THE ULTIMATE FACEBOOK TIMELINE Q & A

Transcription

1 THE ULTIMATE FACEBOOK TIMELINE Q & A

2 THE ULTIMATE FACEBOOK TIMELINE Q&A Facebook s announcements about the new Timeline for Pages usher in a new era for Facebook engagement. It s exciting, for certain. With so many new features, questions abound. We re here to answer as many of those questions as we can to help you transition to Timeline. WHAT WE LL COVER HERE: 2. The Timeline of Timeline 3. Cover Photo and Profile Pic 4. Custom Apps and Views 7. Contests and Promotions 7. Posts By Your Page on Timeline 9. Users View of Timeline Posts 10. Insights and Like Counts 11. Administrative and Management Options 11. Messages THE TIMELINE OF TIMELINE When do I have access to Timeline? You can access Timeline for your Page(s) now. Log into your account and visit your Page. You ll see a prompt to preview your Pages. What do I have to do to publish my Timeline? As you are previewing your Page, you ll see a Publish Now button. This makes Timeline public. If I publish, can we revert to the old Page style? No. Once you publish your Timeline, there is no way to revert. Until you do publish, you can view your Page in the old design. As before, you can unpublish your Page, which will make it visible to admins only. How long do I have to use preview mode? You can view your Timeline in preview mode until March 30 or until you publish your Timeline. Should we publish our Timeline before March 30 or remain in preview mode throughout the transition period? This is a decision each brand or Page will need to make based on its unique situation. Regardless of when you publish, we recommend getting started preparing your Page to be published in Timeline as soon as possible. Things to consider and complete before you publish: 2 Shoutlet, Inc v12.01

3 Your cover image. Your cover image is the largest brandable creative element on the new Timeline landing page. Read about cover photos below for tips and ideas. Your apps. Showcasing the right apps with the right imagery will help draw traffic to your Page. Your company s history. Telling the story of your brand can go a long way toward strengthening the connections you have with your fans and utilizing content about important events in the past. Use Milestones and other posts to accomplish this. Building this engaging content before you publish can wow fans when you do debut. Your previous activity. Like Timeline for profiles, past posts are listed chronologically. You have the ability to hide posts from the Timeline if necessary. Decide whether your company will open up Messages. This is an important feature for Pages, especially those who are frequently handling customer service issues on their Facebook Walls. Read more below about Messages. Creating your Timeline can be an introspective process that provides an opportunity for your company to solidify its brand voice. More branding options with Timeline give you a richer platform for connecting with customers by teaching them about you through the content you share. COVER PHOTO AND PROFILE PIC How do we upload a cover photo? Change your photo for the first time by going to Add a Cover on your Preview. Once an initial image is selected, you can change it by hovering over it and clicking Change Cover. What are the cover photo dimensions? Cover images are 851 x 315. Uploading a photo that is this exact size displays the best and prevents stretching. Starbucks cover photo showcases its product. What should we use as our cover photo? The cover image is the first impression users will have with your page. It is public, so all visitors, even non-fans, will see it. Using an engaging image that represents you brand sets the tone for your Timeline experience. Facebook suggests that brands experiment with images your audience responds well to. Be creative. Be bold. Change it up. Get creative, and ask your fans what they think. Butterfinger s cover photo incorporates the profile pic space. 3 Shoutlet, Inc v12.01

4 What have other brands used as their cover photos? Pages that have enabled Timeline have published some creative imagery. Check out this gallery of brand cover photos from Mashable. What CAN T we use as our cover photo? There are restrictions on what you can include as part of your cover photo. The limitations are primarily in effect to prevent this image from being a space to promote and advertise your products outright. POLICY FROM FACEBOOK: Cover photos cannot include: A. Price or purchase information, such as 40% off or Download it at our website. B. Contact information such as a website address, , mailing address, or information that should go in your Page s About section. C. References to Facebook features or actions, such as Like or Share or an arrow pointing from the cover photo to any of these features. D. Calls to action, such as Get it now or Tell your friends. Covers must not be false, deceptive or misleading, and must not infringe on third parties intellectual property. How big are the new profile pictures? Profile pictures are now 180 x 180 and scale down to 32 x 32 when the profile pic is seen around the site in the newsfeed, comments, and other locations off of your Page. Your profile pic is positioned 239px from the right side of the cover photo and 23px from the left. CUSTOM APPS AND VIEWS Will tabs (custom apps) go away? No, they will remain part of your Facebook Page. Where will our apps be located in Timeline? Previously they were listed on the left-hand sidebar with a 16 x 16px icon and name. Apps are now accessible through the views underneath the cover image on the right side. Clicking on the app thumbnail image takes users to a page that features the app contents. Ads are also visible on the right side on your apps pages. In the old design, the Page lefthand sidebar was visible when viewing tabs. There is no left sidebar on custom app pages. 4 Shoutlet, Inc v12.01

