As Facebook Timeline rolls out for us individuals, we can’t help but think how this is going to affect company pages? While there have been no official announcements from Facebook that company pages will switch to timeline, it is surely inevitable.
The redesign is not something to be taken lightly due to the drastic change in format and aesthetics which will change the way in which your company markets itself through the social networking site.
Love it or hate it, it looks as though Facebook timeline is here to stay so here’s how to adjust when it becomes mandatory.
Cover photo
– The cover photo is a great way to promote your brand and image. The large image allows you to display a more visual aspect of your company than a profile picture alone does. It also provides a brilliant opportunity for you to be more creative with the layout of the page.
Visually, this will be one of the biggest benefits of the redesign for your company brand. The personalisation of this feature mans you should choose a unique photo which you think represents your company well.
For example, your profile picture could be of your company logo and your cover photo could be of your team. This allows you to show dimensional aspects to your page which may not be possible with the current design.
Feature posts
– With Facebook Timeline, you’ll be able to decide which posts you want to be featured on your profile. This means all your most important posts will take priority and can be highlighted on your timeline. This is handy for achievements, awards and developments.
Format
– The format of Facebook Timeline is not dissimilar to blogs such as Tumblr. Rich in imagery, it seems this format is proving more and more popular. Instead of written statuses, there could be an increase in images being posted, shared and re-posted. This is a great opportunity for companies that are trying to sell products.
All your activity is a lot more segmented which can make it easier for visitors to view and interact with. Posts will remain on the page for a longer amount of time instead of disappearing after a couple of days. This could potentially lead to a higher level of engagement with your profile page.
Summarising
– Facebook Timeline also groups ‘Likes’ and friend approvals together. It will state that in a certain year or month the user has become friends with a certain amount of people or ‘Liked’ a certain amount of pages. This acts as a mini summary and review of what has happened at the end of a timeframe.
This could be useful for companies that want to highlight their progression, development and show how they have grown. This displays a flow of news and events in a chronological order which will be collectively processed by your visitor.
Facebook Open Graph
– Facebook have upgraded their Open Graph and launched 60 new apps for the Timeline which enables users to carry out most of their online activities within the site including listening to music and purchasing items. This will then appear on the Timeline letting all the user’s friends know what they have been doing.
New apps will also allow the user to not simply ‘Like’ something that they see on a website but able to ‘Loves’, ‘Wants’ or ‘Owns’ it. This is especially handy for ecommerce sites.
The sharing nature of these apps means that retailers are likely to benefit as there will be more widespread knowledge about their products.
With the use of apps of Facebook set to expand, business’ will be keen to launch their own apps which their users can utilise. Although apps are only limited to big companies at the moment it is sure to take off with more and more small businesses getting involved.
Apps are a lot more visible on a page and provide endless opportunities for organic social engagement.
Afterthoughts
– Facebook Timeline could prove problematic for small businesses that have only just got their heads around creating a Facebook company page. With a whole redesign being introduced, they’ll need to re-think their marketing strategies and how to display their information.
This may result in additional outsourcing. However, it could also provide a lot of exciting opportunities with new approaches to advertising and branding.
No doubt, it will be interesting to witness the way in which companies interact with their audience and share information using Facebook Timeline.
Image Credit: Facebook Timeline
21 comments
The ability to ‘Like’, ‘Loves’, ‘Wants’ and ‘Owns’ sounds really cool. This is so much better than the current Like alone!
Facebook timeline is not officially announced for the business pages. Any idea when this will happen ?
Should be launched soon..hence this post to get you geared up for it 🙂
Timeline is cool. It’s the first thing a friend sees in your profile. It’s nice because aside from your profile pic you can display images which you think is the best. Also, you can promote your business through your timeline. Keep posting!
timeline is not cool for me since I really don’t like it. My first impression for it is that it’s so messed up and not so organized. Random pictures pop up here and there which caused me some headaches. I can’t believe facebook implemented it with a mandatory order.
Very good topic, Alex. Facebook Timeline, though disliked by the masses in a recent survery, is to become the standard and this may well affect many persons doing social media marketing.
I wonder how many facebook users have timeline activated on their profile, that would be a good indication of its success or acceptance by the community.
Would help if anyone can share a link or statistics on this..
The ability to ‘Like’, ‘Loves’, ‘Wants’ and ‘Owns’ sounds really cool. This is so much better than the current Like alone!
timeline is not great to me.
Nice article, yeah I think there is always two side of a coin so there is some good functionality in timeline like Cover photo, in this we can give an idea about our business using a image..
Valid points you are sharing here. A blog is a very powerful platform you can use to build long-lasting relationships with your readers and keep them coming back for more.
Thanks for sharing your insights.
hope this business timeline is useful and great help for our business.
thanks for the heads up!
wordpress have more advanced options then Blogger platform .. always wordpress is rocks . i’m using wordpress for so many my blogs 🙂
Pretty Article!!! It’s nice because aside from your profile pic you can display images which you think is the best. Time Line is really new for face book users.
i still don’t like the timeline design of Facebook, but in case if it gets mandatory am sure i shall make meaning full uses of it by following what you say.
Thanks for the comments. Really interesting to see how people are anticipating Facebook Timeline for businesses.
I have discovered that in spite of blocking the ability of friends to be able to see my friends list, that they can on timeline. I have contacted facebook about this but they haven’t responded.
It’s inevitable that brand pages will eventually be in the Timeline format as well. That’s why it’s important to learn the format as best as possible with your personal profile. Look for advantages that can help a business page stand out.
Hi Alex
Nice Post on Timeline. I think this Facebook application is the best thing. Use the Best image to describe yourself on the timeline and there you go. i used it on my Facebook profile and got many good reviews… 🙂
Below is Mashable’s post on Facebook timeline for Brands ( Dated 15 th Feb 2012)…we featured it much earlier on this blog. Thanks Alex for this post 🙂
http://mashable.com/2012/02/15/facebook-timeline-for-brands/
Thanks for the tips, this will help me to improve my business on facebook.