Facebook Connect has been around for some time now, but it seems its adoption in the local marketing sphere needs more of a drive.

Intergration of Connect can take many forms, and from the testimonials that Facebook have on their blog it seems to have a huge impact on not only traffic but the obvious viral effect that takes place.

Connect allows users to share content by interacting and taking action on your site like commenting, reviewing, making purchases, rating, and more. The natural viral effect that Facebook has, through streams and notifications, creates a “viral loop” through the users Homepage by introducing their friends to your content. This viral loop is essential if you have embarked on a pull marketing strategy; users introduce their friends to your content, hence instilling a sense of trust and familiarity with it which gives them the confidence to in turn share it within their extended circle of friends.

Apart from the viral effects of Connect from your content point-of-view, it offers users and easy subscription to your services. By making use of Connect in your website, users are a couple of clicks away of registering without the time consuming efforts of filling in forms that sometimes create a drop rate of users.

One last thing about Connect is the instant gratification it offers. Once a call-to-action has been answered, it is instantly streamed into the users Homepage. This is powerful function when dealing with NGO’s and other socially driven initiatives like Causes

I believe that if you are offering the right content to users that Connect is an essential part of any Online marketing toolkit.