Facebook will automatically convert all fan/brand pages to timeline

By Brian Franchell

As of the end of this month Facebook will be automatically converting all fanpage/brand accounts to the timeline feature. I would like to summarize some of the more important implications for our brand accounts. Firstly, the timeline will be the only landing page for all visitors. Thus, creating separate welcome pages to be the default landing page is no longer possible. That means no more call-to-action to ‘like’ the landing page for visitors or incentives to encourage a visitor’s commitment to ‘like.’

Major branding opportunities for Facebook accounts begin with the cover photo on top of the timeline. Here is where a positive first impression can be created with new visitors. This can be done by showing consistent logo and branding creative as before, but also by adding stimulating and eye-catching qualities to this large cover photo space (the cover photo is a banner area comprising 850x315 pixels). It’s important to note that there can be no call-to-actions in this cover photo or any reference to sale, purchase or price information. The era of the oversized eye-catching arrow to the like button is over. Instead we can expect to see more creative, even tantalize artwork as a strategy to pull newcomers in. Witness the new Old Spics brand page:  https://www.facebook.com/OldSpice .

Some other very pertinent changes include the ability of visitors to be able to privately message a fanpage and the ability of a fanpage administrator to review fan wall-posts before making them public. These changes can have strong implications, such as the opportunity for Facebook to be a powerful customer service venue for brands. Administrators will have control over whether they want fans to actually be able to message privately and whether they want to review each post, so a good deal of thought should be put into your particular brand’s goals on Facebook and how these goals should direct moving forward with the new Facebook changes.