Just when you thought you had mastered your Facebook company page and spent money perfecting its design and layout, the social media giant has decided to change the formatting, yet again. Whether or not you’re onboard with the changes does not matter this time around because all company pages will make the transition as of March 30th.
On March 7th I attended Social Media Breakfast: Waterloo Region with guest speakers Claire Kerr and Clare McDowall, both discussing the changes we can expect to see with Facebook and how we can prepare ourselves and our team to make the transition. Both Claire and Clare advised the audience that although there are many changes soon to come, they are not all bad, nor are they all favourable.
Below are some of the Facebook company page changes that are coming. Ensure to keep these in mind while creating your content calendar, marketing strategy and/or marketing plan for your Facebook page in April and moving forward:
Landing Page
You will no longer have a default landing page. Company pages will change their layout to mirror those of the ‘timeline’ seen many personal profiles now
Facebook Posts
There will be greater emphasis and space dedicated towards your posts rather than your fan posts
Profile Photo
Your profile photo will be 180 by 180 pixels.
Cover photo
The new cover photo (must be 850 by 315 pixels) can not contain price, purchasing information, contact information or call to actions
Likes
Visitors can click on the number of ‘likes’ your page has to see your analytics, which will now go public to everyone
Images
You can increase the size of your images by expanding the coverage they have on your page (by clicking the ‘star’ icon in the upper right corner of the image.
Pin to Talk
“Pin to Talk” allows you to pin an image to the top of your timeline for up to 7 days. These ‘pins’ can be changed easily and at any time
Customized Pages
Customized Pages will be hidden unless you customized your settings. There will be limited space to show all your pages, so choose wisely the ones you wish people to see.
Customization
You will have the ability to customized the name of all your pages (i.e. “newsletter” tab can be customized to “Click here for awesome stuff!”)
For more information about the changes expected to see on Facebook as of March 30th. I advise transferring your page before March 30th so you have time to prepare yourself, company and your branding before the change is made for you. To do this, simply visit your company page and a notice will appear at the top; follow the instructions and you are well on your way.
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