Use Facebook Timeline to Promote Your Business
Facebook is beginning to push out its new Timeline layout to all 850 million user profiles this week. Business pages on Facebook aren't affected (at least not yet), but your company can take advantage of this shift.
Fri, February 10, 2012
PC World —
Slideshow: 6 Tips to Conquer Facebook Timeline
Your Complete Guide to Facebook Timeline
The Timeline is primarily a cosmetic change to the format for displaying content on Facebook profiles. The changes make Facebook content more engaging, and expose the entire history of a user's Facebook posts in a chronological timeline that makes it easier to navigate to older material. In many ways, the Timeline layout would be a welcome change for Facebook Business pages, although if or when that's happening is unknown. However, Business Insider reports that Timeline for companies may roll out Feb. 29 during Facebook's Marketing Conference.
For now, at least, businesses can capitalize on Timeline's features to build brand recognition and word-of-mouth marketing. You can get more detailed explanation from this video by Tommy Walker, an online marketing strategist whose Facebook page is called simply "tommy.ismy.name." Try these tactics to get your company featured on users' Timeline profiles and maximize your exposure on Facebook.
Brand Your Timeline Cover Art
Featured at the top of the Facebook Timeline is a large banner image. This cover art differs from the picture associated with the Facebook profile; that image is displayed in a smaller thumbnail superimposed over the bottom-left of the cover art.
Most people will probably post a picture of their kids, or dog, or a pretty sunset. This is prime real estate, though, to prominently show off your business. Use an image of the company logo, a picture of the business, or a team picture of your employees. Make sure the business name and/or logo are in plain view.
Related: How to Protect Your Professional Reputation on Facebook Timeline]
To take this a step further, ask your employees if they'd be willing to do the same. You can offer some incentive for those who voluntarily feature your company in their cover art--the more, the merrier to get your brand in front of as many Facebook users as possible.
You can even create paper business cards that feature your Timeline cover art, via Moo.com.
Tag Photos
Tagging photos is neither new nor unique to the Facebook Timeline, but it can be a very effective way to promote your business and engage customers.
Take pictures of your business, of employees in the office, of your products or people using them, and of anything else of interest, and tag them with your Facebook business page profile. Photos that you tag, while logged into your Facebook business profile identity, appear in the series of five thumbnail images at the top of the Facebook business page. If there is an image in the series that you'd rather not display there, just click the 'X' that appears at the upper right when you hove over the picture, and it will be hidden and replaced by a different tagged photo.
