1) Most marketers misunderstand Facebook because they view it through the lens of previous technologies rather than understanding how people actually use it.
2) When new technologies emerge, people tend to apply the ways they used existing media to the new medium rather than recognizing its unique properties.
3) Facebook is focused on relationships between people and lightweight interactions over time, rather than one-time broadcasts, publications, or transactions seen in prior technologies. Marketers need to understand how people are actually using Facebook to be effective on the platform.
8. “ This [new technology]
will produce forgetfulness of
those who learn to use it,
because they will not
practice their memory…
you offer the appearance of
wisdom, not true wisdom.”
9. Printing press 1312
1440
1487
1662
1837 Television
~1940 Web
Telegraph 1990
1844 Telephone
1876 Today
Photography Cinema Mobile phone Social Web
1880s ~1900 1990s ~2006
10. Printing press 1312
1440
1487 DEATH OF PRIVACY
1662
1837 Television
~1940 Web
Telegraph 1990
1844 Telephone
1876 Today
Photography Cinema Mobile phone Social Web
1880s ~1900 1990s ~2006
11. Printing press 1312
1440
1487 DEATH OF PRIVACY
DEATH OF
NEWSPAPERS 1662
1837 Television
~1940 Web
Telegraph 1990
1844 Telephone
1876 Today
Photography Cinema Mobile phone Social Web
1880s ~1900 1990s ~2006
12. Printing press 1312
1440
1487 DEATH OF PRIVACY
DEATH OF
NEWSPAPERS 1662
1837 Television
~1940 Web
Telegraph 1990
1844 Telephone
1876 Today
Photography Cinema Mobile phone Social Web
1880s ~1900 1990s ~2006
13. Printing press 1312
1440
1487 DEATH OF PRIVACY
DEATH OF
NEWSPAPERS 1662
1837 Television
~1940 Web
Telegraph 1990
1844 Telephone
1876 Today
Photography Cinema Mobile phone Social Web
1880s ~1900 1990s ~2006
14. Printing press 1312
1440 SORED
N
CE
1487 DEATH OF PRIVACY
DEATH OF
NEWSPAPERS 1662
1837 Television
~1940 Web
Telegraph 1990
1844 Telephone
1876 Today
Photography Cinema Mobile phone Social Web
1880s ~1900 1990s ~2006
15. Printing press 1312
1440 SORED
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CE
1487 DEATH OF PRIVACY
DEATH OF
NEWSPAPERS 1662
1837 Television
~1940 Web
Telegraph 1990
1844 Telephone
1876 Today
Photography Cinema Mobile phone Social Web
1880s ~1900 RED
SO 1990s
CEN
~2006
Misunderstand what it is, why people use it, where it is headed.\n\n- Focusing on huge reach. Rich, immersive experiences. Trying to disrupt attention.\n\n- Bigger ad units. Pre-roll video. Large banner ads.\n\n
- Pace of change increasing exponentially.\n\n- What motivated us yesterday is same as tens of thousands of years ago.\n\n
Alphabet, printing press and telegraph are relatively new.\n\nTelephone, television and internet were basically just invented.\n\nMarketing, brands and advertising are 150 years old.\n\nTechnology changing fast, people changing very slowly.\n
At Facebook, we study people, not technology. \n\nStudying people is a better:\n\n- Provide value and meaning to people's lives.\n\n- More sustainable strategy.\n\n
What we are experiencing is not new.\n\nOur problems are not unique to our time.\n
- In fact, the same problems we talk about today, reappear with every new media technology.\n  - Printing press, photography and the mobile phone were all the death of privacy.\n  - The telegraph was the death of newspapers.\n  - Books, newspapers and movies were all censored by governments when first invented and some took over 100 years to free themselves from censorship.\n\nThis history of media explains why most marketers misunderstand Facebook today. \n\n
- In fact, the same problems we talk about today, reappear with every new media technology.\n  - Printing press, photography and the mobile phone were all the death of privacy.\n  - The telegraph was the death of newspapers.\n  - Books, newspapers and movies were all censored by governments when first invented and some took over 100 years to free themselves from censorship.\n\nThis history of media explains why most marketers misunderstand Facebook today. \n\n
- In fact, the same problems we talk about today, reappear with every new media technology.\n  - Printing press, photography and the mobile phone were all the death of privacy.\n  - The telegraph was the death of newspapers.\n  - Books, newspapers and movies were all censored by governments when first invented and some took over 100 years to free themselves from censorship.\n\nThis history of media explains why most marketers misunderstand Facebook today. \n\n
- In fact, the same problems we talk about today, reappear with every new media technology.\n  - Printing press, photography and the mobile phone were all the death of privacy.\n  - The telegraph was the death of newspapers.\n  - Books, newspapers and movies were all censored by governments when first invented and some took over 100 years to free themselves from censorship.\n\nThis history of media explains why most marketers misunderstand Facebook today. \n\n
- In fact, the same problems we talk about today, reappear with every new media technology.\n  - Printing press, photography and the mobile phone were all the death of privacy.\n  - The telegraph was the death of newspapers.\n  - Books, newspapers and movies were all censored by governments when first invented and some took over 100 years to free themselves from censorship.\n\nThis history of media explains why most marketers misunderstand Facebook today. \n\n
- In fact, the same problems we talk about today, reappear with every new media technology.\n  - Printing press, photography and the mobile phone were all the death of privacy.\n  - The telegraph was the death of newspapers.\n  - Books, newspapers and movies were all censored by governments when first invented and some took over 100 years to free themselves from censorship.\n\nThis history of media explains why most marketers misunderstand Facebook today. \n\n
Every time a new media technology was invented, people applied the ways they work with existing media to the new medium.\n\n
