Sneakerology Touchscreen demo from billy BBL on Vimeo.

Following the the big change made to its pages platform a few months a month ago, Facebook are continuing their revamp by discontinuing FBML and moving to HTML5 iFrames.
Facebook officially announced that businesses and other page owners can now use iFrames to build custom tabs for their Facebook pages instead of Facebook’s Markup Language (FBML).  Since March 11 2011, businesses have no longer been able to create new FBML apps and will no longer be able to add the static FBML app to their pages.

So what is an iFrame?

An iFrame (aka inline frame) is an HTML structure that allows another HTML document to be inserted into an HTML page. The good news is that the iFramed Web page uses standard HTML, CSS, and JavaScript just like any other Web page.  For more info, click here.
Here’s an image that shows the main difference between FBML and an iFrame:

So what are the pros and cons of this new move?

A major pro for marketers is that they now don’t need to drag users out of Facebook to get them into their site.  Search Mojo CEO Janet Miller supports this because they “found, in doing Facebook ad testing, that Facebook ad respondents tend to convert better when they land on a page within Facebook.  iFrames now opens up a whole new world of possibilities for what can be delivered, including e-commerce, directly through a Facebook Page” (source: http://mashable.com/2011/02/24/facebook-pages-iframes/).

Another pro is that whilst content continues to be displayed on your Facebook page it is now hosted within your own site.  A huge plus being that you can now use your own web analytics and lead tracking software. By leveraging your lead tracking and web analytics you will be able to measure your Facebook marketing efforts and determine the most effective tactic for your business.

Another advantage for using iFrames for custom tabs and applications over FBML is that you are no longer limited in design.  You can now use your own CSS to style your applications which will help marketers and businesses to bring their pages in line with brand guidelines.

From a sales perspective, if companies choose to use this method, the move to iFrames will help them become better at selling via Facebook.  It will now be easier to add product pages to a company Facebook page and to create calls to action to drive sales.

BBL’s Conclusion

From our perspective, iFrames is a great new option for businesses yet it it will likely require planning and some investment by companies before we see its full potential. It is going to take a few leading brands to make a move before others will follow but when it comes to Facebook you simply cannot ignore the huge user base and the opportunity that exists for companies and brands to engage and interact with their consumers.

Our new Business cards are done. They featuring a nice heavy 600 GSM uncoated stock, with a BBL logo embossed on the front in silver foil. To top it off we used Silver gilded edges. They look amazing!

New logo work and brochure work for Tova Platinum

We were approached to build a touchscreen application housed in the duty free stores of the Sydney International Airport. BBL Digital was responsible for all elements of this application design, including sourcing and building the hardware components. The touchscreen features a web-based CMS and all the client’s products are showcased in a visually impressive interface.