On March 1, Facebook introduced Previews for your business page timeline. Similar to the Facebook profiles switcharoo to the Timeline, now you have the opportunity to create a Timeline for your business (or celebrity identity) page as well. What exactly does this mean for your business, your social media for marketing strategy, your internet marketing strategy, and how can you prepare to make the most of your Timeline? Here are seven changes to Facebook for your business (courtesy of Social Media Examiner):
1. You can now add a “Cover Photo” in addition to your profile image
So, you no longer have the option of the photo strip which showcases multiple photos (or you can create one image using multiple photos). For a company that sells products, this might be a bummer. For others, this might give you the opportunity to change your cover photo for promotional purposes, or seasonal images. You do get additional space, so be creative. The maximum dimensions for the Cover Photo are 850×315 pixels.
Unfortunately for businesses, you cannot have a call to action message in your Cover Photo. (what?! that’s terrible!) You can’t list your contact information either.
2. Posts are changing – they can be bigger, highlighted or pinned
That sounds complicated, doesn’t it? In conjunction with the usage of Facebook’s EdgeRank system, “stories” (photos & videos) are now going to be larger because Facebook believes that’s how you tell a story.
3. You can set milestones
This will take some work from your marketing folks. Similarly to your personal Timeline, you can add milestones to your business Timeline. Think: Company founded, services/products offered, so and so joined the company, big sponsorship, etc, etc.
4. Facebook offers new apps for your Timeline
Although it may look like your apps disappeared, they haven’t. You now also have 12 total applications to showcase on your Timeline. They are in the top row, and you must click on the “12” in order to see them all.
5. Facebook Offers
Facebook hasn’t “offered” this to many companies, but will be rolling it out shortly. Facebook Offers are similar to Facebook Deals. This might be good if you are offering free webinars or consultations.
6. Insights and administration “stuff”…oh, and MESSAGING!
Your Insights are going to be on top of your Timeline and the admin panel looks different, but pretty much offers the same tasks than before. It is now easier to invite your Friends as well as your Email contacts to like your page. This can be really beneficial when using social media for marketing.
7. Advertising on Facebook
There are a few changes to Facebook’s Advertising. Ads are going to be larger (good for marketers, not so good for consumers) and the actual advertising products have two different names: Reach Generator and Premium. Reach Generator exists for those who want to “reach” more of their existing fans. The Premium option is for those who want to distribute stories to new connections as part of their internet marketing strategy.
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