It seems everyday Facebook takes another page from Twitter’s strategy. Today they opened up the API to allow 3rd party apps to interact with the stream and enabled text message subscriptions in an effort to make sharing of content more ubiquitous.

Both are lessons learned from the great success we have seen with other platforms in opening up the format and allowing users to create applications that best suit their needs. Allowing them to interact with Facebook through a desktop application or through a mobile phone opens up the engagement time that people spend on the platform and extends it to multiple platforms.

The new mobile subscription option is available to both Fan Pages and personal profiles. An interesting move however I am not sure how many users would use the feature immediately. What it does showcase is Facebook’s determination to extend the user experience beyond the web based platform.

There is still currently a significant number of users who do not have access to smart phones with extensive dataplans and text messaging is still the most direct method of reaching customers. From the perspective of extending reach especially in developing online markets such as Africa and Europe where desktop based online activity is still dwarfed by mobile, it is a very sound strategic decision.

From the perspective of the clients I work with, I think it is a great opportunity to leverage another medium to extend reach, however, it also requires observation of volume and frequency of messages we are putting out. As you take a more direct approach to communicating with customers you need to be more attentive and conscious of the messages you are putting out. The mobile phone is considered a private channel of communication within a closer circle of trust than online and brands should tread carefully.

As great as this all looks to marketers it all comes down to the users.

How many of your friends on Facebook would you subscribe to?
Personally what benefit would you see from subscribing to a brand’s Fan Page?