Branding Face Book Timeline pages
Facebook business pages have changed. From 30th March 2012 Facebook pages will change to the new Facebook Timeline format. For those of you that already have Facebook pages for their business, you will need to update your branding. For those of you who either don’t have a Facebook page yet, or don’t have a branded Facebook page, it represents a real opportunity to increase your brand reach.
So what has changed…
Look and Feel
The new look and feel of Facebook pages for brands, is similar to the timelines found on personal profiles. It features a cover image at the top of the page. Content is divided into two columns by a time line, representing page content over time. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate the history of your company with specific events such as product launches and awards.
Educating your audience through event milestones on your timeline creates a story about your brand and business. This in turn encourages greater engagement with your audience, building your brand message.
Reduced Tab Visibility
The new timeline format removes the left side panel for links, which previously could be used for many different tabs. Instead these have been replaced with rectangular tab panels underneath the cover photo, with a maximum of 4 tabs viewable at any time. Other tabs can be viewable through a drop down menu. This is definitely aesthetically more appealing, but it means you really need to think about which tabs will be visible. Brands should think carefully about which tabs they promote on a day to day basis.
Removal of the default landing page
Clever brands used the default landing page feature on the old style Facebook pages to create bespoke designed landing pages. This enabled them to control the way their audience first encountered their brand. This feature has now been removed.
Brands will now have to take care in choosing what content appears at the top of the timeline, as well as the design of their cover graphic. One nice feature which gives you control over this is the ability to pin content to the top of the time line. This is similar to the concept of ‘sticky posts’ on blogs. It is only possible to pin one item at a time to the top of the time line. This mechanism can be used to create promotions and call to actions. It is also possible to highlight posts which then span both columns.
Landing pages can still be created, but these can only be access through advertising campaigns, or an absolute link to the the landing page on Facebook.
New Dimensions
If you have custom tab pages on your Facebook page they will currently be 520 pixels wide. For the new Facebook timeline pages format, they will be 810 pixels wide. To maximise impact of your brand you will need to redesign your custom tab pages to the new width. As well as this, you will need new tab application icons which are 111×74 px.
Let us brand and set up your Facebook page
Facebook business pages represent a real opportunity for any business to increase their brand reach and encourage greater brand engagement. We can help with all aspects of Facebook pages, from setup, to brand strategy, through to design. If you would like more information please contact us on 01332 890333.
Our Facebook timeline page
