Facebook to Tame Google+ with ‘Facebook for Business’

Google+ is on a roll. It has raked up nearly 20 million users in no time and continues to grow at an explosive rate. Several people have questioned whether Google+ will kill one or all of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

It is believed that Google+ will soon unveil business pages. I recently did a post on whether Google+ can emerge as a better branding tool than Facebook. On the other hand, Facebook is in no mood to rest on it current laurels. The world’s leading social network has a strong foothold among business users and I’m certain Facebook won’t concede an inch to Google+ in this lucrative segment. To that effect, Facebook yesterday launched ‘Facebook for Business’ – a one-stop shop for all business needs.

Is ‘Facebook for Business’ an opportunistic attempt to bring the world’s largest social network back to limelight? Or is it an early sign that Facebook is in no mood to let its business users jump ship to Google+? Let’s dive deeper into the world of ‘Facebook for Business’.

New packaging, old deal

Facebook for Business is essentially a guide for users to make best use of Facebook’s marketing tools that comprise Ads, Social Plug-ins, Pages, Deals and Sponsored Stories. All of these tools already exist, but several businesses don’t know about them. Facebook for business is a bible of best practices that shows how Stories, Ads and Pages can all work to increase your business.

Education

The best part about Facebook for Business is its simplicity. I’ve often criticized Facebook for not doing enough on user education and I’m pleased to see that Facebook for Business provides an easy to understand, step by step documentation on how a business can put together its pages, create ads, use sponsored stories and leverage the Facebook platform to transform its website into a social experience with plug-ins and custom apps.

1-2-3

Businesses should build their Facebook strategy using the following three simple steps.

  • Get out there
  • Engage people
  • Get the word out

 

The various tools packaged as part of ‘Facebook for Business’ help achieve these 3 milestones in an efficient manner. I particularly like the ‘Sponsored Story’ feature which lets fans interact with a business in multiple ways –  be a ‘Like’, a ‘Checkin’ or a post on their ‘Wall’.

Facebook is the Big Daddy of Social Media Advertising

Even though Google+ is growing at a scorching pace, it is no match to the might of Facebook. The world’s leading social network is the Big Daddy of Social Media Advertising. A recent report by TBG Digital that finds Facebook advertising is up 104 percent in the second quarter of 2011 as compared to the first quarter.

Do you think Facebook for Business will affect the growing popularity of Google+? Or would you write this off as a routine Facebook launch which would have no bearing on Google+ business profiles? Please share your opinion by leaving a comment.

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  1. I think the answer remains to be seen.

    Facebook has momentum on its side with business and a significant head start. I know that many of my colleagues are hungry for Google’s offering, and the truth is that it might take another year for Google to build significant traction with serious business gatekeepers.

    My gut feel is that Google will bring a wholesome approach to the table that will lure social media ad buyers away from Facebook in the long run.  Google has finally taken delivery of the memo on the matter of the social graph and meanwhile Facebook seems to have moved more in the direction that ultimately doomed Netscape, Yahoo!, and MySpace.

    I hope the best for Facebook. I mean we’ve finally gotten our aunts and grannies to embrace it. And if we can engage THEM in this exciting new conversation in the marketplace, amazing things can begin to happen.

    But if Facebook management continues to race forward, trying to outguess us and presume to predict what’s best for us — they’ll begin to expand on the recent strategy that looks like sniffing the fumes and calling it Kool-Aid.

    Facebook is good to go for the near term, but they’ll need to develop an even keener ear for the marketplace to survive in the long-run.

  2. I am still so skeptical of G+. I FEAR putting all my “eggs in one basket”. I even had a “day dream-mare” last week that someone hacked my gmail and then POOF everything gone.
    I wrote about it:
    I have this nightmare thought about somebody hacking my gmail account….spamming the stream or putting up naked pictures (not necessarily of me but that would give YOU nightmares)
    I end up losing my GMAIL, Google Docs, all my feedburner subscribers, my calendar, my dog, my blackberry…uh just my life goes to hell in hand basket right quick…the worst part of the dream is when I try to get a hold of Google to get it fixed.

    I HAVE been noticed lately since all the “Social Media Experts” jumped the Twitter-ship that it is actually easier to have conversation and the streams are polluted with the “look at me” links anymore. Every time I go to Google Plus to check it out I ask myself….why? ugghhh

    1. I like the point you raised @jessicanorthey:disqus about the dashboard style access of Google+ vis a vis other Google products should an account be hacked. 

      While Google+ continues to position itself as the ‘privacy concerns alternative to Facebook’, one huge advantage Facebook continues to have over G+ is it has amassed a critical amount of personal and professional network amongst its user base for it to easily be crushed by Google+. Google+ is currently popular among the geek and neogeek communities right now, the ultimate measurement of success would be totally dependent on its adoption among the simple everyday users that have greatly embraced Facebook. 

    2. I like the point you raised @jessicanorthey:disqus about the dashboard style access of Google+ vis a vis other Google products should an account be hacked. 

