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New Marketing Strategies with Facebook Timeline
March 6, 2012 by 6 Comments
Another Year, Another Change
In typical Facebook fashion, another year brings another change. Last year we moved from FBML to iFrame “apps” to create welcome landing tabs, many of which were a “gate” to keep new visitors out until they clicked the “like” button.
This year we are saying goodbye to landing tabs and saying hello to the Facebook Timeline for our pages.
Cover Image:
Perhaps our best shot at using Facebook to enhance our branding will be with the page “cover image.” This image is a huge image, and the first image your visitors will see when they view your page.
Of course there are rules to these images, though.
What we CAN’T do with cover images:
~We cannot encourage visitors to upload our cover for their own timelines.
~We cannot provide discounts, discount codes, or web addresses where our services or products may be purchased.
~We may not provide web addresses or contact information that belongs in the “about” section.
~We cannot encourage visitors to like our pages.
~We cannot include calls to action, for example, “share this,” or, “tell your friends.”
Mmmmmmkay.
What we CAN do with cover images:
Facebook cover image
What we can do with cover art is further our brand without spamming our visitors. Use an image that will engage and resonate with your visitors. Perhaps an image of people enjoying your product, or a version of your blog or website header and logo. Get creative, but remember to stay on brand! Incorporate your profile picture in your design scheme – it is located both in and outside of he cover art! Remember also that the profile image is what will follow you around Facebook.
About Section:
new “about” section
The “about” section lives right under your cover art and your profile picture on the left side. This should be a short and sweet description of you and/or what you are all about. Make it exciting, but practical and memorable.
Apps:
new “aps” section
Apps are located to the right of the about section, below the cover art. Apps are built-in, as in the case of he photos, and some you can install like promotions, maps, videos, notes, etc. Then there are custom apps, welcome pages, I have even customized a Pinterest app to my page! It’s not great, but it’s doable for now.
You may have many apps, but only the first four will show all the time – the rest are in a drop down menu. The photo app will always be first, and the rest can be moved around easily. I say go for four and see how it goes. There really is no use spending a lot of time creating apps that are not going to be seen. When deciding, think about how your customers have historically interacted with your page. What would you like to continue? Would you like to shake things up and experiment?
Pinning Posts:
Important posts can be pinned to the top of the news feed for up to seven days. These pinned posts can be used as a welcome message or to direct visitors to apps. Think promos, new photos, etc. To pin a post, hover over the right corner of the post until a pencil appears. Click on it and chose “pin to top.”
pinned milestone – you can also pin posts!
Milestones:
setting a milestone status on the timeline
When you update your status you will see the option to post a milestone. A milestone might be the date you were founded, a date you reached a certain number of followers, or had some other exciting news for your business. Fill out the milestones, as it is thought they might be considered more important by the Facebook algorithm. These milestones can also be pinned to the top of the page.
Highlighting Posts:
highlighted post
Rather than pinning a post, you might choose to highlight content. Highlighting content will expand the post to the full width of the page, but it will remain in the same place on your timeline. You might want to highlight some of your own content or content that is posted to your timeline by happy customers or visitors. In order to highlight the content, hover over the top, right corner and click on the star that appears. Experiment with pinning and highlighting and see what works best for you and engages your visitors.
Timeline for pages new marketing, in short:
~Use the cover image wisely. Be fun and engaging, and give visitors a reason to like your page, or to come back.
~Make sure you have a clean about section. Do not be overly wordy, but remember to give the best information about you or your business.
~Use apps wisely and sparingly. Don’t overload your page with apps – remember that only the top four can be seen at all times.
~Pin relevant and exciting posts and milestones. Use them to welcome your visitors, excite them about your products, and direct them to your apps.
~Highlight other important posts that you think are or remain timely and relevant.
Ultimately, Facebook is going to continue to make changes, just as we get used to what we are doing. What is not going to change is how to interact with your visitors. Content is King, as they say, and it is as true for Facebook as any other platform. So engage your visitors in a way that is useful, relevant, and meaningful to them. Let them get to know and trust you AND your brand. Monitor your insights and make your own changes as necessary. Weathering the changes with grace and savvy will ensure you end up on top.
Do you have questions about the new Timeline for Facebook pages? Feel free to contact me!
Recent Facebook changes affect small business
October 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment
As Facebook changes for individual users, social media marketers are speculating about how the changes will both positively and negatively affect small business pages. Facebook has been fairly silent on the issue of what changes will be made to pages, and a lot has yet to be discovered. As small business owners now is the time to analyze how these major changes might affect us positively and adversely, and how we as marketers and small business owners will have to change our strategies and roll with the tide.
What we don’t know:
Timeline, subscribe button, and lists
Wouldn't you love to see the Facebook Timeline on your fan page?
The Facebook timeline brings the past into the present. It is a visually stunning and customizable scrapbook of sorts that allows the user to choose a large picture at the top of the page and show their friends more about who they are. It is for these reasons that it would be brilliant for small businesses if the timeline was integrated into Facebook fan pages. It would really bring Facebook fan page customization and branding to new levels. Let’s all just cross our fingers on this one.
The subscribe button is similar to gaining likes, or followers, only better. Going with the assumption that people who subscribe to you actually want to hear what you say, it would be the best way to really bring great content and interaction to your followers.
If individual users have the friends lists what would businesses have? Some sort of followers or subscribers lists would be an awesome way to direct content toward or otherwise connect with potential consumers based on demographics. For example, pretend I’m an artist with an upcoming gallery opening. Of course I would want to announce this to all of my followers, but if I want to invite some followers to join me, it would be great to have the option to say, sort by city.
What we do know:
The newsfeed and ticker
The newsfeed and ticker changes are leaving businesses with big hurdles to overcome. Since this news feed was implemented, small businesses have been seeing a major drop in the amount of impressions, likes, and comments on their status updates. Facebook uses information about what individual users have interacted with as a guide to what they will present to users. A lot of business news is getting overlooked, which really brings home the idea that we really need to be giving our followers great content! Remember when I first talked about that in my first Facebook post in June? It was true then and it’s REALLY true now. We need to spend the time brainstorming how how our brands can integrate into the daily lives of our followers. Although we won’t know for sure how to do this until all the Facebook changes are rolled out, we can at least speculate start giving it thought, and keep trying to engage our followers, possibly through increasing posting frequency.
Here is the positive spin on the real-time ticker. Although a lot of content is being left behind in the news feed, if even one person interacts with it, it can resurface in the ticker. So, potentially, when June Poodle comments on your status, all 100 of her friends who are online in that moment will see your name. You also have the opportunity to comment, in real time if you see this in the ticker, keeping your status update alive. The caveat here is there is a large number of people who use Facebook on a mobile device, and so they will never see the ticker.
Create great content to engage your fanbase and their friends will see their interaction with your fanpage!
Where do we go from here?
The changes are rolling out little by little. We need to stay on top of the changes, adapt, create great content, and monitor our stats. A lot has yet to be discovered. What we do know is even with Google+, we can’t leave Facebook behind. We have put too much work into it and with a little tweaking in our strategies we will continue to be able to use Facebook in our social media marketing repertoire.
How are the new Facebook changes affecting the way you interact with your followers? How would you like to see Facebook for business change? I would love to hear from you – join in the conversation now!
