Sample of the new Facebook page design

As you may already be aware, all Facebook Pages will automatically change over to the new Page format on March 30, 2012 (you can change yours over sooner if you wish).  This will be a completely new design with the "wall" being replaced with the newer "timeline" layout that Facebook has already introduced to personal profile pages.

Following are the most common questions (and answers) regarding how the change will affect your current branding and development:

Q: Will my current page branding stay intact after the transition?

If you currently have a left column graphic with branding that will be gone as will the top thumbnail images that are sometimes used for branding. The thumbnail size image you see next to each of your posts will be used as new "profile picture" (the red and two-tone blue logo icon in the sample page design).

Q: What elements can be branded in the new Page design?

1. The updated square "profile picture" (which still serves as the same image used for your thumbnail image). I recommend uploading as high of resolution as possible 250px x 250px (or larger square) PNG 24 image. Unfortunately, Facebook still down samples any images you upload which degrades the quality.

2. Some of the new navigation thumbnail images located at the bottom of the top page section.

3. A new large "Cover Photo" which appears at the top of your page. The dimensions for this new image are 851px x 315px. Like the profile picture Facebook will down-sample this image and degrade the quality when you upload it. While it’s great we have so much more space to work with for branding, Facebook has placed quite a few branding restrictions on this new image space.

Following are their guidelines:

This space is not meant for promotions, coupons, or advertisements. Your cover photo should not be primarily text-based.

And in their recently updated Facebook Page Terms they state:

Covers may not include:
i. price or purchase information, such as "40% off" or "Download it on socialmusic.com";
ii.  contact information such as a website address, email, mailing address, or information that should go in your Page’s "About" section;
iii. references to Facebook features or actions, such as "Like" or "Share" or an arrow pointing from the cover photo to any of these features; or
iv. calls to action, such as "Get it now" or "Tell your friends."

Q: What are some examples of companies that have implemented branded profile pictures within Facebook’s new guidelines?

• https://www.facebook.com/risingline
• https://www.facebook.com/cocacola
• https://www.facebook.com/fanta
• https://www.facebook.com/coldplay
• https://www.facebook.com/chevroletvolt
• https://www.facebook.com/redbull
• https://www.facebook.com/manchesterunited
• https://www.facebook.com/OldSpice

Q: Where are the links to my other pages / features that used to be on the left?

The first four are now arranged horizontally right below your cover photo and profile picture; the remaining are accessible by clicking the drop arrow marked with the green arrow in the screenshot below.

Q: Do my custom developed Facebook features still work and if so where can I find them?

Yes, they will be listed as either the fourth item in the new navigation or within the drop down menu. See the red arrow in the screen shot above, or go to the sample New Facebook Page design and click on the star icon in the menu.

Q: Where can I get more information on the new Facebook Page design?

• Facebook’s Official Pages Guide (pdf)
• Facebook Pages Terms (and branding guidelines)
• Facebook Timeline Feature Overview (applies to personal profiles and business pages)
• New Facebook Pages Overview
• Facebook Pages Help Center

Q: Where can I complain if I don’t like the new design?

• Facebook’s Pages Feedback Form
• "We hate the new profile page…please change it back" Facebook page.

Q: What do you think of the new layout?

Honestly, I like the new design a lot and I like the restrictions that Facebook has placed on the cover photo image. Forcing Facebook designers to work with fewer options will result in cleaner, higher quality and more creative designs. Less clutter is always a good thing. The last thing I want to see as a user is a bigger space graphic space that will just get filled with a bunch of oversized "like me" arrow graphics and other cheesy design elements.

While the timeline feature is still in its infancy, I like the direction Facebook is headed with this and I believe it presents a superior and cleaner presentation of information. Loosing the old (or current I should say) 3 columns of clutter and ads is definitely a good thing.

The biggest initial "con" I have to the new page layout is the placement of the page navigation icons. I don’t like having to click the drop down menu to see all of them.

Need Help?

We’re available to assist you with Facebook branding and development. Contact us online or by phone at 208.475.3192. For samples of our past design work check out our portfolio page.

