Translation: the new privacy settings are unlikely to jeopardize the efforts of brand marketers and managers using Facebook to promote their products.

The singular objective of the Facebook security enhancements has been to protect the consumer, not to impede the efforts of marketing users. Consequently, brand marketers shouldn’t be alarmed by the new privacy settings: expect little net change to your marketing operations.

According to All Facebook, five major security enhancements were announced:

1. A new button has been introduced that users can use to opt out of applications from the entire Facebook platform.

Marketing Impact: Tune your marketing activities to prevent end-user frustration. Over-solicit, and you could wind up pushing your target market to opt out of all applications. Further, it’s now imperative to deliver value in every interaction. Do so, and a frustrated user may remember that the connection to your brand is worth preserving.

2. Users can now hide their lists of friends, likely impeding fan and friend recruiting.

Marketing Impact: If you’ve been sifting through the lists of fans and friends to find more targets, it’s time for a new strategy. Brand marketers using this approach to recruit audiences, though, were overdue for a change anyway! The goal of your Facebook marketing efforts should be to trigger this behavior among your fans and friends. Design applications and develop content that users will want to spread for you.

3. Users can hide their interests, making it more difficult for you to ascertain which people would be most receptive to your brand.

Marketing Impact: There’s virtually no change as a result of this. Since interests were only released when community pages were rolled out in April, it’s unlikely that any transformative social media marketing practices had time to emerge.

4. Past status updates can be hidden, constraining brand marketer research.

Marketing Impact: This development looks more significant than it really is. Unless you’re working with a small number of highly targeted Facebook users, it’s unlikely that you’d sift through this much content. Past information is concealed from searches, which can be limiting, but it should have no impact on a referral/viral growth strategy.

5. With only one click needed, privacy is getting much easier for users.

Marketing Impact: Again, there’s virtually no impact. Facebook users can easily restrict access to “Friends Only,” “Friends of Friends,” “Recommended” or “Everyone.” Unless you’re sifting through users to find targets, which is inefficient and time- and resource-consuming, this shouldn’t change your on-platform marketing activities.

Despite the magnitude of the changes, particularly in regards to personal privacy control, brand marketers shouldn’t be impacted too severely … as long as you’re using well-planned, properly executed social media marketing practices. If you suspect the privacy changes could disrupt your Facebook marketing efforts, contact us now.

[Thanks, All Facebook]

The Open Graph

With its development of the Open Graph API, Facebook is giving publishers a toolset for connecting content on their sites with Facebook in a more integrated fashion.  In general, the social plug-ins are extremely useful but almost completely un-customizable; for now they’ll look exactly like they look on the preview page.

The Graph API looks like it has much of the same functionality as Facebook Connect, but all the API calls can happen on the PHP side instead of the Javascript side, which gives us more flexibility and makes it faster for the end user.  What that means in English:  the new API works like Facebook connect, but is a lot more elegant.

Some of these new tools are drag-and-drop and don’t need any backend integration and the rest require some backend work on the same level of work as implementing Facebook Connect. We’ve separated the reviews by type.

Like Button & Like Box

Instead of becoming Fans, users on Facebook will now “Like”Pages on Facebook, as well as sites and sub-pages elsewhere on the web.  Off-Facebook “Likes” will permanently link the liked web page to the user’s profile.

Activity feed

This shows the five (or so) most recent Facebook actions that occur on a site (i.e. people liking or sharing sub-pages of a website). It’s pretty useful and easy to set up, it also reports all activity on your domain.  This is a great tool for sidebars and homepages and other places with a site-wide context. Each entry is what a person does, as opposed to…

Recommendations

This shows the top 5 or so pages on a domain, ranked by how many people like or share each. Again, this is a good tool for sidebars or homepages.

Comments

This brings a comment board to any page. It’s especially useful because Facebook introduced an API call that lets you see all the comment boards you used, so we have more options for administering the boards. There’s no spam protection though, which makes it less useful than a  Wordpress as a commenting system, which blocks spam.

Live stream box

This is the same live stream box and has not changed.

Login with Faces

This just pretties up the FB Connect login button with friends who are also on the site. This creates a social incentive for users to sign up if their friend’s already have. Using this unit means implementing Facebook Connect.

Facepile

This is just Login with Faces without the Login button.

