Social Media Marketing: Facebook Timeline for Business Pages and Cover Photo Guidelines

Mike Hanbery - 3.5.2012 8:00 AM

As of March 30, 2012, Facebook Business Pages will be converted to the Timeline format. The most prominent and visual change is the Cover Photo. Companies can approach this as a one-time “to do” or an opportunity to further integrate social media with their overall marketing message.

Think of the Cover Photo like the cover of your book, or, perhaps, your magazine, as it can change in the same way a profile picture does. For example, Webolutions® Denver-based client Swingle, Lawn, Tree & Landscape Care employs a “seasonal” theme on its Website. This means the hues change with the seasons—greens are predominate in Spring and Summer, orange and brown in the autumn, crisp blues in Winter—and the image at the top of the Website’s home page changes also. The Timeline format allows Swingle to carry its seasonal colors and thematics to Facebook.

Cover Photos must be at least 399 pixels in width. To be in line with Facebook guidelines, they must not:

• Contain any specific price information or calls to action.
• Contain contact information. Contact information is intended for the “About section”, which to date has been known to Facebook Page owners as, the “Info tab.”
• Be false or misleading.

This does not mean the Cover Photo cannot be used to promote your business. The Havana Business Improvement District, a.k.a. On Havana Street, is considering plans to use the new layout to build awareness of and excitement around its larger events.

How to Use This Information
If you’ve heard anything we’ve said over the past several years, you’ll see Facebook’s rules fall right in line with our overall guidelines for social media marketing and relationship development. If your first inclination was to place an advertisement in the space, you’re still selling rather than adding value. Social media punishes that behavior.

As with any piece of marketing collateral, be deliberate in selecting the image that will represent your brand. You might experiment with different pictures to see if any generate more responses than others.

Facebook’s new layout provides opportunities to better leverage the visual nature of the network and the Internet medium. Use the Cover Photo to tell a story, to invoke an emotion. Personalize your brand story with a Facebook Page Cover Photo.
 

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