Posted on October 14, 2008 by Luke

Photo credit: Creative Commons

If Facebook wants to start eating away at LinkedIn’s slice of pie, they need to cater for businesses a lot better.

Because I’m getting a headache thinking about Reach’s use of Facebook for business-to-business communications.

Reach Students needs an ‘official’ presence on Facebook. The social network is a key environment for our work, and has been since students in the UK first started using it.

But nowadays our clients, suppliers and colleagues are on it too – and they expect to find us there in some formal guise.

So far we’ve been directing them to my personal profile to keep in touch.

They have joined a menagerie of Facebook friends connected with me that includes: students we have worked with on past campaigns; students we are working with now; friends; old friends; relatives; old workmates; people I know from numerous unconnected parts of my life, from local community groups to five-a-side football; plus a few people I don’t remember why we were ever connected.

To do this the right way, we would not direct our business audience to my personal profile.

Instead we would set up a Facebook Page.

We would use that page to post out our updates, videos, blogs and discussion points.

Pages are where Facebook sends businesses.

Pages are what businesses like Coca Cola, H&M and Apple have.

Pages and fans.

But I neither want nor expect people to “Become a fan” of Reach Students, which is what happens when you connect with a page.

And while I’m sure there may be a micro-segment within our audience that thinks everything we do is freaking amazing, I think that the idea of becoming a ‘fan’ of a digital marketing consultancy is unlikely to be appealing to most.

Particularly as many of those that are interested in our activities offer competing services, different approaches and contrary views.

Many of the audience are peers. They will want to exercise some discretion.

Lots of them want to keep in touch with our output, since we share industry news and views, and some of them will want to exchange opinions, ideas and resources.

There are also lots of clients — past, present and future — who want to be connected.

They may feel awkward about declaring themselves as fanatics.

It’s just a bit too much. They don’t want to wear a big fat badge on their profile that says ‘I love those guys!!’.

If Facebook is interested in the larger part of the business community, the part that doesn’t operate global superbrands or run cult products, they need to start providing for us more effectively.