Facebook will drop out its FBML application starting today, the 10^th of March, replacing it with iFrames. It could certainly stand as a point of frustration for businesses with a Facebook presence, but the changes have also fostered an opportunity for the service industry to address these business-oriented needs around social media marketing.  In order to ensure an easy flow for businesses using the FBML app, Involver comes up with a free app, the Static HTML For Pages, allowing users to customize their Facebook tab with either an image or static HTML code in a few quick steps.

The main functions of this new app from Involver include the ability to add a customized image on a Facebook fan page, rendering static HTML code, within the framework of Facebook’s current guidelines, customizing the tab name and incorporating a ‘Fan gate’ to a page, requiring users to Like your page in order to see other content.

In the same fashion, we also have FaceltPages as well, giving owners more control to personalize their design by adopting Twitter and blog integration, through which users display their latest tweets on their Page, promotional offers, and designer slideshows, a Like and Load option that displays an incentive for visitors to “Like” a Page, email marketing integration for Constant Contact, Aweber, and iContact. The price of the product depends on the type of client, encompassing various entities, from bloggers to corporations.

“Since Facebook Pages now support iFrames, we are able to offer much more when it comes to the crafting and marketing of custom tabs”, said Misty Lackie, Founder and CEO at Go Smart Solutions, LLC, creator of FaceItPages. “Every business has different objectives when it comes to visitor interaction on their Facebook Pages, and our new applications provide them the ability to strategically deploy those features that best meet their needs.”

But Facebook has its own tool, called Insights, through which publishers using Facebook plugins gain access to analytics, specifically real-time distribution and engagement metrics, on how content is performing.  This is an area Facebook will have to continue to build out, as analytics and real-time metrics become an integral aspect of marketing and messaging through complex, social channels.

Remaining in the marketing realm and real-time analytics, Buddy Media stands out. Starting with 2010, the company expanded from Facebook and the United States, approaching a global strategy and added support for European and Asian regions with its management tools. Following the recent $23 million funding, Buddy Media will focus on developing the necessary means for providing advertising platforms tailored for each specific client. Buddy Media knows very well how important advertising is in social media and for this reason is looking out to serving giant Facebook accordingly.