Google’s announcement that its new realtime search will feature Facebook status updates is big news. But there’s an important distinction here for technology marketers and social brand promoters. Right now, Google intends to only show updates from public Facebook pages, which are generally fan pages. That means that corporate fan pages stand to gain an entirely new wave of visibility in search, driving more interest not only to an individual fan page, but the Facebook community in general. And where there’s more traffic, there’s more opportunity.
Facebook continues to make smart moves to ensure its ubiquity and relevance. If you haven’t seriously considered a fan page as an extension of your online social presence, this boost from Google may be the final motivation. Driving more traffic to your fan page can mean more exposure to growing communities, increased interaction among engaged consumers, and more brand advocacy and word of mouth.
Social and search continue to evolve as the most potent combined determinants of online marketing success. It’s time to get on board.