Oxford Communications Facebook Upgrades

LIKECHANGE?A Report on Facebook Pages UpgradesFebruary 2011 oxfordcommunications.com

2 | Like Change? | Feb. 2011 oxfordcommunications.comLIKE CHANGE?Oxford Communications is an agency deeply committed tounderstanding the way consumers live, eat, sleep, socialize, makedecisions and (ultimately) buy. So, believe me, we de nitely liketracking changes. This report is less about how consumers change,and more about the nitty gritty details of the recent changes toFacebook - the platform that fuels the social lives of half of thepeople living in the United States.On Feb. 10, 2011, Facebook released its rst major update toFacebook Pages, its product offering for businesses, in over sixmonths. The changes, billed by Facebook as ‘upgrades’, move The subsequent pages of this report cover the full range ofPages closer to the newly re-designed Facebook Pro le Pages, which changes that Facebook has announced in Feb. 2011, including:users have been enjoying (or complaining about) since Dec. 2010. • Tabs have moved and now allow use of iFrames • Advent of targeted postings based on location and languageSome of the upgrades premiering today had actually already been • Profanity block is now available to administratorspreviewed accidentally by Facebook on Dec. 16, 2010, when an error • New ability to post questions to usersin its system prematurely pushed the changes public. The kerfuf e • Exciting new Facebook Advertising announcementswas widely covered by Facebook enthusiast publications andprompted a bigger conversation about Facebook’s level of Many of these updates create interesting opportunities for brandscommunication with its business Users. At the time, a Facebook to continue growing closer to their consumers. We look forwardspokeswoman who was interviewed by Mashable had this to say: to ongoing work with our clients to explore innovative strategies for energizing those consumers most passionate about the Organizations invest a lot of time on their Facebook Pages brands they ‘like.’ because millions of people nd them useful everyday. We remain committed to providing ways for Page owners to customize and Yours Truly, control the experience on their Page. If we do make changes, we will provide partners with advance notice.Facebook is offering Page administrators the option of activating the Ben Grossmanupgrades manually between the date of launch and Mar. 10, 2011, Communications Strategistcreating a one month period of ‘advance notice.’ As is true of many Oxford Communicationsof the Facebook updates, these changes will surely improve the e: bgrossman@oxfordcommunications.comproduct offering in the long run, but will be met with hesitation in the c: 602.741.0314short term.

3 | Like Change? | Feb. 2011 oxfordcommunications.com PAGE UPGRADES Released February 10, 2011

4 | Like Change? | Feb. 2011 oxfordcommunications.comTABS: LOCATION & iFRAMESOne of the most customizable areas ofPages, Tabs, will experience two majorchanges. First, Tabs will now be locatedon the left hand side of Pages, ratherthan along the top of the Page.Second, Tabs — previously only theresult of savvy FBML coding — will nowbe able to support iFrame-basedapplications.Tabs, which are still limited to a quantityof six) will also accommodate longerTab names. Icons appearing beside theTab names will identify what type ofapplication is supporting that Tab—creating some less-than-perfect resultsfor the majority of Pages out there thatuse Static FBML-based tabs.Facebook had initially announced thatthe iFrame compatibility would bereleased in Q4 2010, but it waspostponed until Q1 2011. ‘InlineFrames’ will now be an option forPages, expanding the number ofoptions for developers and creatingless dependency on the FacebookPlatform for running applications. Thisfeature will affect the way we utilizeTabs and their capabilities goingforward, but will not require anyimmediate changes on Tabs completedin the past.

5 | Like Change? | Feb. 2011 oxfordcommunications.comPHOTOSTRIPThe ve latest images posted by Pages will be prominentlydisplayed across the top of the Page, much as they appear on userpro les (since Dec. 2010).We see amazing potential for this new feature. Initial ideas rangefrom using this space to promote new product callouts to featuringthe season’s latest fashions. Administrators will have the ability tocurate the photos in this space and to exclude speci c photos fromthe Photostrip.