5 Do I need to replace the 16 x 16px images for each custom app with new ones? What dimensions are the new app thumbnails? Yes. Creating thumbnails that are 111 x 74 will ensure the best viewing on your Timeline. Choose images that represent the tab, while also complementing your Timeline design. The image can be no larger than 5 MB (JPG, GIF, PNG). How do I upload these new images? To upload these images, uncollapse all apps. Hovering over each will show a pencil icon, click the pencil in the top right of the app s thumbnail and choose Edit Settings. Can you reorder these thumbnails? Yes, you can select which apps are visible in this top row. To reorder, click the edit pencil and choose which app thumbnail to swap order with. The Photo thumbnail will always remains to the far left. Other views, such as Videos and Events, are available in addition to custom app views. Can we delete them? Yes. Click Remove from Favorites to hide them from view. Can we rename these apps as they appear on the Timeline home page? Yes. Change the name of the app name under Edit Settings (accessed by clicking that thumbnail s pencil). Which apps should we feature under the cover flow? The apps visible on the first row will have the greatest chance of being noticed and clicked by users. Choose the most relevant apps to your page, highlighting the apps with content that is the most important to your Facebook outreach at that moment. How can we get people to visit our apps? Good descriptions and eye-catching thumbnails can help attract attention. Linking to the apps from posts, including pinned posts (details below), will help drive organic traffic to your tabs. Linking to apps from paid advertising also will help boost visits. Do I need to republish my apps? Will my current apps work? Tabs from the old design should work in the new Timeline without adjustment, although default landing tabs are not available in Timeline. The width of apps have changed. What are the new sizes? Previously the maximum width of a tab was 520px. Now tabs can be up to 810px across. You ll notice that older app designs will remain at 520px and be centered within the wider allotted space. Previously the maximum width of a tab was 520px. 5 Shoutlet, Inc v12.01

6 Do tabs have to be either 520px or 810px across, or can they be somewhere in between? The Developer app allows for either 520px or 810px. Using tools like Shoutlet s Social Canvas, any width design can be published to the new Timeline apps. What do we need to do to update our current tabs? Your current tabs will function, but plan to make better use of the real estate provided to you in the new layout. Work with your agency, digital development team, or use your social media management system of choice to design and publish larger, interactive custom app pages. Where s my default landing tab? Timeline does not support default landing tabs. So does that mean there s no more like-gating? Like-gating is still available, but only after users click your apps. Now tabs can be up to 810px across. The default landing tab with a like-gate was a big driver of new fans for us. How can we compensate for this? Like-gating can be an effective mechanism for encouraging fans to like your Page. With default tabs, the image displayed to nonfans was immediately available when new visitors landed at your Facebook Page. Now, getting customers to your page is just the first step. Non-fans must find their way to your apps to be served messaging that prompts them to Like the page. Keep this in mind when compensating for the loss of default tabs: It s now more important to offer interesting content on your apps. The more intriguing the functionality of custom apps is, the more likely users will click to them from ads, Page posts, and through the thumbnails on your Timeline. Content, from the app itself to the messaging used to promote it, is key here. Building apps that strike a chord with your unique customer base on Facebook, whether that means offering exclusive content, games, contests, samples, live events, or other sticky interactivity, will help not only attract people, but also make them more apt to share that content with their networks on Facebook. Like-gating is still available. Can I still link to tabs? Yes. Clicking the pencil icon next to the app thumbnail and click Link to This Tab. It was give you a direct URL to the tab. 6 Shoutlet, Inc v12.01

