Six Things Businesses Need to Know About Facebook's Timeline

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Six Things Businesses Need to Know About Facebook's Timeline
By Laura Tate (c) 2012

Since its inception, social media giant Facebook has seen
numerous changes to its layouts, and many useful features have
been added. The most recent of these is the "Timeline," which
was introduced in December 2011.

The Timeline arranges posts according to date, streamlining all
materials, including status messages, pictures, videos, and other
Facebook activities, showing a history of a Fan page.

By now every company that utilizes Facebook for their social
media networking has incorporated the Timeline. However, many
might have been put off by the changes and not taken a look at
all that is offered with the new features or optimized the
obvious ones.

Here are six things business owners should know about Timeline
on Facebook.

1. The Large, Space-Occupying Cover Photo
This area, located at the top of the Facebook page is the first
thing people see when visiting a page. Facebook has dedicated
851 x 315 pixels just for this space alone.

The No. 1 consideration when utilizing the cover photo feature
is using an image or graphic that will pop out and catch a
viewer's attention.

However, Facebook has placed limitations on business use of the
cover photo: no offers of discounts on services, no contact
information, like email, and definitely no calls to actions,
especially asking viewers to Like your page, are allowed on the
cover photo. Even an arrow pointing to the official Facebook
Like button is disallowed.

Hence, the cover photo should be striking enough to draw
viewers' interest, while conveying the business brand image
and/or its services.

Whatever message is put on the cover photo, it should make
people want to view the company's Timeline and tabs under the
cover.

2. No More Default Landing Pages
In the past, businesses created Facebook landing pages where
people were asked to click the "Like" button, install an
application, complete a survey or even join a competition. These
calls to action were usually associated with an offer of a free
download, such as an Ebook, or discount on services or products.

Now, with Facebook's new layout, people are directed immediately
toward the company's Timeline page, without passing through
another portal. This is intended to make it easier for users to
explore a business and what they're really about.

Hence, the page and Timeline of a business must be interesting
and provide concise information at the same time.

One way to showcase certain aspects of a company's history is to
highlight a posting that has a great image. When highlighted,
the post will stretch across the page, making it hard to miss.

Older posts can be re-purposed by pinning them to the top left
corner, moving it up from wherever it may be, even if it's a
year old.

3. Using Apps for Promotions and Offers
Even though offers and promotions are excluded from the cover
photo or landing pages, these useful lead-generating 'social
media campaigns' (http://www.crackerjackscribe.com/
social-media-marketing-and-reputation-managment.html) can be
utilized with approved Facebook apps.

Some apps are free, but with the caveat of carrying their
maker's logo. If you don't mind, then they are very useful.
Shortstack (http://www.shortstack.com/) is free with limited
capabilities, such as not being able to compile a database for
contest or other forms. However it's useful to generate
interest, and you can embed your business blog into Facebook
with the app, pointing it back to your Web site with links.
The app also offers paid versions starting at $30.

Once installed, the tab images will show up under the cover
photo. To generate interest, use eye-catching images with
informative text below the tabs to entice visitors to click on
them.

4. Businesses can Receive and Reply to PMs
With the new Timeline in place, people can now send personal or
private messages to companies, and businesses may reply to these
messages as well.

This feature is excellent for helping businesses network with
potential clients, and enables another avenue to provide customer
service.

It can also be switched off, particularly if the message load is too
much to handle.

5. Everybody can see Posts About Businesses
If a certain company or business is mentioned in a comment,
reply, post, or an uploaded medium, it will be seen in the
company's Timeline, and everyone can see it.

This feature, as with most others, can be disabled, or, at the
very least, posts can be screened in order to see whether they
would be harmful to the business.

6. User Friendly Admin Controls
The new Facebook Timeline has made it easier for businesses to
monitor the number of likes, comments, sharing, and all aspects
of a company's Facebook fan page from one place.

A more detailed look at visitor engagement is offered with
Insights. A fan page must have a minimum of 30 likes in order to
utilize the chart, which shows number of Likes, Reach, and People
Talking about your page. More detailed information such as what
is drawing the most activity - photos, posts, mentions etc. -
on your page are offered as well.

These are just a few of the new aspects of Facebook's Timeline
that can help a business draw more engagement from existing and
potential customers and fans.

For further, in-depth information, visit the social site's 'help
center' (http://www.facebook.com/help).
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Laura Tate is the founder of Crackerjack Scribe, an online social
media marketing and content publishing company. Laura formerly
served as associate publisher and editor for the online and print
versions of Malibu Times Magazine, and The Malibu Times newspaper.
For more tips on utilizing social media and content publishing
to maximize your Web site's presence on the Internet, visit:
http://www.crackerjackscribe.com.
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