Five Reasons to Embrace Facebook Timeline for Businesses

Last month, Facebook announced they would be rolling out Facebook Timeline for Businesses & Brands effective March 30, 2012.

Last month, Facebook announced they would be rolling out Facebook Timeline for Businesses & Brands effective March 30, 2012.   True to Facebook form this significant change to the design and layout of the business page caused quite a stir in the “social” business community.  Just when you were starting to get the hang of the existing layout they announce yet another change.

Though change is constant it can be a tough pill to swallow at times.  I do understand the frustrations that many small business owners have expressed but after taking some time to get familiar with the pending changes I am happy to say that I welcome the changes and look forward to new opportunities and what the changes may bring to my company.

I am READY to evolve with Facebook!  Are you?

Here are five reasons I embrace the Facebook Timeline for businesses:

1. Visual Impact:  The new layout gives you the opportunity to tell a visually compelling story about your business or brand.  You can set the visual tone with the enlarged (851 by 315 pixels) cover photo image that is featured at the top of the page as well as the supporting profile photo that is placed as a box within your cover image and accompanies your status updates.  In addition, four of the twelve Facebook tabs with photos are prominently featured just below the cover image.  This is your opportunity to create a unique image that conveys your story and the personality of your brand.

2. Milestones:   Milestones give you the ability to highlight significant moments and/or achievements that are unique to your business.  You can add details to your milestone like date, headline, location and include a photo.  The milestones are expanded to widescreen and get great visibility on your page.

3. Pinned Posts:  Have you ever wanted extend the life of a great post?  Well, you can do that with a pinned post, which are basically posts that admins can choose to display at the top left of the page.  You will know it’s a pinned post because it will have a flag icon in the top right corner. For up to seven days you can pin a popular post to the top of your page.

4. Messages:  A great new feature that allows visitors to send you a private message that does not post to the page for all visitors to see.  This is an optional feature that can be turned off.

5. About Section (More Prominently Located):  Now you will be able to see the “About” section more easily as it is featured under the cover photo image.  Visitors can easily link to the about page that contains more details about your business.

Actually, there are several other great features but these are just a few of my favorites.  There is no time like the present to embrace change and evolve your business.  Good luck and keep me posted!