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Dayton Business Journal...
New rules to hit
Facebook users
by Dan Eaton
Friday, September 23, 2011
Facebook is changing again and while the alterations may be good for
personal uses, some observers think life for business users of the
popular social networking site could get tougher.
“Businesses aren’t going to be as prominent as they used to be,” says
Jessie Eckert, director of social media marketing for Columbus-based
Blind Acre Media Inc. “Businesses are going to have to get more
creative.”
Those “like” or “recommend” buttons on a business’ page – before, when
a user clicked it, anyone viewing that user’s newsfeed would see that
they like that business or product. Same with comments posted to a
business page. But Eckert says that isn’t showing up in personal feeds
anymore when clicked through Facebook, though it does appear in feeds
when clicked through the businesses’ Web site.
“The ‘like’ button is being marginalized,” says Dave Ringler, Blind
Acre’s director of marketing and product development. “How are
businesses going to stay in front of their followers’ friends?”
It also means businesses will have to give more consideration to how
they use “like” buttons on their Web sites.
This could have a big impact on businesses throughout the Dayton
region, as social media of all forms has been growing in acceptance and
functionality in the business community. Companies now are using sites
such as Facebook for marketing and networking. Many Dayton area
companies including Premier Health Partners and
Teradata Corp. all have Facebook pages.
As a result, Facebook has grown into one of the most widely used social
networking tool by businesses worldwide to interact and communicate
with customers. Institutions such as the city of Dayton, as well as the
University of Dayton and even individual local business leaders, all
have Facebook pages. Many Dayton area companies including Premier
Health Partners and Teradata Corp. all have Facebook pages.
Pictures have changed, too – also to the detriment of companies. Eckert
says that while pictures on personal sites are larger and will be laid
out differently, pictures on business sites are the same smaller size
and old format.
There also is less ad space, which has its pluses and drawbacks.
“The ramifications of that haven’t been addressed by Facebook yet,”
Ringler says.
The plus is that the demographic and psychographic data on users are
only going to improve and make ads more tightly targeted, but less
space means greater competition for that space and potentially higher
costs, he adds.
There could be some marketing benefits down the road though. Partners
with Facebook – including Hulu, Netflix and Spotify, for example – will
have applications that provide immediate access to their services. So,
if someone is streaming a movie through Netflix, their followers will
see that and can click on it too.
What does this mean for businesses?
Ringler thinks that as those capabilities evolve, it is an area
businesses may be able to tap – maybe one day I’ll be able to buy
something online from a certain company, my followers can see that and
immediately do the same.
Read it with links at Dayton Business Journal
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