promotes the USP of your business or incentivises people to Like your Facebook Page.

The demise of FBML

There is one significant change, however, that will have a profound effect. The Static Facebook Mark Up Language (FBML) App is to be pulled on 11th March 2011, so tabs will need to be created using iframes, not FBML.

Here’s what Facebook said on their Developer Blog:

With our recent launch of Requests and the support for iframe on Pages Tabs, we are now ready to move forward with our previously announced plans to deprecate FBML and FBJS as a primary technology for building apps on Facebook. On March 11 2011, you will no longer be able to create new FBML apps and Pages will no longer be able to add the Static FBML app. While all existing apps on Pages using FBML or the Static FBML app will continue to work, we strongly recommend that these apps transition to iframes as soon as possible.

This means that if you already have the Static FBML application (which allows you to create customised tabs) added to your Page before 11th March 2011 then they will continue to work – whether you will be able to create new tabs after this date is another question. However, it seems that sooner rather than later Facebook will really start pushing the use of iframes on Pages Tabs.

This will make it a harder to create a tab than it has previously been. One of the major benefits of the Static FBML application is the minimum amount of HTML knowledge required to create custom tabs without having to hire a developer. iframes are a lot harder to use – you need to be familiar with HTML, CSS and be comfortable troubleshooting technical issues that may arise.

Facebook Pages get social

One of the major benefits of the new Facebook Pages is the fact that you can log in as a business rather than a personal profile. By selecting ‘Use Facebook as a Page’ you will be able to run your Page like your own personal Facebook profile. This opens a whole host of new networking opportunities and makes the whole brand experience more social.

What does it mean in actual terms? Well, you will be able to receive notifications for your Brand Page, view a News Feed for your Page and ‘Like’ and post on other Pages as your Brand Page. You can also opt to receive notifications when people post or comment on your Brand Page. This makes it a far better customer service tool than it had previously been.

It also allows brands to become more social. The ‘mutual connections’ function means that when people visit your Brand Page, they will be able to view friends who also ‘Like’ your Brand Page, as well as other Pages that both they and your Brand Page ‘Like’. This enhances a sense of community and broadens the reach of your message. This knock on effect, with more and more people seeing your brand name is invaluable.

In addition to this the opportunity to comment and post as a brand throughout other Pages within Facebook means that you can get your brand noticed by very targeted and niche audiences. It greatly increases your reach by allowing you to take your brand name throughout Facebook, interacting with other brands, ‘Liking’ content and posting comments.

Add to this is the rumoured third party comments platform that can be integrated onto any site. This will provide an additional way of engaging with customers.

What this means for brands

Overall, the changes to Facebook Pages both give and take away power from brands. On the one hand, the changes to the navigation mean that bespoke tabs that have been used to push brand messages will (in all probability) prove much less powerful and significant to their Facebook marketing activity. However, businesses have the chance to be truly social, visit other Pages and get their brand name noticed by targeting brands and users who are interested in what they are saying. On a social networking platform that has over 600 million users this is an amazing opportunity.

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