Facebook Timeline: What does it mean for brands? Thursday, 15 March 2012

Facebook timeline for brands

•  On 30 March 2012 Facebook will launch the new timeline profile for brand pages.

•  This is compulsory for all brand pages

•  Many successful brands have already created timelines, including: •  Coca-Cola (https://www.facebook.com/cocacola) •  Mustang (https://www.facebook.com/fordmustang) •  Subway (https://www.facebook.com/subway) •  Old Spice (https://www.facebook.com/OldSpice)

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What will you find in this document?

•  The document outlines the new changes to Facebook pages for brands & how it will impact your page.

•  It also outlines some recommendations about

how to use the new Facebook timeline to maximise it for your brand.

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What will you find in this document?

•  This document covers: 1.  Overview: Timeline - what is it & what has changed?

•  Cover photo: what can & can’t be done? •  Profile picture: new restrictions apply •  Tabs: default landing tab removed & what will happen to my existing tabs •  New post option: double wide call outs & pinned posts •  Posts: pinning a post •  Interest lists: a new way to subscribe to updates

2.  Admin panel, messaging & insights 3.  Other changes impacting brands: offers & ads 4.  Image dimension cheat sheet 5.  Suncorp: Recommendations 6. Next steps

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1. Overview Timeline - what is it & what has changed?

Timeline: what is it?

•  A powerful new way to communicate your brand’s unique story, personality & identity.

•  Showcase images, logos & products to visually engage

your fans.

•  The more visually engaging the better. •  People are expected to spend more time reading the

timeline rather than just using the wall to ask questions.

•  Companies can highlight key milestones in their history to help tell their story.

Sources:  h+p://mashable.com/2012/02/29/facebook-­‐:meline-­‐brand-­‐pages/  6

Timeline: What does it look like?

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Timeline: what has changed?

•  Facebook introduced: •  Large cover photo •  New restrictions to profile pictures

•  Default landing page removed •  Tabs are now called “apps” •  New double wide call outs for company

milestones •  Fan status updates about your brand will appear

in timeline •  New admin capabilities •  Not yet visible for mobile

Sources: http://mashable.com/2012/02/29/facebook-timeline-brand-pages/ 8

Cover photo .

•  A cover photo is one large image that appears at the top of the Facebook page.

•  Ideal size is 850 x 315 pixels

•  This can be a photo of a popular menu item, album artwork or a picture of people using your product

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Cover photo: what can’t be done?

•  What can’t be done: •  Price or purchase information, such as "40% off" or

"Download it at our website” •  Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing

address or other information intended for your page's About section

•  Reference user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features

•  Calls to action, such as “get it now" or “tell your friends” •  Be false, deceptive or misleading, & must not infringe on

third parties' intellectual property •  Encourage or incentivise people to upload your cover

image to their personal timelines.

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Profile picture: new restrictions apply

•  The new profile picture is restricted to 180 x 180 pixels

•  Best used for logo or design without a lot of words

•  Previously, brands could include extend the length, add calls to action & other information. •  This is no

longer allowed

Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/7-new-facebook-changes-impacting-businesses/ 11

Default landing tab: removed

•  Previously new fans landed on a default tab with a like-gate, encouraging fans to like their page

•  Now non-fans must find their way to apps where calls to action can be used

•  Brand will have to be more clever in how they drive non-fans to these tabs

Source: http://info.shoutlet.com/TheUltimateFacebookTimelineforPag

esQA.html

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Default landing tab: removed (cont’d) •  This means offering more interesting content on tabs

•  The more intriguing the functionality, the more likely users will click to them from ads, page posts & thumbnails.

•  Build apps that strike a chord with fans & are unique to your brand •  Exclusive content, games, contests, samples, live events to attract

people.

•  Fans are also more likely to share interesting content, tapping into their current friend network to grow your fan base.

Source: http://info.shoutlet.com/TheUltimateFacebookTimelineforPagesQA.html 13

Tabs: what will happen to my existing tabs?

•  If you’ve created a custom welcome tab or other tabs, they haven’t disappeared

•  Tabs are now called “apps” & appear as photos under the cover photo

•  Four apps are displayed at all times •  Users can maximise the app menu to reveal up to 12 apps •  Custom photos can be made for apps •  Apps can have unique call to action captions such as “click me” •  App photo dimensions are 111 x 74 pixels

Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/7-new-facebook-changes-impacting-businesses/ 14

Tabs: how will these be displayed?

