As many of you have probably found out, Facebook has switched to Facebook Timeline, completely changing the display of one’s Facebook page. Personally, I have not made the switch over, but by March 30, 2012 all Facebook profiles will switch over to the new Timeline look, where users can see their Facebook activity from the first post, to the most recent. There are many changes that are being made compared to the old Facebook page and I was very interested into what this would mean for marketers.

The first major change is the cover picture located at the top of the screen. This is a great place for marketers to enhance brand image and create a brand identity which all visitors of the page will see. Marketers are able to “humanize” the brand and remove the feeling of corporate anonymity. Secondly, the tabs that are currently shown at the side of the page will be removed for the most part. Pages can still have multiple tabs, but need to be aware of the most important ones to display as this tells the user a lot about the brand they are looking at. Another important note for marketers is that companies can pin some relevant, important posts to be at the top of their timeline at all times. It is essential that brands use new and interesting content that tells the user a little about the brand pinned at the top of their page at all times. This will be extremely important in engaging the user and ensuring that they will come back to see newly uploaded, exciting content. Finally, and what I think is most important, users will now be able to send and receive private messages with the brand and their Timeline page. Customers can make detailed enquiries about the brand and the brand needs to ensure they have timely and well-thought out responses. This new type of webPR is essential in creating a positive customer-brand relationship and will determine whether or not a customer becomes a brand advocate.

To conclude, the changes caused by Facebook Timeline are very important and relevant to marketers. They need to ensure to have a uncluttered, clean timeline filled with interesting, new and relevant content. Second of all, companies should ensure to provide good feedback from direct messages from users to ensure that customers like the brand and continue to visit their Facebook Timeline.

Check out an article here about what Facebook Timeline means for marketers:

http://mashable.com/2012/02/29/facebook-brand-timelines-changes-marketing/