Facebook started rolling out their new layout to users on February 4^th, 2010. This new layout has many different visual alterations, but the most apparent upgrade was the navigation and search box.  If we take a look at the differences in layouts- it’s pretty obvious that Facebook is trying to promote their search box.  The search box now appears to the right of where you see notifications and messages.  Not only is this in an area that is highlighted red when you receive notifications, it’s also conveniently located at the very top of the site- in the center of the page.  This area is a hot zone for your eyes- even if you don’t realize it.

Is this an attempt to get users familiar with searching Facebook?  Of course it is.  With users who are accustomed to search, this enables Facebook to monetize visitors exactly like Google does.  Let’s face it- display ads don’t convert nearly as well as keyword targeted ads…

When you browse Facebook, do you notice the advertisements on the right hand side of the page?  I know that I surely don’t- and it’s not because I’m an internet marketer.  I know how to browse Facebook so well that I don’t even notice any ads on the page.  As a matter of fact, I know what I am going to do on a particular page, before the page even loads.  I don’t think I’m alone in this category- as most of Facebook’s users have been active for years.

Zuckerberg is challenged with trying to monetize 400+ million registered users who are deeply affected by ad blindness.  Although the company is starting to churn profits (or so we are lead to believe…) there is a golden opportunity to align keyword targeted ads on search results.  This is exactly how Google cashes in on search, and generates billions of dollars per quarter.  According to filed finance documents sent to the Securities Exchange Commission- Google generates 97% of their revenue from advertising, 66% of which is from search.  These numbers are astronomical compared to the guesstimated revenue that Facebook has generated.  This is certainly a big hint for Zuckerberg…

In addition to displaying these relevant keyword targeted ads, Facebook could be positioned to enter the search market.  With millions of daily active users, Facebook could replace Google- and be the one stop shop for internet activity.  It will certainly be interesting to watch this unfold- and will ultimately be beneficial for us as consumers if Google has a formidable competitor.  We all know Bing and Yahoo! clearly can’t top Google’s mass…

It’s your move, Google.

I recently read a powerful and moving newsletter that I simply had to respond to. The newsletter, which is published by Ad-Tech, was an acute observation made by industry leader: Adam Kleinberg. In the newsletter, Adam illustrates 5 marketing megatrends that have had, and will continue to have- a large impact on internet marketing. For the sake of length, I will only respond to one of his 5 points because, honestly, I could write a novel on the topic.

Adam claims: Mass collaboration is powering the new economy.

Let’s take a step back. Everyone these days has a facebook, twitter, and most likely even a linkedin profile. The content of each of these networks is driven by the collaboration and intricacies of social interaction. If we (the social gurus) simply stopped communicating, these massive communities would die off. Of course, this will never happen….but theoretically speaking, you get my point.

Adam’s right. Mass collaboration is powering the new economy. Let’s take a look at digg.com for example. A great social website where users post links, and others “digg” them, or bury them. Digg has grown very consistently in the past, and continues to this day. It’s success is attributed to its devote community. But how can we, as small business owners- develop a mass collaboration strategy that can help drive sales, awareness, and most importantly- revenue.

For starters, getting your business on all of the major social networks is a must-do. No longer is it “just cool” to go 2.0, it’s neccessary.

Developing a social media marketing plan, which clearly defines your end goal- will help your business achieve success.

To give a more vivid example, I help manage an entertainment website called Bored.com. We created a facebook fan page, and then we linked directly from our website. After 2 months we now have over 26,000 fans. The growth has been exponential. The more fans we get, the more they tell their friends- and it’s great!

Our goal from the beginning was to drive additional traffic to our website. We then developed tactics to support this goal: such as posting random (yet amusing) facts, hilarious pictures, and questions to our fans.

We now have a growing fan base, and we consistently “whisper” into our fans ears. Since the launch, we have not only seen an increase in traffic coming from facebook, but also our direct traffic is increasing rapidly. Our users are realizing that there are people behind the scenes, constantly working on the site. From this, we believe our visitors are coming back to our website more frequently- thus helping us grow.

To get back on track, our facebook fan page allows users of our website to collaborate and drive up the awareness of our website. They comment on our posts, which spreads that particular message around to others. The more comments and “likes” the more exposure the post gets in front of our fans.

Although I have slightly deviated off the subject, I still find this information relevant to mass collaboration. There are of course many other examples, but hopefully this information can empower you to start using social media. Leverage yourself.

Thanks for reading, and have a nice day.