Georgia Gier does social media for Venpop, where she manages various social media accounts and blogs about current trends related to the world of social networks, social marketing, e-commerce and all things social media. You can check out her posts on the Venpop blog.
Now that all Facebook users have to switch over to the new Facebook Timeline, questions are being raised about the possibility of Timeline for brand pages. It seems like it’s not a matter of if, but when. Sources say the new format will be rolled out for businesses this Feb. 29. Although Facebook hasn’t confirmed these rumors, companies should still start preparing to make the switch and figure out how they’re going to integrate the new format into their social marketing strategies. Here are a few changes brought by Timeline that brands can take advantage of.
- The cover photo. The cover photo is a big, bannerlike photo that appears at the top of personal timelines, and we expect it will appear at the top of brand timelines, as well. At 840 x 310 pixels, this is a lot of free advertising space, and it allows brands to completely customize the top of their page. Its possible uses are endless, such as promoting sales and fan offers or importing an image from your business’ website.
- Increased prominence of posted photos. Photos are getting a lot more space in timelines than they did on walls, causing them to stand out more and attract more attention. Businesses can take advantage of this by posting photos along with their status updates, giving that status update greater importance.
- Apps for Timeline. Other tools businesses have recently started using are Facebook’s Apps for Timeline. When users add an app, it appears at the top of their page, and all of their interactions with the application are published to their timeline. Businesses are creating apps for their brands in order to integrate themselves into users’ timelines and increase their visibility.
- Facebook actions. As a part of the new Apps for Timeline tool, Facebook is also giving users more options for how they interact with brands. Instead of being limited to “liking” something, users can express that they “love,” “want” or “own” a product, along with a selection of other verbs. This is a great way for brands to engage their fans and another form of free promotion.
- Telling a story. One of the most noticeable aspects of the new Timeline is that now you can tell your personal story. Chances are this will be no different for brands. Brands will also be able to share their company story and to start thinking of their posts as part of the larger brand picture.
Timeline will inevitably be rolled out for brand pages and you want to be prepared for when it happens. The businesses that start thinking now about how they’re going to incorporate the new format into their social marketing strategies are the ones that will have the greatest success when it’s finally released.
Have your started thinking about how your brand will take advantage of the new Timeline?
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How will this effect so many businesses that have landing pages?
Agreed, custom tabs are a huge concern. It appears to be the big buzz question about the possible/potential change.
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Nobody knows, but everyone is talking about, and everyone is confused. I think they will first introduce the timeline for brand-s for developers, like they did with the personal timeline right after the F8 last year.
How will the timeline integrate the welcome pages? Almost every brand has one or more, everything should be redesigned for the new format or what?
I think timeline for brands will not going to be soon…
My recent post 4 Mistakes Business Owners Make With Facebook Fan Pages
I agree with Kristian above – I'm assuming they'll roll out a beta or "timeline for developers" before they push it out to the masses or make it a mandatory update.
In the meantime, brands must brainstorm. If anything, social media has proven that companies need to be somewhat flexible, and constantly aware. They need to adapt to the new technologies and trends, and can use the personal timeline as a blueprint. (cover photo, hiding/highlighting posts, etc).
This article suggests some great first thoughts, but as a web developer, I highlight the fact that Facebook still ultimately controls your business Page, a website is truly the only web presence you'll always have 100% of control over.
Facebook should tell Business owners way in advance about this kind of change. If they have a QR code linked to a tab, it would effect the QR code and create an error if tabs disappear. It is common courtesy of Mark Zuckerberg to keep businesses informed well in advance. If there are no tabs, what happens to all those micro-sites companies invest in? Companies might be paying for something that could be deemed as irrelevant.
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How do you get the new Apps for Timeline as mentioned above and add it to your page?
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While I agree with a lot of this, "Its possible uses are endless, such as promoting sales and fan offers or importing an image from your business’ website," could get you into some trouble. Using a cover photo that includes any 'call to action' which includes sales, 'friend us for deals', etc… is a violation of Facebook's policy and your photo will be removed. Repeat offenders could have their page suspended or deleted.
[...] are scrambling to learn how to leverage Facebook’s newest face. After a bit of research, I found five ways to use Facebook Timelines to promote your [...]