For those of you who have not heard, the social platform Facebook has introduced a new format known as Timeline that allows you to highlight your most memorable posts and photos to tell a story from beginning to middle to now.
You can see how this new layout works as a kind of diary when it applies to a personal profile but when you are using this new Timeline format as a description of your business a world of possibilities open up! Everything that you do is detailed in a time line from month to month that can be looked at every month and year that FB goes back.
Here is how to use Facebook Timeline for your Business:
Use Facebook Timeline Like a Magazine Article
If there is one thing to be said for the new Face book Timeline it is that it really does take that boring scrolling Facebook home page and turn it into something that looks so much more like a photo layout in a glossy magazine. Suddenly those little thumbnails have been turned into large pieces of “eye candy” that you, as a business on Facebook, can use to attract people to your page.
One of the first things you will notice is that there is now one big picture at the top of your timeline page that is a wide open space. Facebook advises you that this is your cover page that you can fill with a unique image that best represents you. In the case of representing your business be sure to add your logo and for extra brand recognition make sure that your FB picture looks like your Twitter, MySpace or iGoogle brand logos too.
There are now also templates available online that can help you use Photoshop to edit your cover pictures so that they have maximum effective impact on your page. You can add graphics or information to the main cover page which gets the message across more effectively than the usual chopped and cropped profile picture.
Use Places to Show Your Location
Each month a map called Places shows up on your page. This shows the places that you have been this month and hopefully, this map which resembles the Classic Google Map with tear shaped place marks can help your customers learn your location.
Using Your Likes to Find Niche Buyers
On Facebook Timeline another section shows up that shows your FB page viewers all of the things you liked that month: pages, music, movies or celebrities. By liking those things that your clients or buyers might you are automatically attracting more business.
Use Timeline to Tell Your Story
Remember that when you are using the new Timeline layout that the point is to tell a story in pictures. It is helpful to make a point-form list of the type of narrative you would like to reveal and purposefully plan to release information about yourself in the form of notes, photos and embedded videos.
Finally don’t forget to consider making your Facebook Timeline photograph into a business card so that your every aspect of your business is branded with consistent images that also suit your social marketing networks!