Build around Facebook because their friends have liked X

Posted by bryanzug - 2009/03/23

Scoble had a great article on Saturday describing how Facebook is positioned to serve higher quality information to people and, in doing so, why it will continue to grow into the center of attention for the majority of web users (and a target for effective marketing).

He offers this foodie example —

You pull out your iPhone or Palm Pre or Android or Blackberry or Windows Mobile doohickey and click open the Facebook application. Then you type “sushi near me.”

It answers back “within walking distance are two sushi restaurants that more than 20 of your friends have liked.”

Wait a second. “Friends have liked?”

And that is a great summary of the emerging power of Facebook in an easy to understand story.

A friend’s recommendation (when it’s easy to find and is contextually relevant) will always trump other forms of marketing / advertising — it’s the easiest way to find a good restaurant, the hot spot of the hour, or that “today only” deal we’ve all been on the lookout for.

Because Facebook is built around these relationships from the ground up, it will continue to trump Twitter (and may even best Google eventually) as the most effective place to focus many marketing efforts.