Surely, the news has reached everyone by now that Facebook is changing its company name to Meta. This is a part of the company’s strategy to change its image from a social media company to a technology company. It’s not unreasonable for a company to want, or even need, to expand past the product that made them. Facebook, the social media platform, brought in $26.17 billion in the first quarter of the year alone. Between the ads that companies pay for through Facebook marketing and the numerous apps on the platform, the newly named Meta has all its eggs in one basket.
Their success is nothing to scoff at, but even a company as successful as Meta must know you want a diversified portfolio. Having your company stay named after one product isn’t the best for branding if you want to expand, even ignoring the company’s numerous controversies.
To stay in line with this strategy, the social media platform is not being renamed. Facebook as a place for people to talk to each other online is not going through a name change. Instead, the company that owns the site and app will no longer hold the same name as their product.
How is the Facebook Experience Going to Change?
As any marketing firm should be wondering, “Is this going to bring any changes to the Facebook experience?” And most importantly, “Is this going to change Facebook marketing?”
The name change to Meta won’t change the experience in itself, but it heralds several changes coming to Facebook in the future. With the announcement of Facebook Reality Labs becoming its own division, and Meta’s current ownership of the Oculus VR technology, Meta is looking to revamp social media as we know it.
At the recent product event, CEO Mark Zuckerberg teased ideas for social, gaming, and workplace concepts in what Meta has called the “metaverse.” This came with graphics and images of 3D avatars meant to represent users, in 3-Dimensional spaces. Some activities people couple partake in the concepts of Meta’s new platform can be sending holographic images of yourself to concerts, meetings with friends, or workplace meetings. With the VR technology Meta currently owns, some parts of these concepts aren’t entirely sci-fi. But that doesn’t necessarily answer the most important questions.
How is This Going to Change Facebook Marketing for Marketers?
In the immediate future, this won’t affect Facebook marketing much at all. It’s impossible to say how soon this new social media technology will be in the hands of consumers. We don’t even know for sure if this new platform will replace Facebook or live alongside it.
On the other hand, marketers will feel this effect in the long term. Now that this new project has been announced by such a large and financially successful company, it will remain on the world’s mind. Marketing agencies need to prepare.
If this new platform replaces Facebook, every agency needs to be prepared to make a grand shift in how they market their products or their client’s products. Marketing on each social media platform is different and requires different strategies. This could uproot entire marketing campaigns, classes, certifications, and positions.
It’s much the same story if this new platform launches alongside Facebook. Marketers have to consider how much they want to spend in time and money on a platform that may not work. If it becomes popular and you weren’t there from the start, that’s an audience you’re missing out on. If the platform falls flat on its face, you’ve wasted money, and not every client is going to agree on what to do, but they are all going to market through you.
How is This Going to Change Facebook Marketing for Consumers?
Consumers already split their time between multiple social media platforms, ie: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Few maintain an active presence across all of them, and none of them require the same kind of marketing. Adding to or replacing one of those platforms will uproot things.
Consumers will either be pulled away from their favorite platform or they’ll let it die out. This can backfire on marketers already invested in old platforms, or who want to invest in the new platform either way.
The Current Risk and Reward of Facebook Marketing
For now, Facebook marketing is still a viable option and will be for years to come, but eventually, it may become a gamble should Meta’s plans come to fruition. Marketing agencies around the world need to keep in the back of their minds that there’s going to be a shakeup in social media in a few years. Whether that’s the successful launch of a new platform or a failure, it’s impossible to know.
But for companies without marketing looking to get ahead of the curb and prepare, it’s time to start talking to marketing firms to set yourself up for the present and future. ENX2 Marketing is here to revitalize your marketing so when changes come, your business is thriving and ready. Contact us today.