In typical Facebook style, business pages have gone through a major overhaul which is going to have a dramatic impact on how you leverage them to build your business.
This overhaul includes both a new design as well as new features. Although we will be losing some valuable features, the ones that we are gaining will more than offset the losses.
Outlined below are the elements worth familiarizing yourself with along with some tips and tricks as to how you can take full advantage of the new Facebook business page layout.
Cover Photo
- Primary visual focus of the new layout
- Ideal dimensions are 851 pixels x 315 pixels
- Select an image that captures the essence of your business and brand
- Some good examples:
- www.facebook.com/SageRealEstate
- www.facebook.com/thecorcorangroup
- www.facebook.com/burberry
- www.facebook.com/MagnoliaBakery
- www.facebook.com/Gatorade
- Be aware of Facebook’s rules
- “This space is not meant for promotions, coupons or advertisements. Your cover photo should not be primarily text-based or infringe on anyone else’s copyright.”
- It may not contain:
- Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at our website”.
- 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.
Profile Picture
- Use a logo or photo that people associate with your business
- Use an image that scales from 180 x 180 pixels to 32 x 32 pixels thumbnail image
- Be aware that the profile picture is what shows up as a thumbnail image in news feed stories
- With some tweaking and a graphic designer you can incorporate your profile picture into your cover photo
- See how they did it:
- www.facebook.com/thecorcorangroup
Milestones/Highlighting/Pinning
- Add important milestonesYou are trying to tell the story of your brand through the milestones. So think back as to what has happened that has helped form your brand.Sage would do things like:
- Login as your business page and add important milestones for your business much the same way as you would add a status update – but with milestones, you get to choose where they appear in your timeline
- To maximize impact include an image. The ideal image dimensions are 843 x 403
- You are trying to tell the story of your brand through the milestones. So think back as to what has happened that has helped form your brand.
- We would do things like:
- When we were founded
- Talk about major PR wins – i.e. first brokerage in Canada to use QR codes…
- Recognition from Apple and subsequent Apple event
- First year anniversary
- Hiring our 80th agent
- Renovating office to accommodate our growth
- Highlighting content
- You can highlight important news stories by clicking on the star icon in the top right corner. This will make that story span the full width of the timeline.
- To maximize impact include an image. The ideal image dimensions are 843 x 403
- Great usage:
- www.facebook.com/burberry
- Pinning
- You can now anchor certain important news stories to the top of your page for a week at a time. This is referred to as “pinning.”
- You can only pin news stories posted by the page not other users
- To pin a story, click on the pencil icon and select “Pin to Top”
Private Messages
- It is now possible for regular users to send private messages to business pages
- Be sure to pay attention and respond to any messages you are sent
- Make sure the “Message” button is visible:
- Visit the Admin Panel
- Select “Manage”
- Select “Manage Permissions” and then
- Check off “Show Message Button”
More Detailed Analytics
- Facebook has made some really valuable information available through the page analytics
- You can now see what individual posts are most popular and how users interacted with them
- It is now possible to see detailed demographics of those who liked the page
- This comes in handy when targeting ads in Facebook
- You can also see the source of your likes
- This helps you target your future marketing efforts
- You can also analyze the reach of your business page in granular detail including which posts have had the widest reach
- This helps you plan future posts. You want to post more of what has been the most popular
- About Section
- Be sure to carefully fill out the “About” section
- If you want your website to show up, remove your phone number
- See:
- www.facebook.com/SageRealEstate
- Include your web URL at the end of the description along with http:// if you want it to be a hyperlink
- Play with it until you get the info showing up the way you like it
- If you don’t include a physical address then you get to display 170 characters
- See:
- www.facebook.com/kristihinespage
Apps
- You can now have 12 apps
- Four of these apps will be featured at the top but one has to be photos, so really only select three
- To switch which ones show up in the top row:
- Click the arrow on the far right so all apps are visible
- Hover over the app you want moved to the top row
- Click on the pencil
- Select the app you want to swap it with
- It is also possible to change the icons and the names of the apps. To do this:
- Hover over the app you want changed
- Click on the pencil
- Select “Edit Settings”
- Now change the name and upload the custom image you want
- Custom tab image 111 x 74 pixels
- See:
- http://www.facebook.com/thecorcorangroup
Build Audience Dropdown
- There are some great ways to build your audience
- You can upload your email database and send out invites as your business page
- You can create an ad and target it to the demographics that you know are interested in your business page
- Sponsored stories are a great way to tap into the network of the people that already like your page
Friend Activity
- Facebook has made it easy for people who like your page to see how their friends have been engaging with your business page
Downsides
- The biggest loss is the default landing tabs
- Previously you could create a beautiful engaging welcome page that encourages users to like your page and set it so that is the default page a new visitor sees
- This is no longer the case: everyone now lands on your main timeline
- The only way to direct someone to a particular tab on your Facebook page would be to give them the direct URL for that tab.
Content Is King
- To leverage your business page to build your business, you need to post interesting and engaging information
- Should be an information resource
- Reinforce your brand
- Provide valuable, bite-sized content. Value is the key
- Educate and inform – don’t advertise
- Demonstrate expertise
- Give people a reason to say thank you
- Should be an extension of your blog
- Focus on the same topics and if possible name it the same
- Go and engage with other business pages. Don’t just post content and hope that they will engage with you
- Tips when writing status updates
- Keep it short
- Posts 80 characters or less have 27% higher engagement
- Post outside of the 10am – 4pm time slot
- Approximately 60% of brand posts are published between 10am – 4pm
- Those posted outside of business hours had 20% higher engagement
- End your posts with a question to solicit interaction
Dimensions Cheat sheet
- Cover photo: 851 by 315;
- Profile picture: 180 by 180;
- Thumbnail: 32 by 32;
- App image: 111 by 74;
- Images within wall posts: 404 by 404; and
- Highlighted and milestone images: 843 by 403.