So, like, have you heard the news?
Last week, Facebook made some big announcements. To say they have huge implications around the web would be a serious understatement.
Here are the basics of what Facebook’s done:
The “Become a Fan” button that let you show your support of companies, products, organizations, teams, etc. on Facebook has been replaced with a “Like” button. No big deal there.
But at the same time Facebook has made it very easy for websites to include “Like” buttons on their sites so you don’t even have to be on Facebook now to “Like” something. You can “Like” products, companies, movies, events, news stories and more all from many of your favorite websites and even add a comment there that will then be automatically posted to your FB wall.
By enabling websites to easily integrate Facebook into their sites, all of a sudden Facebook users don’t have to go to Facebook anymore. Facebook now comes to you.
Since the announcement last week it’s estimated that 500,000 websites have already added the Facebook “Like” code. These include sites like The New York Times, CNN, NHL.com, Levi’s, Yelp, iMDB, Mashable, and Kiva.org.
But there’s more than to it than just having a “Like” button on the site for you to click on. The code can also let site owners show the profile pictures of Facebook users who like their site, a particular story, a product, etc.
So when I visit Mashable now, I see pictures of my friends and the other 171,989 people who like Mashable.
Think about that for a second. From a marketer’s perspective nothing is more powerful than social proof from your friends. If I’m surfing iMBD looking at different movies and I see my friends’ pictures pop up in the sidebar because they “Like” a certain movie, you think I’m going to take note? Absolutely!
On the Levi’s site (an ecommerce site) it will even show you let you know who among your friends have birthdays coming up just in case you want to buy them a present while you’re browsing.
The marketing implications of this are huge and I don’t think many people have quite wrapped their heads around the possibilities here.
But wait, there’s more!
You know your Facebook Profile – the thing you filled out when you first signed up for Facebook that lists your hometown, high school, favorite movies, interests, hobbies, etc.? You probably haven’t touched it since you first signed up for Facebook.
Well, your “Likes” will soon be added to your profile page. And the information on your profile page allows marketers to run highly targeted Facebook PPC ads that show up while you’re on Facebook that are based upon all your profile information.
(If you’ve ever wondered how the ads on Facebook know you’re getting married, when your birthday is, what college you went to, etc., it’s because of the information you entered in your profile.)
Well now every time you “Like” something, you provide additional real-time information that marketers can use to target ads based upon your demographic info – including your “Likes.”
As Internet marketing guru Ed Dale (from Thirty Day Challenge fame) wrote recently, this is a marketer’s “wet dream.”
After these changes were announced another Internet expert declared Facebook has “won the web.”
I’m not ready to go that far, but the implications of the new Facebook “Like” feature are tremendous. And as a marketer, I’m downright giddy about the possibilities this opens up.
However, as an individual Facebook user I’ve got a completely different view of all this. I’m a fairly private person and like to keep my personal life, well, personal. The privacy issues raised by these recent changes have me concerned.
I’m interested to see how this all plays out in the coming weeks and months but there is one thing I’m sure about. For now, I will not be clicking the “Like” button much anytime soon. There may be some business and marketing related news items, products, etc. that I think will be worth a “Like.” I have no problem sharing professional related things.
But I’m not going to be “Liking” any movies, books, pairs of pants, political news stories, etc. It’s just too personal and I don’t trust that the information is going to stay private where it will only be available for my friends to see.
And that’s why I’m a hypocrite.
Because the marketer in me is drooling at the chance to run Facebook PPC ads that can target people by their “Likes.” I hope lots of people “Like” lots of things so I can run highly targeted campaigns for myself and my clients.
But the individual Facebook user in me is quite wary of what Facebook has done here and I personally don’t plan on jumping on the “Like” bandwagon anytime soon.
What are your thoughts on the new changes to Facebook? Have you started using the “Like” button? Are you concerned about the privacy issues surrounding the changes Facebook has made?
Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Oh, and I hope it’s not being too hypocritical to ask you to click the “Like” button below if you enjoyed this article. But only if you’re comfortable with doing so!