Are you using Facebook’s Open Graph?

Why Not?

At the heart of the change is the power of word of mouth (WOM). Marketers are realising that social marketing is more than just the brand-focused approach of building brand pages and driving Likes and fans. Brands now need to harness the power of their customer advocates to get them to spread the word on the brand’s behalf.
Facebook’s introduction of the Timeline and the Open Graph both reflects and complements the growing focus on WOM. Recent  Forrester research shows that 64% of companies say their highest engagement point with users is on their brand.com site, while only 4% say their highest engagement point is Facebook. But with the Open Graph, these consumer-to-consumer (C2C) stories—recommendations, offers and expressions—can be captured anywhere consumers interact with brands and broadcast across social networks to drive traffic, awareness, and high-value new sales.

The Open Graph today—contextually relevant
At the f8 conference in 2011, Facebook announced that it was expanding the Open Graph beyond the one-dimensional Like to include actions and objects created by 3rd party apps to capture the majority of brand storytelling, which occurs on brands websites. Brands can now create relationships and interactions with consumers
that are contextually relevant. For example: on a music site users can listen to a song and love an artist, or on a movie site, a user can watch a movie and hear an actor.
Brands can now create Open Graph applications to interact with consumers across all touch points (website, eCommerce and more). These actions or expressions create structured stories, which are then distributed to the consumer’s Facebook Timeline, as well as their friends’ News Feeds and Tickers.

Conclusion

Facebook’s Open Graph has significantly shifted the way brands and marketers are able to engage with consumers both on and off of Facebook. Brands can now socialise their entire customer experience, including their websites where engagement is highest, to harness the power of their customer advocates. Brands can drive
WOM at scale by broadcasting consumer stories across the Open Graph and using these stories to power Sponsored Stories on Facebook.

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About MobileAppsDirect...

MobileAppsDirect is the industry leader in modern marketing mobile apps and mobile optimised websites, providing exceptional technology, training, and services for companies and individuals seeking mobile marketing solutions that can improve their business. If you would like to discuss using Open Graph we are happy to discuss your needs.
As consumers continue to share and gain more power and influence, brands need to develop strategies to engage and harness their voices. Cultivating social WOM at scale will not only drive advocacy, amplify awareness, and acquire new high-value customers, but also yield valuable insight into customer bases and advocates.