Alphabet: People used the previous technology - speech - with the new medium.\nPrinting press: huge tomes, manuscripts from monks, printed specifically for the clergy and high society.\nTelephone: for broadcasting sermons and music concerts.\nMovies were basically a visual newspaper. Short snippets of unrelated content stitched together. \nTelevision shows were filmed plays.\nTV ads were people reading a radio script into the camera.\nThe first websites - and still some exist today - were copies of print material pasted onto websites.\n
Alphabet: People used the previous technology - speech - with the new medium.\nPrinting press: huge tomes, manuscripts from monks, printed specifically for the clergy and high society.\nTelephone: for broadcasting sermons and music concerts.\nMovies were basically a visual newspaper. Short snippets of unrelated content stitched together. \nTelevision shows were filmed plays.\nTV ads were people reading a radio script into the camera.\nThe first websites - and still some exist today - were copies of print material pasted onto websites.\n
Alphabet: People used the previous technology - speech - with the new medium.\nPrinting press: huge tomes, manuscripts from monks, printed specifically for the clergy and high society.\nTelephone: for broadcasting sermons and music concerts.\nMovies were basically a visual newspaper. Short snippets of unrelated content stitched together. \nTelevision shows were filmed plays.\nTV ads were people reading a radio script into the camera.\nThe first websites - and still some exist today - were copies of print material pasted onto websites.\n
Alphabet: People used the previous technology - speech - with the new medium.\nPrinting press: huge tomes, manuscripts from monks, printed specifically for the clergy and high society.\nTelephone: for broadcasting sermons and music concerts.\nMovies were basically a visual newspaper. Short snippets of unrelated content stitched together. \nTelevision shows were filmed plays.\nTV ads were people reading a radio script into the camera.\nThe first websites - and still some exist today - were copies of print material pasted onto websites.\n
Alphabet: People used the previous technology - speech - with the new medium.\nPrinting press: huge tomes, manuscripts from monks, printed specifically for the clergy and high society.\nTelephone: for broadcasting sermons and music concerts.\nMovies were basically a visual newspaper. Short snippets of unrelated content stitched together. \nTelevision shows were filmed plays.\nTV ads were people reading a radio script into the camera.\nThe first websites - and still some exist today - were copies of print material pasted onto websites.\n
Alphabet: People used the previous technology - speech - with the new medium.\nPrinting press: huge tomes, manuscripts from monks, printed specifically for the clergy and high society.\nTelephone: for broadcasting sermons and music concerts.\nMovies were basically a visual newspaper. Short snippets of unrelated content stitched together. \nTelevision shows were filmed plays.\nTV ads were people reading a radio script into the camera.\nThe first websites - and still some exist today - were copies of print material pasted onto websites.\n
This is why many brands are struggling.\n\nMost think of: disruption, interruption, moving people's attention from here to here, thinking about heavily branded immersive experiences like micro-sites.\n\nThey are using TV, and trying to apply it to Facebook.\n\nThis is why our most requested features...\n \n
It’s like being at a party catching up with an old friend, being interrupted. \n\nBeing successful on Facebook is not hard once you understand that this is a new medium, built around people.\n\n
- People build relationships with brands in the same way as they build relationships with people:\n  - Slowly. One interaction at a time. \n  - First through friend of a friend, then on our own, discover skiing together, etc.\n  - This takes months and years to develop. We don't suddenly become best friends with someone, likewise we don't suddenly fall in love with a brand.\n  - It's simply not how our brains are wired. Remember that branding and marketing are relatively new.\n
- People build relationships with brands in the same way as they build relationships with people:\n  - Slowly. One interaction at a time. \n  - First through friend of a friend, then on our own, discover skiing together, etc.\n  - This takes months and years to develop. We don't suddenly become best friends with someone, likewise we don't suddenly fall in love with a brand.\n  - It's simply not how our brains are wired. Remember that branding and marketing are relatively new.\n
So if this new medium is built around people...the key to success on Facebook becomes obvious.\n\nAlmost every app built on a page for a brand on Facebook has no usage. None. \n\nMany, lightweight page posts. Open Graph. Publishing lightweight stories. \n
Think about the aggregation of those lightweight stories.\n\nThis means understanding what your brand stands for, understanding why people should care about you, and posting about things related to that.\n\n
So many, lightweight interactions over time is incredibly powerful.\n\n
Once you have built the beginnings of a successful relationship through many, lightweight interactions over time, then - and only then - can you begin to think about more heavyweight interactions.\n\nJust like real life relationships. Every day, many, lightweight conversations. Every now and again, more heavyweight interactions: big family dinners, big nights out with friends, birthdays, anniversaries, holidays... \n\n- But if we hadn't built relationship through many lightweight interactions, no interest in heavyweight interactions.\n  - No-one wants to go to the birthday party or wedding of a stranger. \n
Most brands trying to get heavy at the start.\n\nLaunching a car. Like throwing a big party and inviting a bunch of strangers.\n
Frequency also important. If we had a birthday every day we'd soon all hate birthdays.\n\nSo - build relationships first through many lightweight interactions. \nThen throw the best parties, and everyone will show up.\n