What the New Facebook Timeline Means for Brands (Hint, it’s all good)

During their first annual conference for marketers, Facebook announced the upcoming launch of the new Facebook Timeline for businesses and organizations.  While individual users with personal pages within this social networking giant have been growing comfortable with the new look and feel for sometime, this is a whole new world for brands.

So what does this mean for your existing page?  In a nutshell- more flexibility and features that help create a richer experience for prospects visiting your Facebook page. Currently  you can preview what your page will look like with the new Timeline format with the official transition slated to take place for all pages on March 30 so now is the time to begin thinking about how to effectively navigate the change.

Below I’ve included an overview of the new features as well as an action plan for how you can best convert to the new appearance. According to the  Facebook Marketing Solutions page the new Timeline features include:

1. Cover Photo: highlight an image that is compelling to those who will see your page–a new home model, a photo of a recent event, etc.

2. Pins: position timely news and information to the top of your page for up to 7 days to help motivate followers to action.

3. Private Messaging: quickly view and respond to activity on your page in a personal way- especially important to Boomers and beyond.

4. Timeline: new followers can easily get to know you better by accessing posts and images from previous months or years (without having to scroll down for a lifetime).

Preparing to Launch Your Timeline

Use this checklist of things to complete before you transition your Facebook page to help ensure you are getting the most out of the new look.

• Identify key dates in your corporate history:  I especially like Lennar’s approach on their timeline- they track dates and images back to their inception in 1950.  The use of imagery and captions are a great way to drive awareness of your history with followers.

• Create a cover photo that highlights your best assets: There are some new restrictions to the types of images you can incorporate (nothing with pricing, incentives, etc) but the size of the image provides the perfect canvas for highlighting your greatest asset or component of your unique selling proposition. Coca-Cola’s ® timeline is a great example of how you can excite and speak directly to your target market with your cover photo

•  Create a “Pin Plan”: This is such a great way to encourage people to visit other tabs of your page- photo galleries, email sign up forms, exclusive news, etc.  Unsolicited testimonials are great to highlight when targeting boomers and seniors as these are viewed as authentic, trustworthy sources.   You can pin things for up to a week so make sure your most timely information is highlighted here.

• Spread the word: encourage your existing prospects to check out your new look and share the news with friends to help generate more followers.  Highlight the switch in blog posts, emails and tweets and include a image and link on your website to help convert traffic to followers.

Resources:  Learn from others through these great resources about how to leverage the new Timeline

Mashable Guide

Lost Remote

Facebook Marketing

Have questions or interested in boosting your social networking presence through Facebook?  Click here to see how Creating Results can help drive results and motivate your target consumers.