Timeline opens up a whole new way for brands to tell their story. Burberry obviously put some thought into this cover image (Image credit: Fashionindiemedia.s3.amazonaws.com).
When Facebook speaks, people listen. So when Zuckerberg and team announced Timeline for brands last week, everyone tuned in…and then quickly went and wrote a post or tweeted about the most important takeaways. Everybody is looking to break the story first. And I thought I had left my journalism days behind in college.
There’s been a lot written and this post is probably a few days late. But I like to let the dust settle and then see what rises to the top. I’ve already shared my POV on what Timeline for brands means — that 2012 is the year of visual storytelling. But here are 3 additional Timeline posts that are worth…well…your time. Thank you. I’m here all week.
1. PR Breakfast Club: Facebook launches Timeline for pages (Shelly Kramer)
Shelly is very smart and shares more information via Facebook and Twitter than anyone I know…maybe except for Gini Dietrich. But I like Shelly’s post because a) she validates my point on visual storytelling. And b) she provides both sides of the story and advises brands not to rush into Timeline.
“Like the personal timelines that many of us have been using since they rolled out, brands can now choose a cover photo that offers a lot more visual real estate. The interface looks cleaner and infinitely more compelling, and creates an opportunity for brands to tell their stories in a way that’s heretofore not been afforded. And when you think about it, isn’t that the goal of a site like Facebook or any social media channel—brand storytelling? If that’s not your goal, it should be.”
2.Duct Tape Marketing: 5 tips every marketer needs to know to exploit the new Facebook page design (John Jantsch)
A decision like what cover image a company decides to upload on its Timeline may seem trivial. But John explains the importance of this image toward making a first impression. He also highlights the pin and star feature, neither of which I was aware of before reading his post.
“Another way to bring focus to something you are marketing is to pin a story or item to the top of the page. As the admin you can pin a story for up to 7 days and will appear as your top story. To pin an item you simply click on the edit button to the top right of a story and hit Pin to Top.”
3. Social Studies Blog: How Facebook Timeline for pages will revolutionize crisis PR
There are a lot of interesting points in this piece. And I think it highlights some of the mistakes brands could intentionally, or unintentionally, make when it comes to managing customer complaints in a Timeline world. For example, the star and pin features John blogged about will allow page admins to have more control of what content stays at the top and is prominent on the page. On the one hand, this will make it very hard for customers to hijack a page with complaints. On the other hand, it could really get brands in hot water if it looks like they are using these news features to silence negative feedback. And then there’s this:
“There’s one major problem for brands in the new Timeline format. They won’t know the whole story about what is being shown to visitors of their page. Ever. (Or at least, not in the current set-up). This is because each time you or I visit a brand page, we will see a post related to that organization from one of our friends. That comment does not have to come from a fan of the page, nor does it have to tag the page name. It simply has to include a reference to that brand name or company.”
This is by no means a comprehensive list. But consider it a starting point. What Timeline posts do you think are worth our time?
March 8, 2012
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