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
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