Well, it has only been a matter of hours, but the internet is all a flutter as a result of Facebook’s annual f8 developers conference today.  And with good reason - Facebook is in store for some huge changes.

If you are an active Facebook user, you have undoubtedly noticed some changes to the user interface lately.  Well, that was just the beginning.  We don’t know a whole lot about the exact details for what is coming, but based on Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote, Facebook will be rolling out some drastic changes soon.

As a business of any size that operates a Facebook fan page, now is the time to start thinking about how the new Facebook will impact the way you interact with your fans moving forward.  The great part about change is that everyone starts on the same page, which means there will be opportunity for innovation and experimentation.

With that being said, here are the highlights of what is to come:

- Timeline: As Zuckerberg explained, the new timeline feature will be “the story of your life.”  Ultimately, this reworks a users’ profile to be more than what is going on at this moment or several hours ago.  It is designed to let users take a look back to their earliest Facebook posts.

- Ticker: The idea here is focused around social apps.  Ticker is an extension of Facebook’s Open Graph, which was rolled out about a year ago and enabled users to connect to all sorts of things (think “liking a band” or “liking camping”).  Ticker is the extension of that.  It is designed to let users connect to even more things.

There is a lot more detail to each of these announcements and in all honesty, the picture on just how they will work isn’t very clear yet.

However, what is clear is Facebook is evolving dramatically and will be giving users a vast amount more flexibility in how their “online self” interacts with the world.

What does this mean for businesses?  Likely, there will be big opportunities to connect with target audiences in new ways.  As of now, we don’t know what that will look like.  But, rest assured we will be watching feverishly.

For more information, check out this comprehensive post from Mashable.

-Matt Smedley

Ok, so the rapture didn’t start late.  But the first two things are true.

Can Google actually make a social media platform successful?  Well, it is trying… again.

In all honesty, I really like this concept.  Google is dominating the social media news landscape today with its unveiling of Google+, which began rolling out just yesterday.

Most notably, Google+ seeks to categorize your friends into different “buckets.”  I won’t do the video justice trying to explain it, but many are speculating that this might have the ability to battle Facebook.

Just another flop that won’t make it out of the gate (see: Google Wave)?  Or could this have some staying power?

Oh, and in other news… MySpace finally was sold!  News Corp. paid $580 million back in 2005, and today the all-but-dead social networking site was sold to an advertising network called Specific Media for $35 million.  Yowza.

Matt Smedley

(This series will examine how Facebook ads can benefit your business as well as the ins and outs of navigating the system.)

Usually I’m not this definitive, but I’m going to say it. Facebook should be part of every business’ and organization’s advertising strategy. The amount of resources to dedicate can vary widely, but there is too much opportunity to miss. Here’s why:

• Your Audience is on Facebook: With more than 500 million active users, any business or organization will find their target audience on Facebook. It’s all in how you create your segments (a detailed target audience profile that we will discuss in detail in Part 2).

• Custom Targets: Go broad or narrow with your segments. For example, target all moms in Washington, or be specific and target Seattle moms who like organic baby food.

• Budget: With ads as low as $1 per click and no minimum budget, you can run a Facebook ad campaign that fits your budget.

• Flexible: It’s quick and easy to edit the copy of your ad or swap out a new photo. Wait an hour or two for approval from Facebook and your new message is displayed.

• Varied Time Investment: Create a “quick and dirty” ad with a broad target audience and have it up within the hour, or spend weeks developing a highly targeted strategy with multiple audience segments. Both methods have their benefits and corresponding ROI.

In Part 2, we’ll examine creation of audience segments.

Questions? Ask me below!

-Lacy Ogan