15 days to move with the Timeline!
Only 15 days and counting until FaceBook change business and brand pages over to their new timeline format. http://www.facebook.com/about/timeline
If you’re one of the 30m UK facebook users you will have already been exposed to this change through your personal page.
But what are the changes and the ultimate benefits for your brand? As well as an avatar you can now include a cover photo, as well as tell stories with larger photos, “pin” a post to the top of your timeline for up to seven days and access better tools to manage your Page. The new features will further help business and organisations better share stories and connect with their audience.
However before adding your cover photo be aware that your new cover image may not contain:
• Price or purchase information, such as "40% off" or "Download it at our website"
• Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page's About Section
• References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features
• Calls to action, such as "Get it now" or "Tell your friends"
Most importantly, for your personal pages, remember that all cover images are public, which means anyone visiting your Page will be able to see the image you choose.
Covers must not be false, deceptive or misleading, and as with all images you must not infringe on third parties' intellectual property.
You must also not encourage or incentivise people to upload your cover image to their personal timelines.
There’s a lot for Facebook to monitor – but do note that any infringement on their terms of use can result in Pages being removed, thereby losing all your history and photos loaded to the page.
All sounds very limiting but there is still loads that can be done to portray your brand's image and personality by using a bit of creativiity.
Have a look at some of these examples from leading brands for a little inspiration:
http://www.facebook.com/cocacola
http://www.facebook.com/lynxeffect
http://www.facebook.com/Firebox
http://www.facebook.com/benjerry
http://www.facebook.com/Starbucks
http://www.facebook.com/SideOnCreative :)
Some great examples of personal facebook Timeline pages here:
http://inspirationfeed.com/inspiration/websites-inspiration/40-creative-examples-of-facebook-timeline-designs/
Side-on are currently available to design cover photos and avatars and load them to your profile ready for the big switch over. Email bigideas@side-on.co.uk or call us on 01534 721630 to discuss your requirements.
