I’ve been working at Resonate for a few years and have seen many dramatic changes to the social media landscape in that short time.  One of the major changes that concerns me is the rapid increase in Facebook Pages for brands.  It appears that most organisations think they need a Facebook Page to engage with consumers before they have developed a strategic approach to social media.  The “free” nature of Facebook Pages offers an extremely low barrier to entry and this is part of the problem.  It may be inexpensive to launch a Facebook Page but a poorly planned Facebook Page can do more harm than good at a time when consumers’ expectations are sky high.

Facebook’s extension from Profile pages with “Fans” to official Facebook Pages is certainly a step in the right direction and a great way for small to medium sized companies to enter the market.  They can respond more rapidly, with a less formal voice and be more in keeping with a Facebook style conversation.  I also appreciate the recent change in Facebook Pages that allow developers to use wireframes within pages. We can now build apps and embed them in FB pages with greater flexibility and control.

All great stuff, right? Not quite. I think many companies are unaware of the lack of ownership and control they have over their Facebook Page. You may prioritise your customers’ needs but will Facebook put your customers’ needs first.... ahead of their financial gain? If I put myself in their shoes, I see the massive penetration of practically every wealthy nation on the globe as an opportunity to make huge profits, and not to worry about any impact on a brand in Australia. Where is Australia anyway?

Before you start to think that I am a Facebook sceptic, I should say that I really enjoy Facebook and think it has changed my life for the better but I have noticed some of my friends dropping out of the Facebook world.  This leads me to ask myself whether Facebook will be as popular in 2012.  Will the market start to fragment?  Will the explosion in Facebook Pages for brands cause a backlash where the number of “unlikes” starts to exceed the number of “likes” as members’ walls fill up with messages from dozens of brands and they can no longer see the messages from their friends and family.  I recently had this experience and it took me only 2 clicks from my profile page to unlike a brand that was invading my space.  Giddy with excitement and only 5 minutes later, I had removed practically every brand I had ever liked. I predict that many brands will be scratching their heads soon wondering why they have lost so many followers.

Another concern I have is that the sole use of Facebook Pages to engage with your consumers is putting all your eggs in one basket.  With decent budget, you can design apps that are engaging for members but as soon as you are completely reliant on a particular platform to operate, you lose all the power in the relationship.  Who will fight your corner when Facebook changes T&C’s or privacy settings...at the detriment to your app?

After venting my concerns about this issue, I would like to finish up by saying that one possible solution is to design an app that has the content you need e.g co-creation functionality.  You can then embed this app into both your corporate site to support a branded online community and also into Facebook.  It becomes an aggregation of the user generated content across all your social media channels.  Bingo! This removes the risk of being reliant on Facebook and allowing you to continue to maintain your community on your brand site.

Does your brand have a Facebook page or are you thinking of starting one?