Facebook’s VP and marketing director for EMEA today announced that the company would be making the Subscribe feature available as a plug-in for websites.
During a Q&A session at LeWeb today Joanna Shields also highlighted British brands Burberry and The Guardian as examples of companies successfully using the social network to promote their businesses.
Shields spoke only briefly about the Subscribe plug-in, which will allow people to click a button to follow a site’s updates on Facebook. It's been available to public figures and celebrities for a few months, but Shields was unclear about when this would launch broadly.
When asked for examples of businesses using Facebook well, she referred to Burberry's recent launch of its Burberry Body fragrance via a sampling campaign as a great way to engage with fans.
They had 300,000 Facebook fans request to be involved with the new product. 80% said they would share their email address and wanted to connect more with the brand as a result.”
Shields also applauded the Guardian's use of the Facebook newsfeed to extend the reach of content.
Each time I read a story on the Guardian it gets posted on my newsfeed, so it introduces my friends to the paper who may never have heard of it and makes others become part of the Guardian network."
When asked how Facebook is engaging with governments to help build the economy, Shields said that Facebook has helped local businesses by allowing them to communicate with a new global customer base.
We’ve been to several conferences in Europe since F8 and the new ideas from tech events are mind boggling – the talent is everywhere and in difficult economic times you have these renaissance moments. I think we are in one at the moment.”
Reader comments (4)
Director and Co-Founder at 4Ps Marketing
4:51PM on 7th December 2011
Such a simple but spot on move from Facebook. We work with about 10 publishers and they are all excited by this. Many publishers have struggled to find where they fit with Facebook and this is step in the right direction for everyone.
Matt
7:53PM on 7th December 2011
These are the kind of apps Facebook needs to keep releasing to stay on top.
6:39AM on 8th December 2011
That`s the main issue now a days that plug in has become a headache for its users. This is a nice step taken by the management of facebook. It is not for all users as you defined that subscription is required for it. So, I would like to end up with this that it is a good step if the users want to avail it timely to recover their problems during the use of facebook.
11:09AM on 8th December 2011
Facebook don't seem to make many moves that make sense, but I guess they don't really have to.. For the moment. This is a great mobe, change of terminology that better reflects the customer's interaction with the company.
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