Your New Facebook Marketing Strategy: Don't Do This!
Whether you wanted it or not, Facebook timeline has taken over your pages. At this point,
nearly everyone engaged on Facebook has either made the decision on their own, or has been forced to swap over to the new layout. Just the other day I received a message saying my timeline was now live, a pleasant little reminder that there was no going back. While you can certainly resist the change, perhaps you are one of the many to record your very own YouTube rant on the subject, the fact of matter is timeline is here to stay.
If you are only using Facebook for your personal profile, you may have embraced the change, but have left everything the same. Albeit a little boring, no real harm done. If you are managing a business page and have made no changes, that's a big problem. Here are some big Facebook for business no-no's to avoid now that the new layout is in full effect:
1. Your cover image is irrelevant and illegal.
Your cover image is now the focal point of your page. It's a huge opportunity for you to brand your business in a way that makes customers want to revisit your page. Whatever image you choose, make sure it is colorful and engaging. If a potential customer arrives at your page only to find an uninspiring, lackluster photo, chances are they won't get excited about your business and its offerings if you don't seem to be. Additionally, you want to make sure that your image follows all of the rules Facebook has spelled out. It's easy to find businesses that aren't aware of the rules and are in serious violation of the terms of use. Don't be one of them. Your cover image should be 841 x 315 pixels and CANNOT include:
- price or purchase information, such as "40% off" or "Download it on socialmusic.com"
- Contact information such as a website address, email, mailing address, or information that should go in your Page's "About" section
- References to Facebook features or actions, such as "Like" or "Share" or an arrow pointing from the cover photo to any of these features
- calls to action, such as "Get it now" or "Tell your friends."
2. You don't update your tabs, which are now called apps.
Right underneath your cover image are thumbnail images for your newly replaced tabs, which are now apps. Good
social media marketing means you are engaging with fans across all platforms and are showing them how to connect with you by providing links to all of your pages. Apps are a great way to display which platforms you are on and easily increase your following. You can also customize your apps, using iFrame, replacing the old FBML. Helpful third party applications, yes, applications to create an application, are an easy way to create and customize your apps to represent your brand and coordinate the visual appearance of your page as you wish. There are even sites that offer no coding knowledge necessary apps that simplify the process even further. The right apps are essential to your page, not updating them just shows you aren't staying on top of current trends.
3. You don't take advantage of new features.
Facebook has recently made some small, but great changes. These changes can be easily overlooked by a business or page administrator that is overwhelmed by the major changes or doesn't have time to figure everything out. For example, posts can now be highlighted or pinned to the top for maximum exposure on your page. In the top right corner of your new post, right next to edit there is a star icon in which you can choose to highlight that post. The post will then span across your page as a focal point. Another way to designate a post that has higher significance is by pinning it. In the same upper right corner where you would edit it, it will give you the option to "pin to the top". Now that post will have a little orange flag attached to it, and will remain at the top of your page even after you create additional posts.
The bottom line is if you are using Facebook for business, you need to stay on top of new developments, or risk your page becoming something of the past. If you need help staying on top of things,
click here and we can help!