6 | Like Change? | Feb. 2011 oxfordcommunications.com LIKES: A BIT MORE LIKABLE Previously, Facebook’s design has put an emphasis on the photographs of users who like a given Page, rather than the sheer quantity. In the new layout, however, much more emphasis is put on the number of people who like the Page. While we still maintain that brands should seek quality users to like the page, rather than quantity, we do see it as increasingly important that Pages have a number of ‘likers’ that validates the brand and is competitive with other like-sized businesses. PROFILE IMAGE DIMENSIONS Previously, Facebook accepted pro le images at sizes up to 200 x 600 pixels. Going forward, the maximum size of these images will change to 185 x 540 pixels. Though the real estate devoted to pro le images may be shrinking slightly, we still think making full use of this space—with optimizations for the new size restrictions—is a key part of a quality branded Facebook Page.

7 | Like Change? | Feb. 2011 oxfordcommunications.comTARGETED POSTSPreviously, when administrators of Pages sent out a post, they were required tosend it out to all users who had liked the Page. This dynamic often created majorquandaries for brands with multiple extensions in geographically and culturallydiverse locations. With this update to Pages, that dynamic changes.Administrators will now be able to geo-target posts to countries, states and cities.While Facebook refers to this feature as ‘geo-targeting,’ posts can also be targetedto speakers of speci c languages. This new feature opens up possibilities forfranchises with managers running local specials, regional announcements based onweather conditions, and relevant, multilingual posts for multi-national brands.The new functionality may also resolve some of the con icts faced by brands in thepast when considering whether individual locations or branches of businessesshould have their own Facebook Pages, as opposed to one uni ed corporate Page.E-MAIL NOTIFICATIONSAdministrators will now be empowered with the optionof having individual emails sent to them every timeusers post on the Page. At this time, email noti cationwill not be customizable. While there would have to bea form email sent hourly and/or a standardizednoti cation sent when a post is blocked, we expectthis feature to be frequently requested by users.This new feature may empower the administrators ofsmaller Pages, but the frequency of emails is likely notvery useful to administrators of larger Pages. In thelong term, the advancement of this feature may makethird party services, like NutshellMail, less necessary.However, there is still a place for vendors to providemore user-friendly services.

8 | Like Change? | Feb. 2011 oxfordcommunications.comTHE WALLThe main portion of Pages that features conversations and posts from brands will now offer two settings: Everyone and Page Posts.While administrators will be able to choose the default setting for users arriving to the Page, users will also be able to toggle back andforth between the two settings.The Page Posts setting will only show posts by administrators of the Page, creating a stream of content fully controlled by the brand.(This functionality has always been available). The Everyone setting will show posts by users as well as administrators, but will use analgorithm to determine the most relevant posts to the viewer of the page. Facebook’s algorithm, likely similar to that which controls theNews Feed, will prioritize posts with more comments, likes and interactions, as well as those authored by friends, by featuring them inmore prominent positions than less relevant posts.

9 | Like Change? | Feb. 2011 oxfordcommunications.comPROFANITY BLOCKAdministrators will now be able to select and automatically block‘keywords’ and ‘profanity’ from users’ postings on Pages. Facebookwill provide administrators with three choices in terms of settings:Strong, Medium and None. Facebook has not indicated whichwords will be blocked automatically for each setting, butadministrators can also build their own customized list of words tobe monitored, based on brand sensitivity.Posts that are caught by the moderation block will be held foradministrators to review before they go live. Administrators will beable to view posts that include ‘keywords’ and choose to keep orremove them from the Wall.

10 | Like Change? | Feb. 2011 oxfordcommunications.comPOSTING QUESTIONS Also released in Facebook’s Page upgrades documentation is a glimpse at what the roll-out of the long awaited “Questions” feature might look like. While Facebook hasn’t speci cally covered it, we’re expecting that administrators will be able to post questions directly to their Pages. The section of Facebook’s website dedicated to the new feature (http://www.facebook.com/questions) is promising the new feature’s release within the next few weeks.LIKING OTHER PAGES The Page feature previously known as “Favorite Pages” will now be known as “Likes” of the Page. Historically we’ve seen parent brands use this section for its subsidiaries, national chains use it for their local stores and brands use it to recognized their partners. While the feature remains generally the same, it will be given slightly more primacy in the upgraded Page layout.

