Aside from Privacy, Security Issues — Facebook is a Threat 2 Ways

 

Facebook is well-known for its privacy and security issues. I’ve written multiple articles about social media and how it can harm businesses, especially when employees are not trained about using it on your company’s computers.

For example: 3 Studies – New Concerns about Internet Security and 5 Safety Measures to Thwart Mounting Social-Network Attacks.

But my sense after reading two articles in AdvertisingAge Magazine – a must-read for the advertising profession – is that Facebook raises the specter of two other ramifications for business: Facebook is becoming more of a threat in marketing.

Consider two headlines: What Happens When Facebook Trumps Your Brand Site?” and “The Top Five Brands on Facebook.”

First, so what happens when Facebook becomes more relevant than your Web site? “…the social network has quietly become something else: the biggest relationship-marketing provider for many brands,” writes Jack Neff.

He points out 37 Facebook pages have a million or more fans even though most Web sites have difficulty attracting 100,000 visitors. That means, of course, Facebook is outperforming their sites.

For example, Mr. Neff cites Coca-Cola with 10.7 million Facebook fans, but its Web site’s unique visitors dwindled to 242,000 unique visitors in July, 2010.

The danger is that all these people are identified with social media, which is owned by Facebook. Brands will have to pay to advertise on their own Facebook pages, and Facebook collects all the revenue.

Starbucks may be one of the rare companies to have a strong Facebook and Web site presence.

Also, at AdvertisingAge, Matt Carmichael writes about the top five brands on Facebook. But it appears their top ranking is for dubious reasons.

“According to new research from ExactTarget and CoTweet, it’s pretty simple: coupons and free stuff,” he explains.

He reports the top five: Oreo, Walmart, Victoria’s Secret, iTunes and Dove.

So, it’s imperative protect your brand by not cannibalizing it to the extent that it has less power than Facebook. Use the necessary due diligence in strategies to use Facebook to drive traffic to your Web site. Or, you’ll pay the price.

From the Coach’s Corner, here are related articles on promoting your Web site:

• Facebook Users Favor Online News Sites
• Web Publishers: Are You Optimized for Bing?
• Startup Toolkit – How to Make a Hit on the Internet
• 5 Tips If Your Web Site’s Traffic Slows in Summer Months

“A brand name is more than a word. It is the beginning of a conversation.”

-Lexicon

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Author Terry Corbell has written innumerable online business-enhancement articles, and is a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services. For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule him as a speaker, consultant or author, please contact Terry.