FACEBOOK fMC 101 – TIMELINE FOR PAGES - Social Strategy

Last week Facebook had its first ever conference just for marketers, fMC. During the course of the day several exciting announcements were made that will affect the way that brands do business and engage with customers on Facebook. We know it can be hard to keep up with the ever-evolving world of social media so we put together this crash course on the upcoming changes.

Lesson 1: Timeline For Pages

The new Timeline profile structure that rolled out to users several months ago will now be available for brand Pages. Over the new few weeks you can opt-in to update your page but by 3.30 all Pages will need to make the transition. Facebook has provided brands with a great resource on this new layout, but we wanted to highlight some key things for you to think about –

Cover photo and design: Each brand will now have a large image at the top of the page that they can use in addition to their avatar. Facebook prohibits use of the cover image as advertising space but using it to convey a brand persona is a fantastic way to introduce yourself to new fans and showcase your personality to current fans.

Larger posts and photos: The Timeline layout has dual columns that feature larger photos. You can also star some updates to have them take up both column widths to make a bigger impact. Take advantage of this! Photos instantly capture attention and engage viewers.

Pinned updates: Unique to Pages, Timeline allows brands to “pin” an update to the top of the feed for up to 7 days. This is a great way to keep attention on a special promotion or current news item without having to constantly repost it or risk it getting buried under new posts.

Fan and friend activity: Fans will notice new features specifically for them, notably, the friends list and friend activity. When a fan visits a Page they will see, right at the top, how many of their friends also like this Page. Below that will be updates and mentions of this Page made by their friends. Users can also use the drop down menu at the top of the Timeline to filter their view to Highlighted (default), Posts by Page, Posts by Friends or Posts by Others. These features keep them interested and make the Page that much more relevant to them.

Past milestones: Timeline gives you access to another critical element – Time. Brands will be able to post milestones using a past date in order to fill out its history. The timeline on the right allows fans to take a trip down memory lane and check out what your company was up to back in the day.

What Next?

Check 3sixty for additional resources on getting started with Facebook Timeline!