Lately, I’ve heard many complaints about the new Facebook timeline for businesses. Change can certainly be unwelcome and inconvenient, but the new timeline design has actually improved Facebook marketing opportunities for businesses.
A Simply Measured study released at the end of March shows that brands received, on average, a 46% increase in engagement when updating to the timeline. Photo and video post engagement increased an impressive 65%. Engagement includes commenting on or sharing a post. Engaging with customers is what makes Facebook a powerful marketing tool, so these increases can be very valuable for businesses.
Customization is another great benefit to the Facebook timeline design– now businesses can uniquely portray their brand with a cover image, highlighted stories and important events in the business’s history. Before, all business Facebook pages looked pretty much the same, and it was difficult to communicate your brand rather than Facebook’s brand. Facebook now tries to put the emphasis on the business, not themselves.
Before the timeline, it was easy for a business’s Facebook page to become cluttered with posts, comments or complaints from customers. Now, there is much better organization for this content. Businesses can also send and receive private messages from Facebook users. For most businesses, this will help keep their Facebook marketing communication free from confusion– a customer who asks a question or makes a complaint can now receive a private answer.
To see some examples of how other businesses and brands are marketing with Facebook, I recommend checking out Facebook’s own page – “Introducing New Facebook Pages.” There’s also a brief overview of new features. If you still have questions, or need some help, send me an email – amanda@zooinajungle.com. I’m always glad to talk small business marketing!