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Archive for February, 2012

On Leap Day February 29, Facebook announced 4 major changes to your Facebook Business Page that will occur on March 30th. These changes will dramatically affect the success of your business! Here’s what you need to know.

1. Timeline for Pages: Pages are getting those big, glossy cover photos and full-width media highlights which changes how we think about the identity of a business. “Welcome” pages / tabs will no longer be options as a landing page. You can still add the pages, but, they will reside under the cover photo as avatars (with a hotlink under it). Also, Facebook will NOT allow Pages to include “calls to action” or overtly promotional text in their cover photos. Your Page CAN include a logo or an image of your location or your staff in the cover photo, but it cannot say something like “Get 40% off today only” or “See more at our website.” The timeline cover size is: 850 pixels x 320 pixels.Here’s some new business Cover Story photos to help you get ideas:
   https://www.facebook.com/CouponMintMag
   http://www.facebook.com/cocacola
   https://www.facebook.com/mortgageconsultant
   http://www.facebook.com/Starbucks
   https://www.facebook.com/umbro
2. Getting More Customers: There will be a “friends-focused” approach to reaching and growing your audience. Instead of just seeing a wall of information or updates, you’ll first notice how many friends of yours already like the Page. You’ll also see highlighted activity from your friends that’s relevant to the Page, whether it’s a check-in or a story about the brand. It’s this type of activity that will lead to higher engagement with your business page. You can immediately connect with a brand much more personally. This will help pre-sell visitors on your company so you can get more “Likes” and turn those fans into customers!
3. New Admin Panel: The admin panel will appear at the top of any Pages you manage, and it will act as an activity snapshot for notifications, post performance and stats. Page administrators are also getting messaging capabilities so they can respond to messages from everyday users (a first for businesses on Facebook). In addition to stats and notifications, admins also now have the ability to cherry pick “pinned posts,” which will appear at the top of the Page’s Timeline for up to seven days. You can also add past “business milestones” to the page (even if they occurred before you Business Facebook page was created.)
4. Measurement: There will be an all-new dashboard for analytics where Admins can keep track of the activity on their page, respond to people who have commented on their timeline, and view page analytics. The admin panel will display any new likes, notifications, post performance statistics, and messages.

Facebook is providing a LOT of advanced notice. Admins will have ample time to craft, prune, and curate the Timelines and highlighted stories so that the organization’s message is told powerfully and visually.