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Facebook’s Q4 2009 Platform Update

November 2009

Overview

Facebook’s latest round of updates to its platformwill affect everyone: marketers, developers,publishers, consumers and anyone else remotelyconnected to their site and platform. Some will beespecially impactful for marketers. In a rare movefor any company, Facebook not only announcedwhat changes will take place, butpublicly offered atimelinefor when they will happen.

The timeline may shift, and some specifics have yetto be ironed out. In consulting both with Facebookexecutives and analysts covering theannouncements, many of the details aren’t yet known, and a number of important questions cannotyet be fully answered. However, marketers should still appreciate the wealth of informationFacebook has provided on these changes, including agallery of screen shots.Below is a summary of changes and what they mean for marketers.

Opt-In Email

Applications and Facebook Connect developers will beable to request users’ email addresses. This facilitatesoff-Facebook communication not previously available,and it allows marketers to extend consumerrelationships beyond Facebook. It’s also anendorsement for email marketing, signaling that somefears of theFacebook inbox entirely replacing theemail inboxare exaggerated. Email notifications arean important way for many Facebook users to find out what’s happening on the site, so now apand Connect partners will reap similar benefits. This is all explicitly opt-in; applications won’tsuddenly be given the email addresses of their users.ps

Action item for marketers

: Not every application will warrant an email component. If aninformational app has 1,000 active users, even an ambitious five percent conversion rate forcollecting emails will not make it worth the effort. However, marketers and publishers withpopular applications and especially those using Facebook Connect should consider connecting thisto their email communications programs. Note that the list should be segmented; people who usea brand’s game application and sign up for emails may get turned off by overly commercialemails unless the call to action is very specific (“Sign up for our weekly deal update!”).

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360i Point of View on

Facebook’s Q4 2009 Platform Update

November 2009

Notifications Put on Notice

Updates from applications that were previously sent as notifications will now appear in Facebook’sInbox and stream (the stream is the homepage content viewed as either the News Feed or LiveFeed). It’s likely that many of these notifications were getting lost in the shuffle, with many usersnot noticing or ignoring them, so this change will make application updates more visible.Requests from friends inviting others to use applications will also appear in the Facebook Inbox.Facebook’s Developer Blog noted, “Application communication in channels like notifications andrequests aren't effectively serving their original purpose.” There is one catch though: once these updates are more visible, especially in the Facebook Inbox,users will be even more selective as to which applications can communicate with them. Facebookwill make it easier for users to control this communication; more information on the userexperience is on the broaderFacebook Blog.

Action Item for Marketers

: As the change happens, monitor application usage and opt-ins togauge changes in consumer behavior. Focus more on substantial messages to consumers such astime-sensitive new items, gifts or levels. While some very popular applications may findthemselves with ample leeway to blast messages, most will have to work harder to earn andmaintain users’ trust.

A Shift to the Left

Bookmarked applications that currently appear on the bottom-left of users’ screens will now shift to the left-hand column of the homepagebeside the stream. It still hasn’t been determined how manyapplications will appear individually by default. That column will alsoinclude events and groups. A new feature will bea counterthat poststhe number of updates for applications, events, and groups. Forapplications, the counter will only include ‘meaningful’ updates, as aFacebook executive confirmed, such as noting that a friend beat yourhigh score. It won’t include automated, scheduled messages fromapplications to users such as, “Don’t forget to feed your cow onFarmVille.”

Action Item for Marketers:

Again, meaningful updates will mattermost here. Consider using events more frequently to gain more realestate on the homepage. With events, post real updates to specialguests, the agenda or venue information, but don’t keep changingminor details just to try to game the counter.

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360i Point of View on

Facebook’s Q4 2009 Platform Update

November 2009

Fanning out across the Web

Facebook users will be able to become a fan of

any

Web site. Currently with Facebook Connect, aconsumer might go to JoesShop.com (as an example) and become a fan of the Joe’s Shop pageon Facebook. The consumer will then receive updates specifically from the Joe’s Shop Facebookpage. Sometime in early in 2010, users will be able to become a fan of JoesShop.com, and thatWeb page will be allowed to publish stories to its fans’ streams.Many of the specifics of this, dubbed the Open Graph API, are unclear. For instance, in thisexample JoesShop.com will show up in search results on Facebook, but will it take precedenceover the Joe’s Shop Facebook page? What kinds of updates should a website send versus aFacebook Page? Should it change what marketers develop for their Facebook pages? The bestpractices will be determined once more details emerge about the API.If the changes in application communication signaled that email usage is alive and well beyondthe Facebook Inbox, the Open Graph API is Facebook’s acknowledgement that its users do spendtime on destination sites and not just the social network. Facebook clearly wants to be a part of wherever consumers are; and, with more than 300 million active users, marketers increasinglywant to be where those users are, too. As Facebook Connect has shown, marketers and Facebookcan benefit symbiotically by working together more closely.People go to a Facebook page versus a destination site for different reasons, so for any brandusing Facebook (and assuming Facebook’s trajectory continues, most brands need to be there insome way), both the social network and brand’s Web site will be important in furthering theconsumer-brand relationship.

Action Item for Marketers

: For this update and the one below, marketers won’t have to takeimmediate action but will need to monitor this closely and loop in the appropriate constituents,including internal parties responsible for their Web site development and social marketing, alongwith their respective agencies.

Analytics Upgrade

Facebook’s roadmap includes improved analytics for Facebookapplications and Facebook Connect-enabled sites, scheduled for late2009 or early 2010. It isn’t clear how the analytics will be improved, butany updates here will undoubtedly be welcomed by marketers.Marketers and agencies in contact with Facebook should use this as areminder to share their wish lists with their Facebook repre