Facebook has opened up a new platform and it’s intended for a better brand management. Companies that want to advertise their brands and services can now create their own Facebook profiles.
Advertisers will also be able to promote their services to the friends of those who consume their products. An example is that if “John Smith” books a ticket on Travelocity, the online travel company will display Smith’s picture on the homepage and maybe suggest that he got a good deal and so can you. John Smith would be able to control whether he wants Travelocity to promote that information.
“People influence people,” said Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg about the new service during an ad event in New York. “Nothing influences a person more than a recommendation from a trusted friend.”
Plus Facebook users will also be able to embed code from outside web sites that revolve around their online consumer habits. Let’s say that I’m selling something on eBay, I can announce it on Facebook so that friends may find out what I’m selling and potentially bid on it too. Alerts can also be sent to friends when a user writes a review of restaurants, bands, books, DVDs, etc.
“Pushing your message out to people is no longer good enough,” added Zuckerberg. “You have to get your message out to the conversations.”
Facebook’s announcement comes on the heels of Google’s OpenSocial movement. No announcement has been made official about whether Facebook would join OpenSocial or not. But now that Facebook has a large and powerful growing user-base, an expanding advertising platform, and a $15 billion valuation, I would not be surprised if they decided not to join Google’s OpenSocial initiative.
