MKT 595: Facebook Groups -- Big Problems, Greater Opportunities

On Wednesday October 6th, 2010 Mark Zuckerberg introduced Facebook Groups to the world. Facebook Groups allows users to "share, chat, and email with small groups of friends." This feature promises to make communication easier with individuals in your immediate groups. Some of the highlighted features of the Facebook Groups per The Facebook Blog include:

Group Notifications - When a group member posts to the group, everyone in the group will receive a notification about that post. This feature can replace mailing lists by setting up a group to send an email anytime anyone posts in it.
Group Email Addresses - A group email address can be established so members can send emails which turn into posts in the group.
Group Chat - Previously you could only chat with one person at a time and now you can chat with everyone in a group at once.

With all the exciting possibilities these new features create it also has some downsides which Mr. Zuckerberg experienced with the default Opt-in feature. The current functionality allows anyone to create a group with any name and add friends to it without anyone having to provide permission to join. Some pranksters soon set up a Facebook group for NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association) and added Mark Zuckerburg to it. It can guessed with almost certainty that the folk's at Facebook are working to find a solution to this issue which is currently clouding the conversation of these new features from all that is offers from an advertising and marketing perspective.

Companies everywhere large to small are already using Facebook for connecting directly with the customers. The new group feature could allow these business's to further segment their customers and provide more targeted advertising and build stronger relationships. For example, a resort property could start a group that specifically discusses golf events/specials and another group focused on the spa and the other amenities. Another example might be a restaurant with a special group dedicated to wine tastings. Large companies could use the feature to create private product/advertising test groups. Each member of the group could then freely discuss their feelings about the product/service and create a meaningful dialogue about it.