As we discussed here, The age of the Community page is upon us. Around 3:30 today, Mashable posted three important clarifications:

Community pages will aggregate user content:These community pages aren’t run by individuals, so they don’t have a wall and don’t send updates to users’ feeds. Instead, they import streams of related, public content from user status messages.

Status text is split into updates from friends and updates from all Facebook users. E.g., if I write in a status update to everyone, “I love this new hip hop album,” Facebook recognizes the term “hip hop” and imports my public update to the hip hop community page. Community Pages also include relevant information from Wikipedia under a Wikipedia tab.

User profiles connections to pages will be more prominent…oh, and Facebook will recommend pages based on your profile.

With today’s changes, “liked” pages and community pages can be linked to user profiles in categories of the “Likes and Interests” section of the profile. Instead of being merely static text, the profiles can display links to active community or brand-owned pages. Each page’s link will open up a hovercard with more information on the page. The pages you already like will be linked to your profile in the appropriate category, such as music or movies, and interests you’ve stated can be linked to related community pages.

Also, users will be given additional privacy controls.

Of course, since information around pages is public, privacy and sharing settings for these new settings are editable. In a new profile editing workflow, users will be given page suggestions when they add text to their profiles. Pages can be dragged and dropped from the profile, or even hidden if the user doesn’t want his profile to be a billboard for that particular page.And privacy settings will be changed, as well, for “friends, tags and connections” so users have more control over who sees what areas of their profiles, including friends lists, cities and pages.

• F8, the big Facebok developer conference is happening this Wednesday in San Franscisco

• Expect big announcements – primarily having to do with a universal “Like” button similar to the “Share” button.

• We expect this to make it easier for brands to build valuable social media connections with Facebook users across all of their digital media initiatives.

@MarkatEnter
President of enter:marketing and enter:new media. Social media, PR, direct marketing, fashion, entertainment, sports and technology are all fair game

 
 RT @Versace Emma Roberts is wearing a white leather dress with metal studs in the latest issue of @InStyle US. http://twitpic.com/1co07n 1:21 PM Apr 2nd

Wholefoods Facebook Scam – Technorati   http://bit.ly/bs6yEB 10:10 AM Apr 3rd 

We are so going to start using Hot Deals! RT @seattleweekly Science Explains Why You Always Buy Too Much Stuff @Costco http://bit.ly/9q6ehA 10:45 AM Apr 3rd   

Trying to figure out how to use this girl for any of our clients…RT @mashable Soloist Performs on 4 iPhones [VIDEO] http://bit.ly/adZAxX 4:35 PM Apr 4th 

Thoughts for the day: “Conversation is king” and “Feedback is frictionless.” Discuss amongst yourselves. http://bit.ly/c285wC 7:54 PM Apr 5th via web   

Augmented reality is a hot topic in the office. Is the fad over…or has it just begun? Fun little example from Avatar: http://bit.ly/OWjSm 9:49 AM Apr 7th via web

RT @missphenom Versus is back! Get on the revamped @versaceVersus clothing mailing list here: http://www.versusspringsummer.com/ 4:39 PM Apr 7th

 RT @YMIjeans @reply us to be featured in our YMI UTweet spot! :) http://bit.ly/blDGPW  5:29 PM Apr 7th

Florence + The Machine got a second listen today thanks to my more fashion forward friends – and I can’t stop listening. #fallinginlove  11:22 PM Apr 7th

Getting this camera to capture horse-mounted HD video for our famous polo-playing client. Can’t wait for the footage! http://bit.ly/ejZTy 11:33 AM Apr 8th

The buzz and controversy surrounding Facebook’s forthcoming “Like vs. Fan” terminology change overshadowed another potential game-changer announced by Facebook last week – the creation of Community Pages. While this change may make it easier for brands to claim to their own “official” Facebook turf, it also opens a new set of marketing opportunities and challenges.

Facebook’s goal for the Community Pages initiative is to create greater distinction between users’ efforts to build unofficial communities relating to brands, entertainers and other public figures and the planned and targeted efforts of brand owners and managers.

Currently, the mix of “official” and “unofficial” pages has not only caused confusion for users, but has also placed brand marketers in the awkward position of deciding among three unappealing choices: 1) coexist with these pages, 2) ask Facebook to shut them down or 3) merge them into the official page. While some brands have benefited from being able to grow quickly by consolidating unofficial pages, many more have seen their growth on the platform slowed by unintended competition from their own brand-enthusiasts.

