By Priya Ramesh (@newpr)
Facebook just announced the new Pages redesign last week that offers more engagement opportunities for your brand in the coming months. The beta version will go live on March 10th when Facebook automatically will update every page to the new design. If you are serious about your Facebook marketing in 2011, here’s how the new redesign offers increased engagement opportunities for your brand to be more “likeable” :
Your Brand Page will Look and Function more like an Individual Profile: Brand owners can now browse Facebook “as” their Page. In other words, comment on other people’s pages, “Like” things, etc. You can increase your brand’s visibility by liking relevant posts or articles, contributing to discussions. The new layout has a link on the right for each page you administer so it’s easy to switch on and off between different page. You can also have photos for your pages which can be stored in albums, much like you can do for your individual profile. Suzanne Vera from Social Media Brief Daily has a great summary post on the new layout.
Add More Personality to Your Brand: The ability to post on other pages’ walls, to comment and share as your brand is a huge plus. With the new design, community managers can now log-in with their own profile into the page and engage more effectively as a real person interacting for the brand, with its following on Facebook. For e.g. Joe Smith who is the Social Media Director for P&G can now log-in as Joe to interact as P&G versus a logo. This also enables brands to converse with other brands to increase cross-promotions. For e.g. BMW dealer in Washington D.C. can cross-post on BMW Corporate’s page and vice versa to cross-promote events, share information that’s meaningful to both audiences.
Say Goodbye to Tabs and Shift the Spotlight to Photos: The new layout will feature all the tabs the profile picture on the left versus under the photos up top. This is very close to how the news feed works right now. This calls for a cleaner look for your page and the key thing to remember is that without the tabs, your photos will be front and center. Remember to show off your most recent and best photos that convey your brand messages. This area will show the most recent photos you’ve posted, or photos you tag your Page in. This area will not include any photos posted by people who like your Page.
Finding Information Made Easier with “Everyone” Filter: The other update Facebook is adding is an “Everyone” filter that brings the most interesting and engaging posts from a page’s community to the top of the page. This makes it easier for users and admins to easily find the most “liked” and commented conversations on a particular page.
A quick summary of the new Facebook Page redesign layout includes:
- Photos at the top: The most recent photos that you post to the Wall of a Page you admin, or photos you tag your Page in, will appear here. This area will not include any photos posted by people who like your Page.
- Use Facebook as your Page: You will be able to receive notifications for your Page, view a News Feed for your Page, and like and post on other Pages as your Page.
- Wall filters: Pages now have two publicly visible Wall filters-”Posts by Page” and “Everyone.” Page admins will be able to view additional filters-”Most Recent” and “Hidden Posts.”
- Email notifications: You can opt to receive notifications when people post or comment on your Page.
- Featured Pages and admins: You can feature other Pages your Page likes, or admins of your Page, in the new “Likes” and “Page Owners” sections on the left side of your Page.
- Mutual connections: When people visit your Page, they will be able to view friends who also like your Page, as well as other Pages that both they and your Page like.
- Navigation: The content that you formerly accessed by clicking the tabs at the top of your Page can now be found in the column underneath your Page profile picture. The text in the box that used to appear in the box underneath your Page profile picture will now appear in the Info tab.
- Profile picture size: The profile picture size for Pages has been adjusted from 200×600 to 180×540.
Here’s a Page Tour and a manual to explain the new Facebook design. Tell us about what you think of the new layout and functionality.
Hi, Priya,
As an administrator for two Facebook pages, I find the new design and layout interesting and helpful. My favorite options are the ability to receive e-mail notifications when people comment on the page. It is easy to miss those comments so being notified will allow for more dialogue and reciprocity. I also like to have the ability to comment on other pages as my page. This is a wonderful way to build and nurture relationships with existing “fans” and expand brand’s visibility. Thank you for this interesting post.
Priya,
I was in attendance last night for your speech on social media. The topic you spoke on was very interesting and caught my attention. I never really thought about using all the social media sites to advertise myself. After hearing about online personal branding I joined some of the sites and created a profile. Facebook has never really been a favorite of mine but for job purposes and after hearing your thoughts last night about personal branding I have a new perception of social media. This morning i proceeded to google you and see what work you have done. In doing this I found your blog site and this blog on facebook changes. I only knew a few of the many functions facebook offers. After reading your blog I have been informed on the new changes that will help me in advertising myself better. Thank you again for coming to our school and speaking.