Facebook Just Got More Important for Businesses

Yesterday at its f8 Conference, Facebook made a number of announcements that will fundamentally change the way we use the web. Regardless of how you feel about these changes, the fact is that they make the social networking platform that much more important for marketers and businesses.

Some of the changes have elicited the expected negative responses from users, in particular, the shift from becoming a “fan” of a page to “liking” the page. Overall, that particular change is primarily one of semantics, and while it adds to confusion, it doesn’t really change things drastically. (And I’ll go on record as saying that I think this change is a big mistake.)

But the biggest news, and the one that will have the most impact on us, is the scrapping of the very popular Facebook Connect application in favor of a new Open Graph API. Elements include a variety of tools that websites can use to interact with Facebook, including the activity stream plug-in and the recommendations plug-in.

Facebook is upping the ante and pushing the entire web to become more social. What we are seeing is that much of the activity that takes place on Facebook will begin to take place at a higher rate off-site.In other words, Facebook is everywhere.

Why does this make Facebook more important to businesses and marketers?

Consider these facts:

• Facebook now accounts for 41% of all U.S. traffic to social media sites
• Facebook is rapidly approaching 500-million active users worldwide
• More than 25-billion pieces of content are shared on Facebook each month.

The new Open Graph will allow you and others to better connect your online properties to Facebook, allowing for a truly social web. Those businesses and marketers that tap into this will have a better chance of taking advantage of the viral nature of social media.

Remember, the most effective and important marketing tool for businesses is usually word of mouth. Social Media, if used properly, is word of mouth amplified. Low cost, great ROI, and high levels of trust.

As Facebook integrates itself into more of the web, we will see even more “sharing” of information and sites. We need to make sure that it is our content that is being shared. The competition is great, but we need to find ways to stand out amidst the clutter. The ability to “like” things across the web can be huge.

Compelling, relevant content is one of the best ways of doing this, making a business blog even more important than it already was.

A Note on Privacy

With the announcement of the Open Graph there are obvious concerns about privacy. An initial look at the API and other changes to the platform indicates that there really is no change from the current privacy structure. And in all actuality, users may even have more control over their privacy IF they take advantage of that control. We can’t just assume the defaults are private, and now is a good time to be proactive and re-visit your personal Facebook privacy settings.

How do you see these changes in the Facebook platform effecting you and your business?

Tagged as: facebook, Marketing, Social Media