“We’ve seen all the creative ways our users have used the product to capture the causes, topics, and ideas that they care about,” said Meredith Chin, Facebook spokesperson. “So we’ve created community pages to give our users opportunities to express their enthusiasm and creativity, while allowing for official pages to continue representing official entities such as businesses, bands, and public figures.”

enter:new media sees this change as both a solution and a challenge. Separating these two types of pages will make it easier for brands to stake out and defend their own branded space on the platform without “competing” with organically grown communities.

At the same time, we foresee users embracing the new Community Pages concept – rallying support for and against a number of brand-related topics. Brand marketers will have to sharpen their tactics and establish best practices around seeding, encouraging, promoting, communicating with and enabling organic Facebook communities that relate to their brand.

These skills will need to cleverly combine aspects of several disciplines – digital PR, community relations, partnership marketing, content publishing and potentially application development – to realize the potential connected directly to their brand as and indirectly through related community pages.

Just when more and more marketers were getting into a groove promoting their “become a fan” message, Facebook goes and announces a shift away from this terminology in favor of the existing “like” feature. While many were quick to panic at first, most are seeing this semantic shift as a way to make it easier for users to build lasting connections to brands in the future. Yet, rather than taking pressure off marketers looking to increase their impact in social media, this shift places even more emphasis on the need to be “likeable” – i.e., deliver valued content on an ongoing basis that users will like, share and recommend.

One of the keys to this new approach is its ability to sidestep the mental hurdle involved when users are asked to overtly declare they are a “fan” of a particular brand. Soon they will simply need to “like” a brand’s ad, content or activity on Facebook in order to establish an equivalent connection. With Facebook users currently using the “like” feature over “become a fan” by a ratio of nearly 2:1, the implications in brand reach on the platform could be seismic.

According to an internal memo within Facebook, which has already been widely reported:

“‘Like’ offers a simple, consistent way for people to connect with the things they are interested in.” It continues, “These lighter-weight actions mean people will make more connections across the site, including with your branded Facebook Pages.”

Currently, Facebook users “fan” pages they value and “like” content they value. As Facebook moves to phase out the “become a fan” terminology, it appears that the biggest winners will be brands that can provide the most likeable content that gets shared and promoted across the platform.

In the new paradigm, social media content creation will have to go far beyond intern-authored status updates. Content planning across text, photography, video, and interactive experiences will continue its rise as an increasing imperative in the growth of valued brand communities.

What great social media content will you be rolling out this quarter?

Ahh, but there is a catch: monthly licensing fees. Many who have built their Facebook presence on proprietary development platforms are now stuck paying monthly fees, simply for the right to continue to use their own Facebook presence.

We see things a different way.

We too are big believers in the value of social media platforms. In fact, we offer one of the richest set of tools and capabilities available. However, instead of asking our clients to continue to pay for these customized tools, we focus on delivering the professional social media services needed to build and manage community and drive measurable results. These services include community management, digital PR, content production, and promotional marketing.

Don’t let a good idea like social media platform lead you down a dead end street. Avoid licensing fees and put that your budget to work to create an end-to-end social media program.

For Comedy Central and The Colbert Report, sponsor of this year’s U.S. Olympic Speed Skating Team, the trek of the torch to Whistler, British Columbia brings an opportunity to engage more deeply with their fans.

Colbert and Comedy Central teamed with enter:new media to create a custom Facebook tab to act as the social media headquarters for the show’s “Skate Expectations” campaign.

This custom, updatable application, provides fans access to a curated selection of videos and articles related to the U.S. Speed Skating team, the Winter Olympics and ColbertNation.com. Colbert’s Twitter feed, @StephenAtHome, is woven into the application, affording fans the chance to expand their relationship with the show across social media platforms.

But like all good social platforms, this tab does more than just provide cool content. Fans can show their support for the U.S. Speed Skating team by posting to the page as well as their own profile. Fans can even take their commitment a step further by donating to the team.

Finally the custom tab is designed to easily resize to the new Facebook tab standards being rolled out before the end of the month.

UPDATE: Facebook decided to feature this tab on their “Celebs on Facebook,”  page.

