Timeline introduction promises your brand improved control, a chance to take engagement to the higher level but together with it a lot of work. You need to make much effort to turn this novelty in benefits which implies using every new feature properly. Particularly about it we would like to tell you in this article and provide you with helpful guide for using every Timeline feature with the most effect.
1. Timeline activation In order to make the Timeline active you need to visit the preview manager and add Timeline to your page. Everything that will load further will be available for admins only, your fans and other users will still see the old version of your page. You need to look through all features and when everything is ready click “Publish Now” – in this case others will be able to see the refreshed Timeline design.
2. Timeline cover The Timeline will have a cover which is 851×315 pixel banner appearing across the whole page top. This cover is aimed at symbolizing the company and showing every viewer what is your business about. The style of a cover image depends on your brand purpose and on the creative idea you have in mind so it is up to you to choose the most appropriate cover for your Timeline. But you must know that cover is not obligatory to express direct call-to-action making your visitors like your page or download something, promoting products and discounts, containing some contact information etc. Total promotion is a turnoff in such cases so it may somehow scare your fans. What you need to do is to pick up something stunning that will intrigue your viewers and make them scroll your fan page down.
3. About Under the Timeline cover you will see a profile picture, company name and two different statistics including your total Likes and the number of users who are “talking about it”. In the About section there will be a brand description, address and contact info. Every fan can click the About link in order to unfold the map and check out other info. As a brand page owner don’t forget to add a short but engaging description of your company.
4. Page applications In Timeline applications are relocated from the left sidebar to the right side of the About section. Previously apps appeared as text links but now they will be shown with thumbnail photos. But apps get somehow hidden on the background of huge cover image. Previous brand page layout allowed users which are no-fans to see a landing tab while visiting a page. Now users will see Timeline and have to click the custom apps, particularly, apps for promotions and coupons, contests, media, games. But if previously there were Like-gates (a user must click “Like” button in order to use the app) and now they are also permitted but in fact not as powerful as they were before. Nevertheless, you can edit the apps which will be displayed – just click the drop-down icon and import the custom apps.
5. Messages There is a default option which allows users sending private messages which will help you to create a kind of a customers’ service. Pages can not send messages and you can only respond to the users which already addressed you. But it also requires and additional work from you – if you don’t want to discuss the issues in public you need to reply to messages timely and constantly. This gets especially important if you use private messages instead of voice calls which are more expensive in fact.
6. Highlight feed When visitors come to your brand page they see a pretty mix of publications left by your page, by friends and posts published by other users which got a great number of Likes, shares and comments. Apart from this, using a navigation bar users can jump to any year of your brand history they would like to learn more about. The new Highlights feed may become a certain risk for your brand reputation but, fortunately, you can disable it. Though, posts which mention your page will be always visible and the only way to get rid of undesired publications is to hide or delete them. You can also highlight posts which are important on your opinion and make them appear in the full page width to be more visible. According to your preferences (and it is recommended) you can highlight most positive posts published by other users and hide negative ones.
7. Pinned posts option You have an opportunity to choose the post which is considered to be the best one and move it to the top left side of the Timeline feed. It will appear there for 7 days. Pinning posts you direct your page fans to the most important promotional app, can share a catchy picture or relevant status update. In this way you are able to control what your page viewers will see first. There are things that are to be pinned from time to time, for example, a link to your company website. You can pin any content element you want to promote the most and links to which you need attract additional traffic. Before launching the Timeline check out your page posts and clean the “wall” somehow by removing old publications and ones that don’t make sense now.
8. Administration panel Your brand page admin panel will show notification of users’ recent activity, e.g., fans’ posts, list of page message conversations, new “likes” as well as the number of people who talk about your page. You can review each section in details and manage your page editing any setting. You can even choose the fans that can post to your page and see your publications.
So these are the most prominent features you must pay attention to in order to use your brand page Timeline properly and effectively. Work hard at your new brand page image and you will surpass the others.
