How Facebook Changes Will Affect Marketers

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On Aug. 23rd Facebook will be changing the way marketers work with Facebook. This is a reminder that when you use Facebook, you do not own your content. So when Facebook changes, you have to change with them.

The biggest change is the removal of boxes that once appeared in the sidebar. This is where marketers used to be able to add ”Opt-In” boxes for their Constant Contact lists, or badges from Twitter and Skype. Boxes are what allowed people to tie in many components of their social media campaign into their Facebook landing page. They were very powerful. On August 23rd, they’ll be gone. So any content in a Facebook “box” will need to be recreated.

Boxes were also used to appease lawyers. They were where you put “community guidelines” and “rules” to keep everyone out of trouble. Now, this content will have to be moved to the “About” tab or “Info” tab. Neither tab supports FBML, but URLs do turn into hyperlinks, which is nice.

Over time, I think marketers will need to make more use of Facebook Markup Language to get the utility of boxes. FBML is HTML used specifically for Facebook. FBML allows you to create landing pages in Facebook that look and feel just like regular Web pages on the Internet.

If you’ve ever wondered, “how do I make a Facebook page engaging,” this is how. Examples of FBML are Gain detergent, Coca-Cola and Chick-Fil-A. 

Facebook pages will also appear more narrow. If you’ve developed banners or images for Facebook, you may need to resize them. (Did a whole lot of graphic designers just make money?)

If you haven’t figured it out yet, all these changes are to make more room (and provide more value) to Facebook advertisers. Facebook is taking real-estate away from “free sites” and giving it to those willing to pay.

To see an example of the new Facebook page layout, look at a Facebook Event, like the one taking place at  Big Island Seafood Farmer’s Market.