DigitalNext

Facebook's Big Changes: Action Items for Marketers

Social-Media Site Streamlines Apps Before Fanning Across the Web

Posted by David Berkowitz on 11.02.09 @ 12:28 PM

David Berkowitz

Facebook's latest round of updates announced this week will affect everyone: marketers, developers, publishers, consumers and anyone else remotely connected to their site and platform. And some of the changes will especially impact marketers.

In a rare move for any company, Facebook not only announced what changes will take place, but it publicly offered a timeline for when it will happen. Of course, the timeline may shift, and some specifics have yet to be ironed out -- I've found in consulting both with Facebook executives and analysts covering the announcements that, many of the details aren't yet known and a number of important questions cannot yet be fully answered. However, marketers should still appreciate the wealth of information Facebook has provided on these changes, including a gallery of screen shots.

Facebook Lite Is a Black Hole for Brands

Many of the Tools Marketers Use Aren't Present

Posted by David Berkowitz on 09.11.09 @ 12:44 PM

David Berkowitz

Facebook Lite is a new streamlined version designed for people with slow internet connections. There's no chat and no applications. It's designed to give users quick access to their News Feed, inbox and events. Oddly though, it still includes a "post video" button -- who would do that on such a slow connection? I often can't do that with broadband.

Brands with Facebook Pages get short-changed here. You can't find Pages in the search results on Lite, even if you're already a fan; only people show up. There are no engagement ads -- just minimalist self-service ads with text, thumbnails, and a link. Updates from Pages don't appear in your Lite inbox. Branded Pages' status updates still appear in the News Feed, and you can click that to go to the Page, but there's just the stripped down Wall rather than all the tabs (there's still a link to the Page's photos and videos). It's yet another reminder for Page owners that to stay top of mind with consumers, it's important to post updates regularly. Developing an editorial calendar can help achieve that goal.

What You Need to Know About Facebook's Buying FriendFeed

How Turning a Frenemy Into a BFF Could Make Social Searching a Snap

Posted by David Berkowitz on 08.10.09 @ 04:46 PM

David Berkowitz

FriendFeed, the social-identity aggregator that never seemed to gain much market share beyond early adopters, is suddenly hitched to one of the biggest digital growth engines: Facebook. Marketers and consumers have a lot to cheer about Facebook's acquisition.

Facebook to App Ads: Be on Your Best Behavior

New Policy Cracks Down on Use of Personal Information

Posted by David Berkowitz on 08.03.09 @ 11:32 AM

Before back to school season begins in earnest, Facebook is schooling anyone running ads on its site.

Some estimates say developers on Facebook's platform could make $500 million this year, much of it through advertisements appearing on the applications they run on Facebook. (This is about as much money as some project Facebook itself will make.) Last week, Facebook released new guidelines for these ads in a blog post titled "Good Ads Make for a Good Ecosystem."

The Facebook Brand Grab Begins Saturday

What to Know About Reserving Your Vanity URL

Posted by David Berkowitz on 06.10.09 @ 11:31 AM

As of 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on June 13, Facebook is letting page owners create the vanity URLs that many have been clamoring for. That means pages will be able to shed their lengthy addresses in favor of one that becomes facebook.com/yournamehere. Marketers can go to http://www.facebook.com/username to make the switch.

Xerox Diagnoses a Syndrome That It Can't Cure

No Need to Copy This Campaign

Posted by David Berkowitz on 06.09.09 @ 01:12 PM

Do you have Information Overload Syndrome? Odds are this isn't the only blog you're reading, so it probably feels right. So how is it possible that Xerox, trying to capitalize on the frustration, left me feeling so cheated with their new campaign?

Microsoft's Bing Is a Search Portal, not a Decision Engine

Filtering and Aggregation Tools Encourage Users to Stay on Site

Posted by David Berkowitz on 06.01.09 @ 03:25 PM

Microsoft calls its new search engine, Bing, a "decision engine," even hosting a preview at decisionengine.com. The high-minded concept works to some degree, but a large number of the searches won't involve decisions at all, unless you're making a decision on whether you want to know the weather, or whether you'll check out pictures of Kris Allen or Adam Lambert.