•  Tabs/apps are represented by a tile image on timeline •  Only 4 tiles show on timeline automatically. Other tabs/apps are only

shown on click & expanded

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Timeline profile example: Coca-Cola

1.  Cover photo 2.  Profile picture 3.  Number of fans

& fans talking about the brand

4.  Company information

5.  Apps (expanded view – only displays top 4 in normal view)

6.  Unique captions 7.  Admin centre

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3  7  

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New post option: double wide call outs

•  Unlike personal timelines, brand timelines have the admin option to make posts span the across the entire width of the page.

•  E.g. Brands use this for important milestones like an anniversary, debut hit product, acquisition or first sale.

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New post option: pin posts

•  Posts can be pinned to the top of the timeline for 7 days.

•  A pinned post has an orange flag in the top right corner.

•  To pin a post simply click on the pencil icon in the upper corner of the post & select “pin to top”.

•  This is a good way to feature items like interactive posts, offers & encourage users to like the page or add to lists.

Sources: http://

www.facebook.com/help?

faq=235598533193464 18

New feature: interest lists

•  Interest lists help users organise updates from fan pages & public figures into similar categories

•  This feature is connected to the “subscribe” function.

•  E.g. a user can create a list called “Recipes” & add pages like Betty Crocker, the Food Network & food bloggers to which they’ve subscribed.

•  Users can subscribe to interest lists created by other people – just like recommended friends, Facebook will recommend popular lists

•  Content is automatically pulled into newsfeed & can be viewed in separate list newsfeed

Source: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31766/facebook-launches-interest-lists-why-marketers-should-care.aspx 19

New feature: interest lists (cont’d)

•  How can brands leverage interest lists? •  Brands can leverage this on the new timeline by

pinning a message that encourages users to add your content to a list.

•  Remember, it is called an “interest list” so fans won’t add you unless your content is interesting. Update regularly with fresh, relevant & high-quality content.

Source: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31766/facebook-launches-interest-lists-why-marketers-should-care.aspx 20

2. Admin panel, messaging & insights

Admin panel, messaging & insights

•  Insights are now located in an admin panel.

•  Can invite email contacts, friends, share the page & create ads.

•  When clicking on the likes box you can now see:

•  The most popular age group,

•  Number of people talking about your posts,

•  Most popular week.

•  Fans can now send messages to the page – this is optional.

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Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/7-new-facebook-changes-impacting-businesses/

3. Other changes impacting brands Facebook offers & new advertisements

Facebook offers: what are they?

•  Described as “deals on steroids” •  Offers are made as deals which appear in fans

newsfeeds •  Fans claim the offer by clicking the “Claim Offer

Button” •  Only a few companies have access currently. •  Expected to be made more available more

broadly – TBC •  Investigate caps on numbers before jumping into

offers – high demand could lead to fulfillment issues

Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/7-new-facebook-changes-impacting-businesses/ 24

Reach & premium ads: new ways to advertise

•  Ads will be larger: •  Reach generator ads:

•  Designed to reach more existing fans than through the newsfeed. •  Currently pages on reach 15% of audience each

week with posts. Reach generator ads will increase this to 50% weekly and 75% monthly. –  E.g. through beta testing Ben & Jerry’s found it was able

to reach 98% of fans & double engagement. –  Reach ads will be “always on” and shown on the right

hand side of the page in newsfeeds & mobile streams.

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Reach & premium ads: new ways to advertise

•  Premium ads: •  Designed to distribute stories to new connections and

will be shown on •  Home page •  News feed •  Mobile streams & on the log out screen

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4. Cheat sheet

Dimensions: what size images will you need?

•  Cover photo: •  850 x 315 pixels

•  Profile picture: •  180 x 180 (on page) & 32 x 32 (post icon) •  Positioned 239 pixels from the right side of the cover photo & 23

pixels from the left

•  Custom apps (formerly ‘tabs’): •  111 x 74 pixels (need to replace old tab images with new ones) •  No larger than 5MB (JPG, GIF, PNG)

•  Tab page width: •  810 pixels wide •  Old designs will remain 520 pixels wide & will be centered

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Thank you

WiTH Collective

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