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5 Reasons Facebook Should Build a Separate Business Channel

Posted by John McTigue on Mon, Sep 27, 2010 @ 07:00 AM
 

I'm sure I'm not the first to suggest this, but let's look at some compelling reasons why the world's largest social network should consider splitting itself into a Fun/Family Channel and a Business Channel.

Let's be clear. I know there are already personal pages and "pages", supposedly for business. The problem is that business stuff shows up on your personal wall whenever you "like" a business page. As a result, business pages are seldom "liked" unless they personally appeal to you on a regular basis. My suggestion is to build a firewall between the two worlds. You want business? You go to the business channel. Here's why we need the split.

  1. should facebook be for families and friends or businessPeople almost universally consider Facebook to be their "fun" channel for catching up with friends and family, while LinkedIn and Twitter are considered the places to do business.
  2. While many B2C companies have successfully created Facebook pages to push their products, B2B companies are still struggling with Facebook.
  3. With over 500 million members, there is no larger single marketplace on the planet. We just need to be able to allow people to easily select between fun and business on Facebook.
  4. Given a clear choice, people might very well warm up to the idea of having both personal and business channels on Facebook. Right now most are confused, and many are disturbed by the influx of business pages on their Facebook personal pages.
  5. Facebook is basically surrendering a huge market to LinkedIn and Twitter.

What do you think?

  • Would you be happier with Facebook if it was better segmented into personal and business, with clear entry into one or the other?
  • Do you think business pages would still thrive under such a division?
  • Do you think B2B companies would gain more traction in a new FacebookBiz section?

Have you tried a social media campaign for your business?

Photo credit: SuziJane


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Comments

I totally agree. Facebook could revolutionize B2B social media. Its platform is much more flexible than LinkedIn, and that would give it a giant edge. In trying to use Facebook as a B2B tool, I am constantly frustrated, for all the reasons your article cited. Tailor a version for business and change the world - again.
Posted @ Monday, September 27, 2010 8:56 AM by Tim Johnson, Brandwave
Thanks Tim. Some would argue that the huge audience already present in Facebook would be lost to the business world. I disagree. I think the business channel would become the ultimate Yellow Pages fueled by powerful search and recommendations (and advertising) from the personal channel.
Posted @ Monday, September 27, 2010 9:12 AM by John McTigue
Thanks Tim for the blog post. Facebook should buy LinkedIn and then integrate it with a "wall" between them that you could control to allow your personal friends to also be business associates - everything in the world is about integration of information information across disparate silos and this is a natural fit from my perspective. I think that acquisition is the right vehicle to capture all of the detail information currently collected within LinkedIn would be of value to facebook.
Posted @ Monday, September 27, 2010 12:51 PM by Kevin McGaffey
@Kevin, it was actually my blog post (John McTigue), but never mind. Interesting idea, but then the LinkedIn members would be up in arms about merging with such a commercially-centric social network. My experience with LinkedIn is that members like the professional exchange, but they are dead set against anything remotely promotional. So, good luck with that. The other thing is, like Google, the Facebook folks seem to want to invent and own everything themselves. We'll see which way they go, but they have to do something...
Posted @ Monday, September 27, 2010 1:07 PM by John McTigue
I find myself unsubbing from business related like pages all the time on Facebook. It's almost like they are punished for publishing, which is a shame.  
 
It should be noted that there are other sites taking this on, notably http://bizzy.com 
 
Posted @ Monday, September 27, 2010 1:09 PM by Emily
I think there are certainly merits of the business networks especially in the B2B space - where LinkedIn is already invaluable. But if you're a B2C brand, the more access to the consumers the better. In that case, the separation doesn't really seem to make sense. 
 
If you use the social web to connect with other professionals that this doesn't seem like a profound change, it may even be a benefit. But if you use the social web to build relationships with consumers then this is not so good. 
 
For the record, Facebook brand pages are more popular in the US than in any other country; the average Facebook brand page having over 4,000 friends.
Posted @ Monday, September 27, 2010 8:22 PM by Conrad Flynn
@Emily 
 
I agree, with the emphasis on local these days, a service like Bizzy makes perfect sense, but will it catch on with the masses at Facebook? I guess we'll see... 
 
@Conrad 
 
Certainly B2C has done much better with FB, which only serves to further frustrate B2B business owners and marketers. I guess my thinking would be that if both B2C and B2B were separated from personal, everybody would know to go "shopping" on the business side. There would still be conversations on the personal side with links to the business channel. There would also be advertising. I think the relationships would most naturally develop on the business pages anyway, as long as each business page encourages interaction and refrains from constant broadcasting. 
 
@Jay 
 
I certainly appreciate Tim Johnson's RT of this post, but this isn't his post. I guess it's confusing when one commenter thanks another commenter.  
 
Groupsite is great, but it will probably never have the audience that FB has, nor will any other service in the near term, except possibly Google. What could happen is that Facebook swallows one of these business-oriented services, or, more likely just does its own version, as has happened with Places. 
 
Thanks, 
 
John McTigue 
Executive Vice President 
Kuno Creative
Posted @ Tuesday, September 28, 2010 6:42 AM by John McTigue
Interesting discussion. Certainly, FB might wanted to build/spin off their own commercial business channel, but how quickly could that happen?  
 
In the interim, as B2B companies and marketers the challenge is to play the hand we are dealt and get the biggest return and penetration into the FB community for our businesses.  
 
@John, I agree with your #4 point. We have found the best approach is to communicate with your "fans" personally, since FB users are put off by commercials on their wall. Talk to your fans as you would a friend. Share relevant info that they may enjoy. For instance, we manage a business page for a commercial cleaning company, but we post things like office humor, mixed with green cleaning tips and funny videos. Only share it if you think someone might enjoy it and even share it with their friends. Send a white paper and watch your fans dissapear!!! :) 
 
Mike Faherty 
ProSales Connection, LLC 
www.prosalesconnection.com 
mike@prosalesconnection.com
Posted @ Wednesday, September 29, 2010 9:33 AM by Mike Faherty
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