Which tech gadgets, products, apps, and software do you want or need? Which products do you ‘gotta have? Each week, a bona-fide tech expert from D3Corp of West Ocean City, MD will discuss tech products that you’ve ‘gotta have live, on the air, on Ocean 98.1. Listen to the Gotta Have This Stuff segment on Irie Radio at 8:00 am on Thursdays as Bulldog chats with a tech-geek and recent ShoreBread happenings. Visit the ‘Gotta Have This blog for more information or to check out past discussions about things you’ve ‘gotta have. View this week’s tech item below:
Don’t be caught off guard! Facebook Timeline for Business Pages goes into effect across the board March 30th, 2012.
First rule, Don’t Panic! Change can be good, especially in this case. The layout may be different, but the purpose of a Facebook Business Page is the same. This new layout offers a larger image, Cover image, which will be the first thing that people see. Use a custom photo to best brand your business. You can include logos, images and taglines, but don’t go too crazy.
When visitors come to your new and improved page, they will see more story-telling of your product, including larger images that appear on your wall. Share and highlight your most memorable posts, and set the actual timeline of your brand history.
One change may be tough to take, the disappearance of landing page. But those “tabs” where the landing pages once resided, now appear as icons in the bar just below the large cover image. You can still have these custom pages created, and link people to them, they just won’t be the first page a new visitor will hit any longer.
What to do now…
1. This change actually provides a good opportunity to develop or hone in on your Facebook strategy.
2. Delete any photos and content you don’t want to be part of your timeline or company history. What you thought was fun when you uploaded it may not be the image you want to present. If you have any of those posts, delete them now. They are more visible and harder to bury with the timeline feature.
3. Create a cover photo that brands your business. Don’t be lazy with this. This is the first thing people see on Facebook. Use branding and feature promotions, events, deals, reviews, new products and anything you want to highlight. Don’t get too carried away, however. No website links or overt advertising allowed. Facebook still likes to flex their muscles and impose their will.
4. Create icons and apps. You have up to 8 apps/pages you can feature. The Facebook “Photos” app is default, so you will have 7 more. Use these to create pages to make Facebook work for your business. Definitely implement an email signup promotion in order to convert Likes to email addresses.
5. Add Photos. The new “highlight” feature allows you to feature large photos in your timeline. Use these images for marketing purposes, feature products, etc. Be creative here.
6. Pin the important posts. Have a post you want to keep at the top of the wall? No problem, just pin it.
7. Relax. Don’t sweat this. Your account will not be deleted if you don’t convert to timeline. Facebook will just do it for you. Then, you need to get in and optimize. Taking the time now will allow you to customize how your timeline appears.
So, take a few minutes and get acquainted with the new timeline. No complaining allowed; it’s coming whether you like it or not.
And, truthfully, this is a nice change for businesses. Embrace it… and prosper.
Have fun with it, be creative and show your brand in the best way possible! For more information and guidelines, check Facebook.
Visit D3Corp.com, email us at support@d3corp.com or call 410-213-2400 to get assistance customizing your page.
Have cool stuff to tell us about? Send it to info@shorebread.com and we’ll check it out and pass it along to our resident techie.
