Potential Impact Of Facebook Messages On Marketing Weighed By Analysts
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- Published in DemandGen Reports
Last week Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the release of the social giant’s “Messages” service, which is designed to centralize communication with friends, via chats, texts and emails. By offering users the ability to create an @facebook.com email address, the service allows users to view a complete history of all communication, with “an ongoing record.
The immediate impact of Facebook Messages is expected to limited to consumer dialogue, but analysts are already wondering what impact this centralized system might have for the BtoB world.
While the unified inbox concept is not necessarily new, BtoB marketing experts agree that the surge of marketers coming up from “The Facebook era” will view marketing communication in a different light, and the familiarity with Facebook might make all the difference.
“There is a whole new generation of workers who are growing accustomed to interacting on Facebook,” said Ian Michiels, Principal Analyst at Gleanster, which is preparing an email marketing report for February 2011 release. “I think messaging will impact our future generation of leaders, but the impact is years, if not decades, down the line.”
The new Facebook Messages boasts a more streamlined way to check all messages, chats and texts at once, as its compatible with traditional email systems like Yahoo! Hotmail and Gmail. One of the benefits of an @facebook.com address, the company said, is the ability to connect with family and friends that aren’t even on Facebook. However, Zuckerberg emphasized that the new service is not an email replacement.
“This is not an email service nor is it an ‘email killer,’ said Sally Lowery, Director of Demand Generation, Bronto Software. “ It's a means to communicating across multiple channels without multiple platforms. It's not a revolutionary concept, but if executed well it could make the interaction between cross platform communication unique.”
Michiels agreed that the new service has potential to be evolutionary in the way we interact, particularly if there’s an Outlook integration. However, he said, it’s not likely to become a driving force for change in traditional BtoB marketing messaging or conversations.
“Being in front of easily accessible preference centers that give customers the ability to change their email preferences is key to not having list churn,” Michiels said. “Further down the road, I do think it's important for email service providers to begin thinking about the multiple channels that email marketing influences and create a comprehensive strategy that is more encompassing. Facebook's solution isn't about channel — but communication. In order for email service providers to be relevant, it's important for them to continue to think communication.”
While Facebook is an unstoppable force, the overall selling process is still relegated to traditional email communication, according to one deliverability expert. “Marketers will continue to use social media as a way to entice with short messaging, quick offers — it’s almost instantaneous,” said Dennis Dayman, Chief Privacy Officer, Eloqua. “Email does take a little more time for the message to be delivered, but overall the actual details of selling will still have to be put in email.”
Noting the limitations of Facebook and Twitter, Dayman said prospects will continue to use email as a primary communication channel. Dayman warned marketers to still give consumer and prospects the choice of how they would like to be communicated to, and through which channel. Knowing your demographics and cohesive preferences will provide you with the most optimal way to communicate with them.