7 CONTESTS AND PROMOTIONS Can we still run contests with Timeline? Yes. Timeline did not change Facebook s promotional guidelines. How can we promote a contest on Facebook with the new Timeline features? Most common promotion tactics are still available to Pages. (Read more about Contests on Facebook in our white paper, Contests on Facebook: A Step-by-Step Guide for Marketers ) Among the new ways to use Timeline for contest promotions: Through the new app thumbnails Through larger images and starred posts on Timeline Through pinned posts POSTS BY YOUR PAGE ON TIMELINE How do posts by my Page look in Timeline? The most noticeable change to posts are that they are bigger when viewed on the Timeline. They are displayed as individual boxes on Timeline listed in chronological order. Photos and videos are larger. Timeline is a highly visual layout and added planning for the visual and creative elements of post not only make posts more engaging in the newsfeed but will make the Timeline more impactful over time. Do they look different in the news feed? No. Posts look different on Timeline, but are displayed the same way in the newsfeed. What is a pinned post? Pages can choose one post to remain at the top left of the Timeline post section. These are designated with a small orange arrow in the top right corner, and they remain for 7 days, or until another post is pinned. What are the benefits to pinning a post. What types of posts should be pinned? This is a perfect opportunity to showcase posts that are important and drive traffic to your apps or showcase relevant content. Posts that have shown to be popular with fans can be showcased longer than regular posting options would allow. Example of pinned post on Red Bull s Facebook Page. 7 Shoutlet, Inc v12.01

8 What does it mean to star a post? Starring a post means that it will be expanded to fit across the width of the Timeline. It will remain in its chronological order. What kinds of posts should I star? Previous posts that deserve special highlighting in the Timeline should be starred. Posts that are not pinned, but would benefit from being showcased more prominently for fans, are also good candidates for starring. What happens when I hide a post? Hiding a post makes it invisible on your Timeline, but does not delete it. How can I see a list of all my posts, even the ones I ve hidden? Starred post on Coldplay s Facebook Timeline. It can be viewed on your Activity Log accessible through the Admin Panel. What are Milestones? Milestones are special types of posts that allow you to showcase important markers in your company s history. Milestones can be created from the post Composer and can date back to the year What size should images in milestones be? Milestone images are 843 x 403 pixels maximum. Smaller images can be used. Milestones are automatically starred, but unclicking the star will make them the same width as regular posts. When this happens, the photo defaults to roughly 400 x 350. What are the types of Milestones we should use? What are the benefits to including Milestones? Milestones help tell the story of your company where it s been, what s shaped your products, customers role in your history, and how company culture has made your brand what it is today. Adding posts about the company in the past with messaging that ties the history of the company to the present day and strengthens that connection with users. This is your brand s mythology, as Mike Hoefflinger, Director of Global Business Marketing of Facebook said at the Facebook Marketing Conference Feb. 29. One of Coca-Cola s Facebook Timeline Milestones. 8 Shoutlet, Inc v12.01

9 What are some examples of Milestones used by brands on Timelines? Coca-Cola s Milestones feature iconic historical imagery, accompanied by customer quotes. Not only does it showcase the history of the company and people s stories about Coca-Cola products, but the images are specially designed for the Milestones feature. How else can I post historical content on my Page? You can change the date of any post and it will automatically populate to that year in your Timeline. This displays like a regular post, unlike Milestones, which automatically display larger. USERS VIEW OF TIMELINE POSTS What is the default view of posts when users visit my page? Visitors to your page automatically see Highlights. This default view includes friend activity, such as which of each user s friends also like the page and interactions with the page by friends in the past. Does this mean each person sees my page differently? Yes. Visitors will see Friend Activity, regardless of whether they Like your Page. What are the additional options for filtering posts by users? By clicking Highlights under the top navigation, users can sort through different views of posts: Highlights (default), Friend Activity, Posts by Page, and Posts by Others. (You have the option of eliminating the Post by Others filter in your Settings screen.) Along the right side of the Timeline are a list of years. Years display on this sidebar only if your Page has posts dating to that year. Users can click on any year to jump to posts for that year How can I highlight others posts on my Timeline? Posts by others will be shown on your Timeline and are listed both chronologically and within a box near the top of your Timeline posts - unless you choose to hide these posts until they can be reviewed by an admin. Not including the Post by Others box means individual posts by users are only listed chronologically throughout your Timeline. These settings are located in the Edit Page screen. 9 Shoutlet, Inc v12.01

