At the end of last month, a returning client of mines came to me for a Facebook Page Banner to match the Blog Header I did for her. Of course I was happy to do, so we began discussing the details, which all when down the drain as of March 1st. We both had to make a quite adjustment.
We all know that Facebook is forever changing something but this was a major change. By the end of this month all Facebook Page will have the same Timeline look as their profile pages and there are some rules. So instead of doing my regular vertical banner, I'm switching to large horizontal banners. Now what was once a great marketing restate, has been stripped of all of goodness. We can't make an reference to liking the page, sharing the page with your friends, pricing information, contact information and the list goes on. Here's a link to the FB Help page with more information.
I wonder how this is going to effect major brand pages and the need for landing pages?
What are you thoughts?
Replies
Artiatesia,
I actually welcome the change to the Facebook Timeline layout. I think that sometimes people forget that our Facebook profiles and Fan Pages do not belong to us. Facebook owns all of that and your data as well. They are allowing us to take up space only because it generates page views which equals revenue to them.
I believe that the nice, expansive cover image and timeline layout will allow brands to tell their story in both a visual and a chronological way.
I love that we can now feature a post, which will make it the full width of the page and remain in the featured spot for a week or until you move it.
I like the line up of the app tab images below the cover image. This gives you an opportunity to highlight the products and services that you offer. You can link the image directly to a landing page.
Since I manage a whole portfolio of fan pages for clients, I love the admin panel where you can see the page's analytics, who has commented recently, and any private messages you may have received all at a glance.
Facebook will continue to make changes. As business women and marketers we've got to stay abreast of the changes and remember who really owns this powerful platform when we get irritated by having to keep up with a constantly shifting space.
Peace,
Evelyn Bourne
Hi Evelyn,
You make some great points. Technology seem to be changing at a faster pace. If we are going to use these platforms then we have to just roll with the punches.
You mention that you manages several pages. When I first heard about the changes my mind went to people like you who do manage several pages. That's has to be a lot of work but we do have until the end of the month to prepare ourselves.
My problem came when figuring out the size of the cover image and the quality lowers after your upload. I hope Facebook fix that in the future.
For those of you who are making the cover images and new profile images - the profile pictures should be 180 pixels by 180 pixels. For the cover images I am seeing different sizes - but width wise it look like it should be 720 pixels. It would let me upload anything less then 399 pixels in height
thank you
you welcome
Here are two blog posts with more information about how the changes will affect small business like ourselves.
Social Media Examiner: 7 New Facebook Changes Impacting Businesses
Convinceandconvert.com: 14 Ways New Facebook Betrays Small Business
With the new Tmeline format there will be no need for landing pages.