      While Google+ continues to position itself as the ‘privacy concerns alternative to Facebook’, one huge advantage Facebook continues to have over G+ is it has amassed a critical amount of personal and professional network amongst its user base for it to easily be crushed by Google+. Google+ is currently popular among the geek and neogeek communities right now, the ultimate measurement of success would be totally dependent on its adoption among the simple everyday users that have greatly embraced Facebook. 

  3. Despite its skyrocketing numbers with subscribers and content distribution, I’ve had conversations with countless individuals that, either don’t “get” G+ or may be experiencing a little social media burnout. Google’s fashionably late entrance is most definitely to blame, but will it offer the traction they need in the long haul…

    Which ever platform offers advocacy and education to businesses, plus the most natural means of communicating and sharing, may prove to be the champion here. I like Google’s concept a lot – but Facebook had me first. I’m keeping a careful eye, like so many of you are, to see how G+ and FB stack up to one another as time goes on.

  4. The only thing scary (for most people) about Google+ is the idea that they might have to do MORE work. That there’s another channel where their customers live, and after spending so much time on Facebook and Twitter that they’ll have to find more time (who has more time?) to engage on G+ as well.

    It won’t kill Facebook, nor Twitter (my thoughts – http://bit.ly/o8z8md). Douglas, I think you’re right on with the notion that it’s just new packaging on an old deal. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth making sure you’re doing everything you can to leverage Facebook. 

    My advice for businesses worried about what Google+ means to them is to get familiar with the tool and prepare to add it to your arsenal of channels to engage with your audience. There’s no guarantee that it will be right for you and your business, but don’t take the chance of having to catch up to your competition.  

    1. One thing I find surprising @Story_Jon:disqus is how quick we are to forget history. This is not Google’s first attempt to thwart Facebook’s dominance of the ‘sociosphere’. GoogleBuzz, anyone? GoogleBuzz was dubbed a Facebook killer as well until the “Buzz” died down. Google+ is an improved version of Buzz without all the CPU guzzling bugs it drowned in. Is it a killer as it’s been heralded? Only time would tell.

      With that being said, it’s not a savvy positioning move to discount Google+ in lieu of what we are familiar with, Mr. Facebook. A lot of people felt the same way about MySpace when Facebook first came to town. Always keep in mind the old marketing maxim, “be where your customers are”. If your customers start moving over, start build a bridge.

  5. I don’t think that this strategy of Facebook has any match for google+ growth.

  6. FaceBook For Business is just plain brilliant. The only reason Google +1 is experience early growth of 20 million is because that growth is from the early adopters who already were a Google audience.

    I would grow that fast too if I had the audience Google already had.

    Now just watch FaceBook For Business. My bet is they will be a flat out rocket ship.

  7. I for one am very excited about the promise of google+ ( even with the extra workload!).
    I’ve used Facebook as a business tool for years, and am tired of the obscure and changing rulings on things like competitions. Facebook is happy to take a business’s advertising money, but doesnt offer any clarity or security. I have seen great business pages closed down for completely unknown reasons, losing years of time investment .
    I haven’t invested in actively building my group beyond the 3000 or so it is currently at because I don’t trust the way Facebook treats its business clients . Doesn’t mean google+ will be much better, but good competition will help keep Facebook on their toes ( releasing a ‘how to’ for businesses on their old tools is a bit too little, too late for me though)
    Don’t see any evidence of Facebook for business being a ‘flat out rocket ship’. More like a flat out attempt to suck up to neglected small business owners.

  8. If Facebook for business is supposed to be  a defence measure against Google+ then Facebook are entirely missing the point. Google+ isn’t a threat to Facebook because it might take some business spending away – it is a threat to Facebook because it is an order of magnitude easier to use. 

    For one example compare only posting to some of your friends using Circles to using Facebook privacy settings. 

    Facebook need to worry because Google has created an interface that is more intuitive, more helpful and, to my eyes at least, nicer to look at. It will take a bit of time but if Facebook fail to dramatically improve their user interface people will gradually move across.

    The numbers don’t really matter, if you don’t believe that try to remember when everyone had a Sony Walkman, now they all have an iPod (because it’s a better product), at one time Japanese cars were a rare sight on the roads, now they’re everywhere (because, at least in the 80’s and 90’s they were better products).

    In time people will move across to the better product and at the moment Google+ is far better than Facebook.

    Posts you can edit, video conferencing with up to 12 people (and it works), intuitive division of workers, family, friends etc via Circles.

    Buzz didn’t go anywhere because it was horrible to use, on hearing of the Google+ launch I thought it would be another gigantic waste of time like Orkut, Buzz and Wave turned out to be.

    It isn’t. 

    Facebook for business – a user guide to fight a user experience – good luck with that.

  9. I still think Google + is too new and shiny for us to really wrap our heads around it and get a good feel for how it will ultimately affect the social media landscape. I say give it a little space and growing room before jumping the gun on its wide-reaching ripples.

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