At last month's f8 Developer Conference, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced his blueprint for the future of the Web centered around two key developments aimed at redefining and reinvigorating the Facebook experience: Timeline and Open Graph actions. Zuck explained the new Facebook profile layout will be completely reoriented around sharing the story of your life - taking the self-expression and connectedness that made Facebook so exhilarating when we all first signed up years ago to an entirely new level.
What do these new changes mean for brands? Well first, just like Facebook users, brands will soon have an unprecedented way to tell their stories using Timeline, connecting to customers like never before. The key insights in Timeline are 1) a richer canvas optimized for photos, video, music, and multimedia, and 2) a recognition that the most interesting things about a person are not necessarily only the most recent activity. Timeline initially is for Facebook profiles only, but logically it is just a matter of time before Timeline is rolled out to Facebook Business Pages.
Businesses should start collecting and curating their most powerful stories told by photos, videos, testimonials - about their customers, their employees, the founding of the company and be ready to showcase these on their Timeline. The new richness in expressiveness on the Facebook Canvas means businesses can go beyond tactical deals and posts to begin to paint a much larger picture and share a compelling vision that inspires brand connection and loyalty.
An important aspect of this brand connectedness will come from shared stories between brand and customers. In the best, most authentic cases, brand stories will be customers' stories. The shared story could end up on both the brand and individual's Timelines. For example, if you own a bakery, the cake you baked for a customer's 50th wedding anniversary might very well be showcased on her Timeline. The same story could be showcased on yours. If you own a chain of coffee shops, your customers could add your signature fall drink to their Timelines to mark the change of seasons. If a Facebook user trains for a marathon or attains her healthy weight at your fitness center, that too might likely appear on her Timeline.
The second development, Open Graph verbs, will allow much richer interactions on Facebook profiles and pages. Today users can "like" a page, application, picture, video, or book. But with the newest release of Open Graph, the "like" button will be customizable---users will be able to "read" a book on Amazon, "review" a restaurant on OpenTable, "feel beautiful wearing" an Anthropologie sundress, "double" an In-N-Out Burger, or "protect our family" with local insurance agents.
In addition, Facebook is making it possible to embed application widgets on profiles, further driving customer engagement opportunities wherever users are on Facebook.
Netflix and Spotify have already partnered with Facebook to offer media and music applications that play right on users' profiles. As users watch movies or listen to their favorite stations from the Facebook interface, their friends will be able to see that activity in real-time and interact with the application.
The implications of these developments are that marketers will have much deeper engagement opportunities with their customers and also much richer data from which to understand and target their customers.
In the weeks leading up to f8, Facebook had unveiled some pretty substantial changes, and now they all make sense:
- Suggested Friend Lists: takes a page from the Google+ playbook and automatically suggests groups of Facebook friends based on shared workplace, school, family, and city.
- Subscribe Button: a Twitter-like capability for one-way, asymmetric relationships.
- Ticker and Updated Newsfeed: showcases both "most recent activity" and "most interesting" news items.
Just as we were getting comfortable with marketing Facebook, Timeline and the Open Graph updates are redefining the Internet once again. The good news for both users and brands is an opportunity for deeper, more meaningful connection which will ultimately drive loyalty, new friends, and new business.
Clara Shih is the author of The Facebook Era and the CEO/Founder of Hearsay Social.