At the beginning of this month, Facebook released their new “Timeline” feature for business pages.  Within just a matter of weeks, Facebook “Timeline” is going to take over all of Facebook.   Gone will be the option to have your old Facebook hanging around; with Facebook “Timeline”, virtually anyone who is a friend or fan of your page will be able to see exactly what you’ve been up to since the dawn of time!

There are some who love Timeline, and some of those who don’t.  We won’t get into that. But what we will get into is just how you can fully optimize this new format to your business’s advantage.  Another plus is that, while you are reading this now and customizing your account, a lot of businesses haven’t even made the necessary changes yet.  You’re at the front of the pack!

So here are some of my best tips for you to start customizing your Timeline so that it showcases your company just the way it should:

For more on maximizing your Facebook marketing efforts, check out our FREE eBook, “Mastering Facebook Marketing.”

Find or Create a Catchy Image

Facebook has been ever so kind to provide us with a larger canvas image (850×315 pixels) that can be displayed front and center at the top of your Facebook account page.  You want to take full advantage of this by finding a great or creative image to post at the top of your page.  The image should, of course, be related to your company or organization, but it should also be intriguing so that visitors will hang around and check out the rest of your Timeline.

Pinning Status Updates

One thing that has been lost with the dawn of Timeline is the ability to specify a particular landing page for visitors to see when they visit a Facebook fan page.  When a visitor comes to your page now, all they’re going to see is your wall.

Don’t fret.  Facebook Timeline now has a “pinning” feature that they’ve added to help replace this missing feature.  What this means is that anyone who has administrative control over the page will be able to select a status update and then “pin” that status to the very top of the page.  It doesn’t matter how many other status updates you may create after the pin is created; that update will continue to remain at the very top.

Private Messaging is Back

Before timeline, there was no way for brands to send messages to their fans.  But you certainly can now! Brands and companies on Facebook are now able to easily send private messages to their fans and friends, thus giving your fans a more personal connection with you and your brand.  This is particularly useful if a particular fan raises any concerns online and you wish to resolve those matters in private rather than in public, or through your personal Facebook account.

Feature Your Status Updates

A lot of marketers will be taking advantage of the “feature” option for statuses.  The new Facebook Timeline features everyone in two columns.  However, when you want to “feature” a status, you can then stretch that status out so that it spans both columns, thus making it more difficult for friends and fans to miss any important messages that you want to share.

Be Mindful of Your Applications

Though this may not apply to every brand out there, if you use applications on your page and want to feature them, make note of the fact that Timeline no longer places these applications on the left side of the page.  The new format now displays all applications on the top of the page, and only 4 applications will be displayed.  If the applications you feature are important to your business, then make sure you check out your page and ensure that the desired applications are being displayed.

WARNING:  Hide/Delete/Remove Inappropriate Material

If any inappropriate material is on your Facebook page, even if it is from 5 years ago, get rid of it NOW before you transition to Timeline.

Key Takeaways

Timeline IS the new Facebook, and as with any update or change, there will be certain things taken away and other things added to enhance the user experience.  Before you switch over to Timeline, take a look at our free Facebook eBook and make sure that your account is up to code and business-appropriate.  When you switch to Timeline, start playing around and see how you can make it work for you.

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