'Net Features : timeline

Is Your Facebook Page Optimized for Timeline?

Michael Garrity — Wed, 30 May 2012 18:45:00 GMT

There has been a wide spectrum of achievement since Facebook made the switch to Timeline for brands. Some companies nailed the format right away, taking advantage of the new features it presented, while others couldn’t quite figure out how to make use of them in a way that would be beneficial to their marketing efforts.

Internet marketing company Constant Contact took notice of this disparity and acted accordingly, updating its Social Campaigns product to better help businesses take advantage of all that Timeline has to offer.

What this actually means is that Social Campaigns now has templates sized to the specifications of the new layout, so users will have more room to create and greater flexibility in the way they display offers. They can also customize the Social Campaigns tab at the top of the page by changing the text, location and image. The update also includes new video campaign templates.

Users can also auto-post to Facebook and create a Page or claim an existing Facebook Place easily from within Social Campaigns.

In addition to these Timeline-inspired changes, Constant Contact is also launching a beta version of the Social Campaigns Facebook App Directory, which gives users all the tools necessary to add functionality to their Facebook pages using the Constant Contact platform, including video sharing, list building, online menus, blog syndication and more.

Timeline Extends the Life of Facebook Posts

Michael Garrity — Tue, 22 May 2012 04:45:00 GMT

Facebook’s Timeline update has been available for brands long enough now that we’re finally able to gain some useful data about the effect they have on marketing efforts, and the initial information seems pretty positive.

Most notably is a recent report from social media analytics firm Sotrender, which says that Facebook posts now live longer on Timeline that that did before the format change. Before, half of the comments made on a brand’s Facebook post were made within the first hour of it being put up, but since the Timeline switch, that average has increased to 2.5 hours.

Unfortunately, the study was fairly limited. The London-based company only looked at 130 U.K.-based brands and about 5,000 Facebook posts, giving them a usable but ultimately limited sample.

Still, this is the first such study since the big move to Timeline, and it does present some very interesting information that could interest companies on the social network.

For instance, the report shows a 13-percent increase in the average number of users that interact with a post. Plus, about 80 percent of comments are now made within 8.5 hours of a posting, a two-hour extension over the previous average.

But the more things change, the more they stay the same. Timeline hasn’t contributed to a significant hike in a brand’s overall number of fans, nor did it improve the average number of “likes,” posts and comments per user or cross-page engagement.

Timeline Increases Fan Engagement

Allison Howen — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 17:45:00 GMT

If you are one of the social media managers that have been putting off the switch to Facebook’s Timeline, you may be doing your brand a disservice.

A new study shows that the new format of Facebook Brand Pages (Facebook Timeline) is driving higher engagement rates to brand pages. The study comes from social media measurement and analytics provider Simply Measured, and reveals that brands are averaging 46 percent more engagement per post with Facebook Timeline pages.

According to the study, brands that were early adopters of Facebook Timeline have seen a 14 percent increase in fan engagement, a 46 percent increase in content engagement and a 65 percent increase in interactive content engagement (which includes videos and photos).

The new Brand Page format may be increasing fan engagement because brands have more control over how their pages look, enabling them to enlarge posts with the highlight feature, as well as pin content to the top of their page.

Check out these early findings:

The Facebook Timeline Countdown is On

Allison Howen — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 18:45:00 GMT

Seven more days.

The countdown to Facebook Timeline for Pages has begun, which gives brands that haven’t already made the switch one more week until the new format is mandatory. That's just seven more days of Timeline transition, and there are several areas that social media managers should be focusing on if they want to get it right for their businesses.

Here are the four most important things to consider, followed by examples of how businesses are already using these new features to better promote their brands:

Cover Photos
The cover photo is the most important aspect of the new Facebook Timeline format. It provides brands with a wide, open space to upload an image – which will undoubtedly be the first impression made upon visitors arriving at a Facebook Business Page. Therefore, it is important to utilize this space in a unique way in order to make your brand stand out and capture visitors’ attention. Many brands are choosing photos that best represent their companies such as a logo or staff photo.

The App Section
Directly below the cover photo is where the new app section is located. Although the photo app is mandatory, brands have the option of choosing the three remaining displayed apps that will best represent their business. Some of the best apps to display here are an email list signup option or a shopping section for e-commerce businesses.

Pinned Posts
One of the next big changes, pinned posts, provides brands with the option of pinning an important post to the top of their pages. Many brands aren’t utilizing this feature yet, perhaps because it pushes all other content down the page, but it is still a great new way to feature specific pieces of content such as sales promotions or recent milestones for your company.

Highlighted Content
Lastly, the highlighted content feature stretches a specific piece of content horizontally across the page. This feature is particularly eye-catching when used with photos.

Here are some examples from businesses big and small that are utilizing all of the new Facebook Timeline features mentioned above:

The Southern Mac & Cheese Truck

Not only does this cover photo make me particularly hungry (for obvious reasons), but the small business’ About section and app section are also being utilized to the company’s advantage. The About section provides important contact, pricing and operating-hours information while the app section enables consumers to easily join the company’s email list and easily check out the menu.

Olay

With a big brand like Olay, consumers wouldn’t expect anything less than a professional photo that displays the company’s focus – beautiful skin. However, Olay has not only chosen a cohesive design for its app section but is also providing consumers with valuable apps for consulting, shopping and content consumption.

Akira

This small business gets straight to the point. By utilizing the cover photo space to promote its website, there is no way that consumers would forget this retail store’s URL.

ABC News

This cover photo’s personal approach has been taken by many companies that have switched to Facebook Timeline. ABC’s photo displays the company’s employees, showing visitors exactly who is apart of the ABC News’ team.

Teavana

Teavana took the informative approach when deciding which post to pin to the top of the company’s Timeline. The chosen post is an informative video that allows visitors to learn how to correctly make Matcha – which is a tea that the company sells.

Best Buy

Best Buy pinned a post to let its visitors know that the company made the Timeline switch. By pinning this post, site visitors will be able to see the company’s Facebook milestone without having to scroll down the page.

Skittles

Alina loves to taste the rainbow and Skittles wanted to make sure any visitor scrolling down their Timeline would know who she is! The candy company chose to highlight their greatest fan in the world contest, which is a great way to show the company’s appreciation to its fans.

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton’s strategy of highlighting their women’s fall/winter 2013 collection certainly worked. Without even clicking on the photo album, I already know which bag I want. (bottom row, middle - if anyone is in the gift-giving mood) Good marketing strategy, Louis Vuitton.