10 INSIGHTS AND LIKE COUNTS Where do Like counts display? The Like count of your Page will always display under the name of your Page below the cover photo. Default apps include a box that displays a rounded Like count in the top row of your Page, although you can reorder this to be displayed below the fold of apps. Where did People Talking About This go? It is shown both next to the Like count under your title and also by clicking the Like count thumbnail, which displays public metrics for your Page. Which of my brand s analytics are publicly accessible now? Clicking the Like count thumbnail displays a subset of metrics that are visible to anyone. These metrics include: People Talking About This (both shown as an exact count and as a graph) Total Likes Page Insights: Most Popular Week, Most Popular City, and Most Popular Age Group New Likes Per Week (shown graphically) 10 Shoutlet, Inc v12.01

11 ADMINISTRATIVE AND MANAGEMENT OPTIONS What s the Admin Panel? The Admin Panel is a one-stop look at activity happening on your Page. For admins, it is displayed above your Page. What s the Activity Log? The Activity Log is a clean, list version of all the content on your page. It allows you to view what s allowed on Timeline and what s been hidden. Access it by clicking Manage > Use Activity Log. MESSAGES What are Messages? Messages are a new feature of Timeline that allows users to send private messages to the Page. Users send messages to your Page my clicking the Message button located above your custom app views. Can I turn these off? How do I do that? You can opt not to open Messages to users. When you do this, the Message button will not appear to visitors. Turn off Messages by unselecting the check box in Manage > Edit Page > Your Settings. Can anyone send my Page a message, or is it restricted to fans only? Both fans and non-fans can send your Page messages if this is enabled. Does the reply come from each individual admin or from the page? Replies to fans come from the Page, not individual admins. 11 Shoutlet, Inc v12.01

12 How are users notified that I replied? They receive a notification in their Facebook inbox. Where can I see all my Messages? Messages are accessible in your Admin Panel. There are message filtering options for admins, including sorting messages by Unread, Archives, All, and Other. What are the pros and cons of opening up Messages? The pros: In addition to offering customers an open channel to converse with your team one-on-one, this communication with your audience has been shown to have positive impact on loyalty, relationships, even sales. Read more these findings and tips for handling about customer service in social media. Opening up Messages can also prevent potentially negative comments from being posted on the Wall, and can allow more personalized service through the Facebook platform. The cons: For large brands with active communities, opening up Messages without a response strategy planned can result in disorganization and messages slipping through the cracks. Before you open these up, make sure you review your triage plans for response and see how this new format fits. Opening Messages as soon as possible is recommended. Turning these off can give the impression that your brand is uninterested in what customers have to say. It can prevent some negative posts or customer service issues from being posted to the wall and provides an added channel for meaningful dialog with fans. The new Timeline for Facebook Pages is a dramatic shift for brands, but the same principles of success are the same. Great content that activates each Page s unique community, an illustrated commitment to open dialog, and strategic social campaigns that tie back to company goals while still providing users with fun and memorable experiences are even more important now. Additional resources for learning about Timeline from Facebook: Introduction to Brand Pages PDF Product Guide, with tips for getting started Facebook Guides to Success, which provide a rundown of the new advertising options, such as Reach Generator and Premium ads Facebook Interactive Learning Course 12 Shoutlet, Inc v12.01

13 ABOUT SHOUTLET Shoutlet is enterprise social marketing software that allows brands and agencies to publish, engage, and measure all of their social marketing in one place. Learn more about Receive a one-on-one demo of Shoutlet and see how it can help your company maximize the feature of the new Timeline for Pages. Register for a Demo. 13 Shoutlet, Inc v12.01