Why This Digital Exec Thinks Google Should Buy Twitter

It Would Help Provide More Value to Marketers

Posted by David Berkowitz on 04.03.09 @ 12:05 PM

The rumor mill's working overtime today as competing stories fly about how badly Google wants Twitter. In one corner: Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, who says talks are far along with Twitter's founders, who previously sold Blogger to Google. In another corner: Kara Swisher of All Things Digital, who says Arrington cried wolf about Google acquiring Digg and Bebo, while noting that no one's buying the well-funded but poorly monetized Twitter for some crazy valuation. Backing up Swisher's point is a story in Ad Age about how Google allows recent Twitter posts (or "tweets") to be included in AdSense ads, which would signal that Google may be seeking to partner with Twitter rather than acquire it.

Let's put the "will it or won't it" debate on hold. If Google does acquire Twitter, what does this mean for all parties involved? We see it as the best possible scenario. Here's why:

Search first, talk later: While only a certain percentage of marketers and consumers will use Twitter to communicate, every marketer and business small and large can take advantage of Twitter Search.

Part of your recommended digital diet: Monitoring live conversations through Twitter Search (or, perhaps, another service that replaces it down the road) has the potential to be one of those staples for businesses, along the lines of updating their directory listings (YellowPages.com, Google Local, etc.) and making sure they have a decent domain name.

In Google we trust, this time: Twitter could be in good hands with Google. Google does have a mixed bag with communications start-ups -- see Jaiku and Dodgeball as examples of two promising start-ups that Google let languish. Yet Blogger has been a good fit, as Google largely let Blogger be Blogger. Go to Blogger.com -- you have to squint to see it's a Google service, with the only giveaways being the request to sign in with a Google Account and the Google copyright in the footer. Expect Twitter to have the same kind of hands off approach if Google acquires it.

The wisdom of crowdsourcing: Another advantage for Google and Twitter? Almost all of the best functionality on Twitter, Twitter Search included, has been developed by others (recall that Twitter acquired Twitter search engine Summize and made it Twitter Search). Twitter's biggest needs are a) servers to power it, and b) a revenue model, and that's exactly what Google can contribute. If Twitter stays running, its community of developers will do all the heavy lifting in making it even more usable.

Who else? Facebook has no track record of acquisitions to speak of and is too competitive with Twitter. Microsoft doesn't have the credibility to make an acquisition like this -- there'd be an uproar from users. Yahoo would be scary right now as it's so busy finding its own path and getting its house in order, plus they'd have the hardest time getting approval for buying something with no monetization. There could be a wild card like an AOL, which seemed to overpay $850 million for Bebo, although Bebo is finally fitting in with its lifestreaming plans (and, hey, AOL's now run by an ex-Googler). Google remains the most likely option with cash, relevant acquisition experience, and the missing pieces that Twitter needs.

Even if nothing happens between Google and Twitter, marketers should be aware of why these conversations would happen at all. Despite all the buzz that Twitter gets, it's still a blip on marketers' radars right now, and most marketers who are interested in it don't use it as well as they could for brand monitoring or communicating. That said, a Google acquisition might help Twitter provide more value to marketers (and maybe gain a revenue stream in the process) and would help steer marketers in the right direction with Twitter, as well.

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David Berkowitz is director of emerging media for 360i. He blogs regularly at Inside the Marketer's Studio.

Have Search, Will Tweet: Twitter Gets a Facelift

A Few Changes Any User Will Love

Posted by David Berkowitz on 03.06.09 @ 12:15 PM

Twitter today is selectively rolling out a few redesign tweaks (why should Facebook Pages get all the redesign buzz?). There are a few Twitter changes any of its users will love:

How to Brace for the Facebook Page Redesign

This Time It's the Brand Profiles That Are Changing

Posted by David Berkowitz on 03.02.09 @ 12:48 PM

Facebook is planning to redesign its advertiser "Pages," according to reports. And while the social network has yet to announce the changes publicly, many of the leaked changes will affect top page holders such as Barack Obama, Coca-Cola, Mr. Bean and any marketer with a Facebook page. Here are three of the biggest changes coming, along with tips for what marketers can do once the redesign is enacted.