Facebook: The Changing Face of Branding Impressions

Facebook is revolutionizing the way humans connect with each other. At a pace of more than 3 million new members a day and a total membership of around 200 million this social networking site is becoming a magnificent and seemingly unstoppable force.

Computer gurus are creating 'applications' specifically for this site that allow creative connections. They could be special gifts given among a group of friends of those having similar ideologies; they could be games or even pictures of a specific town that ties multiple users together. Photo albums can be shared with each other and classmates are discovering one another through this free-to-use site.

Users can share audio and video. They can also access multiple applications and invite others to join them. The site is often thought of as safer than MySpace. This site was once a haven for college age students, but no more. The largest group of new users is over the age of 30.

Does your online business have a Facebook account? If not, why not?

From my perspective one of the problems some business owners have when using Facebook is they treat it like a monopoly on the time of the individual user. They make it all about their business. This thinking can turn users off quicker than almost anything. Because the hallmark of this site is community you will be better served by creating a place of actual connections. Encourage interaction from users. Allow them to feel as much at home on your Facebook page as they might on one of their friend's pages.

Updates are available by cell phone and social media consumers are checking updates almost as frequently as they are texting each other. Facebook is online, it's mobile and often the first thing many users will check when going online.

It reacts with the immediacy many want in a world dominated by instant gratification. In a single day an individual can connect with a high school friend they haven't seen in more than a decade, they can connect with a family member who lives in another state, they can make comments on the new picture posted by a family friend and they can read and comment about your latest message.

So many customizable tools all placed together in one location allowing you to send Twitter posts to your Facebook page and point visitors to links you believe would be worth their while.

Consider a Facebook account part of your corporate branding strategy. This is a powerful way to increase the branding impressions making every point of contact meaningful. In the end the accumulated connections may provide the emotional impact needed to establish long-term customer relationships that value the sense of community you have developed through social media.

You do your business a disservice by dismissing social media as an insignificant add on. I understand the prevailing belief that there is already too much work to be done to add something new to the equation, but what if this is the primary means needed to establish your brand for the foreseeable future? Social media is an exciting element that can consume mass quantities of time. Ask any teenager about this site and their responses may sound like an audible encyclopedia. These are your future customers and they've already converted their parents (and in many instances grandparents) into social media enthusiasts. If you want to sell - go to where the people are. Most of them are on Facebook.