Facebook Timeline And What It Can Do For Your Business.

Hi…I’ve compiled a rather long post today – but in a way it had to cover quite a few aspects of the new Facebook Timeline. If you would prefer to read it as a pdf you can download it to your computer for future reference. No Opt-in Required ==> “Facebook Timeline PDF“

Cover Photo, Profile Image, Feature Tabs/applications and About.

Cover Photo [851 x 315]

Facebook’s new Timeline cover photo now gives us the ability to create a really cool eye-catching image that will represent what your business is about. Facebook also suggests that to get the full use out of your main Timeline cover image…that you switch it around occasionally to keep in line with new promotions and events relevant to your brand.

Be sure to take a look at ‘Facebooks Terms & Conditions’ to keep within their guidelines, by keeping your Main Timeline cover mostly image based. Note: you can’t have any url’s, phone numbers, call-to-action or any such arrows pointing from your Timeline image to any other features/apps on Facebook.

Profile Image [180 x 180]

Your profile image/logo will represent your brands individuality uniqueness or identity; you should chose a logo which will best represent your brand/business…which will set you aside with distinctiveness when it comes to using your Facebook page throughout other positions on the Facebook platform. Note that it will probably be best to stick to the one logo without changing it…as that’s what people and brands will come to recognise you by.

Feature Tabs/applications [111 x 74]

With the new changes put in place – we now have the ability to change the image on our tabs/apps to a much larger one…right from within our page itself.

This is a nice feature Facebook have introduced where they have left it much easier for the admin of a page to swap images around …and also… with the now much larger image dimensions [111 x 74]…it leaves a much clearer call-to-action.

To get the best use out of your tabs/apps…if you have a Website or Blog or are using any other Social Networking sites on the Internet, go ahead and place your tabs main url on these other platforms you use…where it can increase your traffic even more by leaving a link directing back you your Facebook custom tab/app page…you can also consider using Facebook ads too, which are very targeted.

The screenshot below is an example of the much larger tabs/apps we now have to place a clear call-to-action within.

Note that the new Timeline from Facebook sets the first one as your photo tab/app to their default which cannot be changed – but the remaining apps can be changed around and placed in whatever order you choose.

You can have up to 12 tab/apps on your page…the first 4 are in view once a person lands on your “main page,” (as shown in the screenshot above. Additional tabs/apps can be seen by clicking the drop down arrow next to the tab image furthest to the right as shown in the screenshot below.

To get the best uses from your now larger tab/apps…

• Create a nice graphic that automatically catches the reader’s eye once they land upon your Facebook Page.

• Be clear and concise, “Click here for your Free Gift” – “Enter our Competition to WIN” and so on…

• Be sure to label your tab/apps with an appropriate name, which clearly indicates what the visitor/s will receive if they click to view.

About Section

Your Page “About” section is important to get right also, it should be brief but clearly expressed at the same time. Try and fit within this viewable area what you and your page is about.

As you can see from the screenshot above – within my about section I introduce myself and then encourage my latest visitor to join in. Also, if you have a Website or Blog…this is a good place to leave that url link which takes the reader back to any other platforms you would like them to visit.

Pin Posts, Stars, Milestones and Messages.

We now have more facilities to take full advantage of on our new Timeline layout too…

(No1) Create Creativity… (No2) “Pin a Post” for 7 days at the top of our page where you create a greater chance of someone distributing it virally… (No3) Staring a post so as it spans the full width of your page, this is a great way to showcase any product images you have or any other important pictures that can make your brand stand out… (No4) Milestones are a great new feature for your brand, with Milestones you can set a date for a new product launch, opening of a new department/store, or even a special event which receives special attention.

Pinning a Post

With Timeline you can now pin a post to the top of your page for 7 days…after this 7 day period Facebook will switch it back to your stream again (at the date you posted it when you first uploaded it).

You can always pin another post back up again for another 7 days once your last posts time has elapsed. This is a great way to highlight important posts so people landing on your page… (Either for the first time) or, unique visitors who return often, can see that you have a post pinned notifying them that it has something of real value attached…this is a great introduction by Facebook as it leaves a greater chance of that particular post being shared virally throughout the Web…so take full advantage of this feature.

Some key points to consider when pinning a post.

1. Pin to highlight key posts or key events and link them to a customised tab where they can get the full information/story when they click through.
2. If you run any type of gambling site you can pin a post with a sweepstakes (or contest)…where it briefly touches upon a certain aspect of importance that stands out to the reader, which again should then lead the reader off to another specifically customised tab for more details on your offer.

Highlight [Star a post]

As the admin of your page, you now have the ability to star any post made by yourself or others on your page. Once you do star a post it will effectively span the full width of your page (spreading across both columns) so as it will catch a reader’s attention more effectively and remain always visible.

Best uses of staring a post can be to highlight product images and other important aspects like…your best photography work and so on at certain dates/times throughout your Timeline.

Milestones

With a milestone you can go back in time and add business milestones to your Timeline. When you add a milestone these posts will show up on your Timeline with the correct date attached and also show up in your fans newsfeeds where it can create even more visibility and engagement.

Milestones are important, because they will reflect on a major event that is important to your business/company, such as a product launch, opening of a new department/store, or even a special event (where a particular moment in history is important to your brand) which should receive special attention.

To receive the best attention for the use of milestones here are some tips:

1. Upload photos and videos
2. Get the reader to engage by prompting for a response where they’ll automatically want to respond with a comment etc.
3. Customize your content which best suits your business/trade/commerce.

Messages

Another new feature is the ability to send a brand/page a private message. Facebook allow page admins the ability to turn this feature off in your settings; however, you may want to consider keeping it switched on so as it encourages fans and lets them know you are a willing company that is there for all their needs.

The new messaging feature can only be first initiated by someone who contacts you first…only then can you reply with an answer. This new channel can be highly viewed as an enhanced customer support facility.

I hope you enjoyed the post – if you feel it has benefited you…please feel free to use the share buttons that you’ll find here somewhere lol, or leave a comment below.

All the best,

To your success,

Eamon.