• Download this article as a pdf

Can investing business resources into Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms effective?  The answer is yes, social media can be effective, but only if developed  correctly. Many of the efforts by businesses to grow their business by social media channels are done not only without a strategy, but sometimes without a basic understanding of the social media platforms themselves and the driving factors that persuade users and customers to interact. The contest is really not about just getting as many people to click the “like” button your Facebook page it’s about getting that Facebook user’s to “like” you to the extent that they buy from you or tell others about your company. There’s a big difference.

To be successful a company must be educated, develop a comprehensive strategy and then track or measure their efforts. This infograph from MDG Advertising does a great job outlining the whole process.

If your company needs help getting started on a strategy, contact us here at Risingline and we’ll be glad to help out.

Infographic by MDG Advertising

Check our our new tricked out Facebook page . . . we can code about anything you can image for your company’s Facebook page. A Single complete custom branded and designed page with interactive features or a complete "mini site" within your Company’s Facebook page. We can code almost anything in your Facebook page including Flash (with fail safe alternative for iPads/iPhones), ajax, JavaScript, Forms, video . . . anything you can image.

• Visit our custom Facebook design here.

LinkedIn announced a few days ago the launch of  Company Pages. While it might seem that LinkedIn is a bit late to the business page concept (in comparison to Facebook) their Company Pages offer superior a superior technical solution with better usability. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn’s user base of 80 million are potentially higher prospects if your company markets primarily B2B. Even if you market to consumers, you definitely should establish a LinkedIn Company page to increase your overall social media footprint and take advantage of the other unique social networking benefits LinkedIn offers such as job posting and recruitment.

No matter what, if you’re a business owner you need to set up your company page immediately. If you need help, let us know.

One thing I appreciate is the superior usability as compared to Facebook. Facebook business pages are a mess from an administrative standpoint . . . it never seems completely clear if one is posting to a personal profile or a business page and when on a business page navigation links are intertwined with your personal profile. LinkedIn’s page administration seems to be thought out much better.  Also, in comparison with Facebook, there is opportunity to present much more information about your company and its services including graphic banner ads and keywords about your services which are beneficial from an SEO standpoint.

I’ve just started on our page but feel free to check out the Risingline Linked In Company Page and tell me your thoughts.

Edison Research just released an insightful report entitled "Twitter Usage in America: 2010".  This report is important because it cuts through the fanatical hype and provides a basis for establishing a rational decision about how much or how little your firm should incorporate such social media channels in your marketing efforts.

Many write ups I’ve read on this report have painted the findings in a negative light, emphasizing that "only" 7% of American’s actually use Twitter.  However, 7% of Americans is 17 million people and as it turns out these people appear to have many favorable characteristics for most businesses. Here are some selected findings from the report about Twitter users:

• 7% (~17 million) of Americans use Twitter; 41% (~126 million) Americans maintain a Facebook profile.
• 51% of active Twitter users follow companies, brands or products on social networks.
• Twitter users are 3 times more apt to follow brands using Twitter than other social networking services.
• Twitter users have higher than average incomes.
• 4 out of 10 Twitter users own three or more computers.
• About 1/2 of Twitter users post updates using Twitter; 70% of these same users post updates on other social networking sites like Facebook.

It’s easy to incorporate Twitter into your marketing plan

When considering if you should incorporate Twitter into your marketing efforts I think of the adage, "If it might help, it’s easy to do and won’t hurt then why not?" For those who are already publishing any sort of news or advertising communication on a regular basis it’s a no-brainer; we can put together a streamlined process so the same message is published to multiple mediums all at once. A typical scenario goes like this:

You provide your newsletter, advertisement to us. We take that message and immediately:

1. Post on your Website or Blog
2. Generate an optimized RSS feed that notifies Google and other major search services of your new article
3. Post on your business’ Facebook page
4. Tweet through your business’ Twitter account
5. Format, test and distribute in HTML email to your mailing list using an email marketing service like VerticalResponse or Constant Contact

Feel free to contact me for more information about electronic and social media marketing distribution.