Why Facebook is Facing Challenging Times – Seattle Biz Coach Terry Corbell

June 21, 2011 - PRLog -- Facebook is showing signs that it’s already approaching the end of its product life cycle, says Seattle Biz Coach Terry Corbell.

“If you’re a prospective Facebook stakeholder looking to profit from the social networking site, as an investor or major advertiser, beware of all the Facebook hype,” cautions Mr. Corbell. “Yes, Facebook is approaching 700 million users worldwide and appears to be in the proverbial catbird seat. However, there are red flags to consider.”

The columnist and business-performance consultant believes the seemingly constant Facebook buzz appears to be masking some serious red flags, especially, if you’re a major investor or marketer counting on it as an advertising medium. Why?

“Published data indicates Facebook is showing signs that it might have advanced too far along its product life cycle (PLC) for you to reap a significant return on your investment,” explains Mr. Corbell in his Biz Coach column, http://www.bizcoachinfo.com/archives/7164.

“A PLC, of course, ranges from the time when a product is introduced to market to when it’s no longer viable because of what the marketplace considers superior competitors,” he says.

The PLC stages: 1. Introduction. 2. Growth. 3. Maturity. 4. Decline.

“In marketing, the PLC is important. In the introduction stage, sales are insignificant until the branding takes effect,” observes Mr. Corbell. “Think in terms of a bell curve. The steeper the slope of the growth stage, the higher sales revenue you enjoy. Maturity is the stage when a product achieves saturation. Decline is just as the term implies.”

He writes Facebook appears it’s in the downward slope of its PLC curve in key markets. “Facebook appears to be already in its PLC stage 3 of reaching maturity – en route to stage 4 of a decline in popularity in many of the world’s most-important markets.”

Mr. Corbell cites an Inside Facebook article, as a membership indicator that shows Facebook lost almost 6 million members in May. Apparently, Facebook lost members in Canada and Europe, too.

“WebProNews also published some eye-opening data from YouGov BrandIndex covering Jan. 3 to June, 13, 2011, which shows Facebook has had some serious erosion in word-of-mouth,” he adds.

Published reports indicate Facebook is poised for an initial public offering in the first quarter of 2012.

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Seattle Biz Coach Terry Corbell is a longtime columnist, and business-performance consultant and profit professional. He publishes performance-enhancing strategies at The Biz Coach: http://www.bizcoachinfo.com, Proven Solutions for Maximum Profits.