Changing of the Guard: Facebook Beginning to Leverage Social Media Marketing

I was perusing around Facebook (something that's becoming something of a pastime for my generation), and I saw that one of my friends (former Radford graduate and current awesome dude Mike Johnson) had become a "fan" of a page called Facebook Marketing Solutions. And like any curious and scatterbrained Facebook user, I clicked on the link to see what they were all about. Here's what showed up under their "info" tab:

Website:

http://www.facebook.com/marketing

Company Overview:

Facebook Marketing Solutions helps (brand) marketers share with users and create movements on Facebook. This Page is work-in-progress so please provide feedback on what you would like to see here! This Page is run by employees of Facebook.

Mission:

Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected.

Products:

Engagement Ads:
-Event
-Gifting
-Polling
-Fanning
-Sampling
-Commenting

Marketing Tools:
-Pages
-Events
-Connect
-Applications
-Share

So even though this is still "a work in progress" Facebook now has it's own marketing company, signaling that Facebook is finally realizing the potential of the social networking medium. They are venturing out beyond connecting friends to each other, and are now leveraging the medium to connect businesses and movements to the public at large. While this clearly demonstrates the change and evolution of Facebook itself, it also demonstrates the changing of the guard of how companies contact potential customer and keep current customers.

On the Facebook Marketing Strategies "Wall" they have a link to an article written by SmartBlogs.com, which talks about Coca Cola's ingredients for effective marketing through social media. They came up with 5 simple adages:

1. Add Value

2. Be Transparent

3. Be consistent and follow through

4. Be Receptive to Change

5. Suprise and Delight Your Customers

All of these points are incredibly apt, but the one that sticks out the most is #4, "Be Receptive to Change." Social media is so new that organizations have to be receptive to the changing of this medium. The innovation of Facebook has diffused quicker than any innovation in modern history. While Myspace and Friendster laid the groundwork for social networking, Facebook has built (and is still building) a massive skyscraper on that foundation. It is currently the number one most searched site on the internet, nudging Google from it's long standing perch. Facebook has been able to reach this level for it's ability to adapt to the changing needs of the marketplace.

D'Aprix claims the best antidote for communicating and implementing change is a strategy based in the marketplace. When Facebook began to explode they scrapped their original software template where people were connected by region, and implemented a new template that was built for growth. This change, along with many others, was met with varying levels of resistance (tangent: it's absurdly incredible to see how people completely lose their minds when Facebook changes it's look. The reaction is so visceral you'd think these people would start a violent uprising. But alas, they are but helplessly addicted to what Zuckerberg is peddling). Facebook's move to a growth-based connection system was essential to make it easier for users to connect with each other and turn Facebook's bottom lines from red to black. While Mark Zuckerberg and company have struggled with some marketplace demands (privacy settings anyone?), but they have been riding a shape shifting wave with remarkable balance. And Facebook Marketing Solutions is just the next toehold.

Social media is still incredibly new, and best practices are still being tested. There is no template to social media success, and the boundaries of it's potential have yet to be discovered. This makes innovation inextricable to the success of social media marketing. This is an era where marketers are laying the foundation for how we as the public are going to be sold things. From political and social movements to brands to individual products. Social media will become integral to a company's marketing plan, and organizations all around the globe will need to innovate to cope with this changing of the guard. Facebook, it seems, will be at the forefront of this new guard.