Timeline and apps: These are two of the biggest changes to affect the future of Facebook. They will not only change the way people interact with their friends and family on the social network, but also how people will interact with brands.

There were a slew of new changes and enhancements that Mark Zuckerberg and co. announced in late September, but let’s focus on these two features that most marketers need to be conscious of and how they could impact future campaigns:

Timeline

This is the biggest, most radical change to the Facebook profile since the social network was born. No longer are profile pages static, with most of the information getting pushed down the page; but goal now is for the person’s most memorable experiences to appear on their profile. Think of this as a virtual scrapbook where you can easily see your pictures, posts and attended events — all in one visible, accessible place. Or as Facebook puts it “a home for all the great stories you’ve already shared. They don’t just vanish as you add new stuff.”

Now imagine someone has multiple brand experiences posted on their timeline. A snapshot of the engagements that were important enough for the consumers to share with their friends. That becomes the ultimate sign of a brand ambassador. The marketing implication is that brands must make sure — now more than ever — that the “social currency” they post on social networks is sticky, shareable and memorable.

Apps

The Facebook “Like” button is ubiquitous across the web. It tells your friends what you’re interested in, but that doesn’t actually tell your friends what you’re doing. With apps, that is changing. Facebook describes this as “The movies you quote. The songs you have on repeat. The activities you love. Now there’s a new class of social apps that let you express who you are through the things you do.” Your friends can now see what song you’re listening to or what movie you’re watching, as you are doing it.

If you’re a CPG company, wouldn’t it be amazing if your consumers could say which sandwich they’re making their kids for lunch or what recipe they’re using for an upcoming family party? These are the new types of social apps that are coming. Marketers need to be able to give their consumers the opportunity to express what they’re doing with their products.

With these two new features, the engagements and content brands are putting on Facebook and social networks must be better than ever and stocked full of meaningful, memorable and value-filled content for the shopper.

Tags: App, Digital, Digital & Mobile, Owned Media, Prediction, Social Media, Trends

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 19th, 2011 at 1:51 pm and is filed under Digital & Mobile, Social Media, Trending & Insights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.