11 | Like Change? | Feb. 2011 oxfordcommunications.comADMINISTRATOR SETTINGS Administrators will now be able to identify themselves on the Page as the curators of the Page and link to their personal Facebook Pro le Pages. While we think this approach is extraordinarily useful to small businesses, whose owners and employees are an integral part of the brand, we advise against it for bigger brands that don’t already use a human as the central focus of their social media presences. Adding an administrator’s personal pro le to the Page is an invitation to engage with that individual personally, instead of as a representative of a brand. Administrators will also be able to choose a setting identi ed as ‘Use Facebook as Page,’ instead of using Facebook through the lens of a user’s personal Pro le Page. We expect this newly clari ed setting to allow administrators to differentiate more effectively between work and play.

12 | Like Change? | Feb. 2011 oxfordcommunications.com ADVERTISING OFFERINGS Released January 26, 2011 to February 8, 2011

13 | Like Change? | Feb. 2011 oxfordcommunications.comSPONSORED STORIES Advertisers now purchase dynamic premium ad units that leverage user-generated ‘stories,’ or content (including check-ins, posts or application use) within their advertisements. Essentially, this new ad unit allows brands about which users are already talking to amplify those conversations by increasing the visibility of users’ activities on Facebook. A 2010 study conducted by Nielsen and Facebook established that pre-existing ad units featuring social context perform better than those that don’t. We expect this new offering to take that concept to the next level. We know that opinions of friends, family and online strangers are the most trusted form of advertising. These ad units will — in a paid context — amplify that most effective form of advertising: earned media.

14 | Like Change? | Feb. 2011 oxfordcommunications.comADS FOR TABS In the past, social ad units have been available on a limited basis: they had to link to a general Page, an Event, a Group or an Application. Previously, only traditional display ads (without social context) were available for Tabs. Facebook has now added the capability to advertise speci c Tabs with social ad units. Being able to drive traf c to more targeted locations, while maintaining social context, will bene t advertisers’ ability to create a uid journey for audiences.

15 | Like Change? | Feb. 2011 oxfordcommunications.comPHOTO ALBUMS WITH ADS Facebook is rolling out an update to the way users view photos. Now, when users view photo albums, they experience the album in a lightbox context that puts more focus on the photographs, comments and, of course, advertising. With the new update, advertisers purchasing ads through Facebook will see their ads in one more place—the lower right-hand corner of these photo albums.

16 | 2011 CES SOCIAL REPORT oxfordcommunications.comOXFORD COMMUNICATIONSWe are the full-service marketing, creative andcommunications agency that issues one call toour clients and employees alike: Be Brilliant.That call echoes through our agency’s work that ranges the full gamut of integrated services, including account planning, socialmedia, interactive, public relations and media. Ultimately, our services are built to leverage a combination of online and of ineinitiatives that generate in uence when, where and how it matters to consumers most.Oxford has a track record of bringing category re-de ning work to brands in a diverse set of industries, ranging from fashion retail, toconsumer electronics, to quick service restaurants, to healthcare organizations. As a result, we are proud to have worked with someof the biggest names in the industries we work in, like Audiovox Corporation, Bombardier, Prime Retail and Brother International, aswell as many other dominant regional and niche players. GET SOCIAL WITH US, BEN GROSSMAN Communications Strategist WON’T YOU? o: 609.397.4242 x174 For more information, e: bgrossman@oxfordcommunications.com please contact a member of the Communications team: CHRISTOPHER STEMBOROWSKI Associate Communications Strategist o: 609.397.4242 x172 e: cstemborowski@oxfordcommunications.com JORDYN HAAS Associate Communications Strategist o: 609.397.4242 x154 e: jhaas@oxfordcommunications.com

LIKECHANGE?A Report on Facebook Pages UpgradesFebruary 2011 oxfordcommunications.com

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Oxford Communications Facebook Upgrades

by Christopher Stemborowski on Feb 10, 2011

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