If you live under a rock (or just aren’t in the social media industry), Facebook announced yesterday that they would be introducing timeline for business pages. This changes how pages will interact with the consumer, as well as how it looks to the consumer. After doing some research, these are the biggest changes I see.
1. Branding: No longer will we have just a small profile picture to show off who we are. The profile picture has shrank, giving plenty of room for the new, 851×315 cover photo. Interestingly enough, the guidelines for cover photos somewhat anti-marketing, including no price or purchase information, any about information (web address, email, etc – all should be in your “about” section), references to sharing or like us and calls to action.
2. Messaging: Good God, it’s about time Facebook allowed individuals to private message pages. This will be a big benefit with in-store issues for retailers, requesting information and more.
3. Highlighted Posts: The set up of the new Timeline pages revolves around the posts. We’ve changed to a two-column layout, with friend activity on the right. Here, we can highlight a story so it appears at the top of the page for up to a week. This will be great when a brand has an event or new product it wants to showcase.
4. Starred Posts: In addition to highlighting a story, we’re now able star an image so it stretches out between the two columns. This is great to focus on a specific event, product, or idea. You cannot, however, star and highlight the same post.
5. Fangates are Gone: No longer do you NEED to like a page before seeing their content. I’m sure they’ll still be a way to block this, but for now, the fangate option will be removed and replaced with tabs along the top of the page, under the cover photo and about information. Four apps will be shown (including photos), and a drop down menu is available for up to 12 more.
Who’s rushing to switch their brand over to the timeline? Who still hasn’t activated timeline on their own profile? Let me know what you think!
The Parks Department 