Facebook is rolling out a series of changes that  may require swift action by marketers. The disappearance of the “Boxes” tab, narrowing of custom tabs and discontinuation of iFrame use – all likely by the end of February – leave little time for the modifications that will shape how the social media-using public perceives your brand. Unless you’re sticking to out-of-the-box functionality (which means you’re leaving ROI on the table), you have a little over a month to prepare.

If you’re working with the right agency, there’s  little reason for concern. A partner that has the deep, integrated social media skills necessary to help you market your brand effectively will be able to guide you through these changed features with little disruption. But, companies relying on guerilla tactics and workarounds will likely struggle.

Three Major Changes for Facebook Marketers

Facebook is a dynamic environment, so brand and individual end-users alike should have little expectation of permanence. Beyond redesigns, Facebook will always find ways to tweak functionality and change the user experience, as it seeks opportunities for user, traffic and revenue growth. After all, Facebook’s primary objective is not to be a marketing platform. Rather, it is to bring people together in a way that stimulates interaction … which is what defines a robust, high-value environment for marketing activity.

Unlike individuals, corporate and brand users will need to be able to react swiftly to these new features and constraints, as they have more at stake: changes for which they are unprepared can disrupt the fan experience and impede opportunities to generate revenue.

Facebook is rolling out three substantial modifications that will impact brands using the platform as a marketing tool:

1. The width of custom tabs will shrink from 760px to 520px
2. The Boxes tab will go away
3. iFrames will no loner be supported on Facebook pages

Custom tab width: Applications on custom tabs will lose more than 30 percent of the screen real estate (by width) currently available to them. This will require many Facebook-based marketers to redesign and redevelop custom tab applications currently in production.

Disappearance of Boxes: Applications currently in Boxes will be moved to the space below a user’s profile picture … but there is a more pressing business implication. Brand and corporate Facebook users will no longer be able to use Boxes as a home for free promotions.

No more iFrames on pages: Only FBML will be supported for custom tab content. Agencies, in particular, that have used iFrames to cut corners on Facebook application development will have to adapt quickly and may struggle to gain the requisite depth of skill within the expected rollout timeframe. They (and their clients) are thus exposed to a considerable amount of risk.

Facebook’s Strategy Favors the Focused

The planned changes by Facebook underscore how fluid the social media environment is. Marketing users need to ensure that the agencies they engage are not only following Facebook developments closely but should work with those that have committed to mastering the tools and practices that are consistent with Facebook’s strategic objectives.

As Facebook continues to pursue an agenda of aggressive growth – particularly amid rumors of a 2010 IPO – look for the company to emphasize tools and features that will bolster its financial performance (e.g. through traffic and user acquisition and retention) and gain a deeper commitment from other companies in the Facebook ecosystem – particularly the agencies developing Facebook applications.

The net effect of this shift in the Facebook ecosystem will be to shift marketing techniques from guerrilla to planned and professional. Agencies that have thrived in the “Wild West” environment will find themselves unable to marshal the skills and resources necessary to serve their clients effectively. The fact that Boxes and iFrames will be discontinued, for example, indicates that Facebook marketing will require a specific set of development capabilities … which will have to dovetail with marketing, media and community management competencies. Standalone Facebook marketing is already in decline, and the integrated approach is seeing an accelerated rise.

Ultimately, Facebook will want to put its best foot forward when introducing itself to the public markets, and that means shoring up its financial statements and showing that it has an attainable plan for continued strong growth. Features that trigger end-user interaction are crucial to financial success, as is the management of a rationalized ecosystem that feeds Facebook – rather than use it as a platform for gain that doesn’t generate any value for the platform itself.

The Advantage of the Fully Integrated Social Media Agency

enter:new media invests considerably in both its Facebook application development and marketing capabilities and in monitoring the Facebook ecosystem for the changes that can affect the returns they are looking to secure. Consequently, we provide a degree of readiness for our clients that protects their social media marketing investments and relationships while positioning them for greater ROI.

We are among the few agencies that combine the full set of social media marketing capabilities needed to thrive on Facebook under one roof – from strategy through development, media outreach and community management. An agency that is not equipped to handle every aspect of the Facebook marketing process leaves its clients exposed to inordinate risk when platform changes are made, as many will learn in the coming weeks.

Are you ready for the new Facebook marketing environment? Time is short, and your brand’s at stake. Give us a call to learn how the new Facebook features will  affect your Facebook applications… and your social media marketing strategy as a whole.