There are three things you need to be thinking about as a marketer on Facebook:

1. Building for connections

Gokul made a very elegant point. You don’t want to just build connections. It’s not about the number of fans you have. It’s about what you offer them and it’s clear that the company’s focus has shifted from growth to engagement.
You need to publish content and experiences that people care about. Don’t build around your business. Build around your customers’ interests. If you sell cameras, focus on pictures and not your products. If you sell stoves, focus on the food and not your steel products.
Put content out there that becomes a part of users’ identity. The question you need to ask is: how can you build experiences and publish content that consumers will put into their Timelines and make their own? Focus on stuff that adds meaning to people’s lives and not distract their lives.
Think lighter versions of the Nike+ running application. The app focuses on running and not shoes but Nike gets the credit for adding value.
The key metric going forward will be closer to how many people added your content or application to their timeline than how many connections you have. This is a radical shift to actions and engagement and away from reach and impressions, though they are tightly aligned. Read the rest of this entry »