Facebook Fan Page Tabs

I’m currently working on some cool new Facebook Applications and Facebook Fan Page Tabs for the BBC. The aim is to drive traffic from the social networking site to the BBC website. Also, it also gives the BBC a chance to engage with programme fans and give some of their great content back to Facebook users.

Businesses all over the UK are now starting to realise the potential of using Facebook Fan Pages to communicate with their client base and keep their brand and products/services present in the users daily activity. Whether this is via the Facebook news feed or getting the users to actively participate in custom built Facebook Applications.

These applications should be designed to reward the user and not just be a blatant attempt by businesses to advertise their products or services. They should be fun and engaging and most of all be entertaining enough so users want to pass the experience of the application on to their friends and contacts.

Facebook marketing is coming out of its infancy and businesses are starting to come up with some really great and fun ways to engage users. Starbucks are pointing a lot of there new online advertising towards their Facebook Fan Page. Also, we’re seeing a lot of companies offering special offers via their fan page.

The next step we are going to see a lot of is shopping through the Facebook environment as businesses start to develop Facebook online e-commerce stores, where the whole process of browsing and purchasing products is done within a Facebook application. There are already some pioneers out there and a couple of white label solutions available too.

As a Facebook application developer I am really excited about the future of businesses on Facebook, and hope to see some great ideas being developed by companies on their fan pages.