The Facebook Timeline, introduced a few months ago for personal users, has now made its way to Facebook fan pages and business profiles. Not everyone is happy about this…In fact, we’ve been hearing from business owners who are nervous about the change and are hoping that the timeline won’t alienate their current fans and visitors. Let us help put those concerns to rest.
First things first: The timeline is steadily gaining wider acceptance, so don’t fear. If you take advantage of the new features and incorporate them seamlessly into your social media marketing strategy, the timeline can actually help you gain more attention for your promotions, contests, and short term campaigns. So what are those new features exactly? Here’s a quick list.
Layout
The first and most obvious change is the new timeline layout. Profile pages with the new feature offer a large photograph at the top of the page and a wall below divided down the middle into two columns. The columns are organized by the passage of time, so it’s easy to scroll down and identify any activity that occurred during a certain month. With this format, it’s easy for users to locate events in a continuous arc, which can support the storytelling element of brand building.
Private Messages to Fans
With the timeline in place, it’s now possible to exchange private messages with your fans. This will help considerably when it comes to answering questions, providing specific product information, and offering general customer service.
Pinned Posts
The timeline layout offers users the opportunity to post a single message, like a sticky note, at the top of the page. This can help focus visitor attention on important news, promotions and announcements. When you decide to pin a new post, the old one disappears. But after seven days, you can pin a new post and the old one will still appear in the chronologically organized profile below.
Stay tuned: In the next post, we’ll be discussing ways to use the new timeline to promote your business.
