What Facebook’s Open Graph Means for Marketers

Facebook made a series of big announcements today, many of which will have a direct impact on how businesses market both on and off of Facebook. Two of the more notable pieces of news for marketers were:

• The Open Graph: The open graph will attempt to make the Web more social. The intent is to bring together social actions from all over the Web and allow for a rich depiction (and semantic memory) of what people are liking, reading, reviewing and rating. Using the examples of Yelp and Pandora, each of which are businesses with vast quantities of information about what people like and don’t like in the realms of local businesses and music, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the Open Graph would make the Web a richer, more connected experience.
• The “Like” button: As one of the social plugins that works with the Open Graph, it allows users to “Like” any form of content on the Web—provided that the Website they are visiting has implemented the small amount of code provided by Facebook for “Like” functionality. Zuckerberg predicted that 1 billion “Like” buttons will be clicked within 24 hours after today’s launch.

From Facebook:

You’ll begin seeing “Like,” or in some cases “Recommend,” buttons appearing on popular websites spanning a variety of industries, including NYTimes.com, IMDb, CNN.com, TIME.com, LIFE.com, Fandango, NHL.com, USA Networks, Levis.com, Univision and ABC.com.

For example, if I like a pair of jeans on Levis.com, my action will be shared with my friends on Facebook, where they can comment on it. I can also see which of my friends like the jeans on Levis.com.

I’m still processing the details of all of the announcements, but here are a few opening thoughts.

The ambitious Open Graph idea allows something rated or reviewed on a site like Yelp to be seamlessly transmitted back to Facebook users’ newsfeeds, profile pages, and search. A Yelp user would also see what their Facebook friends have reviewed or recommended—while still on Yelp’s site (or perhaps, mobile app). Not only does this have the potential to expand the reach of services like Yelp through more interaction and usage, but it could also help brands more easily show that their products are validated by potential customers’ social circles.

The “Like” button, meanwhile, has the potential to provide a far more interactive experience between businesses and customers. In one example given during the opening keynote, someone could visit ESPN.com, “Like” a football player participating in the NFL draft, and then receive a notification back from ESPN (via their Facebook news feed) alerting them to what happened to that person during the draft. In other words, the “Like” option takes a familiar Facebook activity—in this case, clicking a button to become a fan—and gives it a much more wide reaching effect, one that extends to a brand’s Website or anywhere a brand’s assets exist.

It also seems likely that the Facebook Connect concept, and the “share” button, where people need to take the step of logging in order to distribute content, may be going by the wayside.

Overall, the success of Facebook’s plans depends directly on Web firms’ willingness to add the social features announced today—along with consumers’ willingness to click a “Like” button frequently, or ignore it. Judging from the number of press releases I’ve received today about “Like” from Facebook’s business partners, I’d say that at the very least, brands are fairly excited to see what happens.