Facebook Timeline Overview for Brand Managers

By: Ashlee Richards (_ashleer)

Well, folks. They’ve done it again.  Just as you thought your brand’s fan page was completely built out and finally at its peak, our good friends at Facebook threw us another change-up. They like to keep us on our toes, don’t they?  You can gripe and moan all you want… maybe even threaten to delete the account, but we all know that’s not going to happen. So take a few moments to shake your fist angrily at a photo of Mark Zuckerberg (ready… go), then just accept and adapt… mainly because you have no choice.  By March 30th all pages will be automatically updated to the Timeline layout.  You only have about a week left to preview and tweak before you publish, so you better get on it!

When I was asked to write a post about Timeline for pages, I thought “What can I write that’s not already out there?” But then I realized what I had looked for, but haven’t come across yet… a short, sweet, to the point, synopsis of what to expect with this whole Timeline thing and how to efficiently update the brand pages I manage.  Let’s be honest, we are busy people, and we don’t have time to scour multiple 50-page white papers and blog posts to uncover the 3 pages of actual information! So what I’m going to do is take everything I’ve learned via research and trial and error, and lay it out for you in a  comprehensive format that may be easily referenced.  We’ll go over the major effects that Timeline will have on your pages, and how to take advantage of those changes.  We’ll take a look at a couple of Timeline pages done well, and I’ll provide some great (and free!) resources you can use to optimize your page.

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Giving back is a great way to say thanks to the community supporting you. Blackstone Media Network, a Web design and development firm in Louisville, KY wanted to give back to the town which helped them have a successful year. But how?

Their team got together and decided that giving back what they do best – develop effective websites – was a great way to help one of the many not-for-profit groups in the community. Most not-for-profits have lean budgets – especially in a recession – and a website helps with visibility and fundraising.

They came up with a contest. Their team decided to offer a local not-for-profit a free custom website, one year of free hosting and 15 e-mail addresses. Dubbed “A Website for Change“, local not-for-profits could enter from December 7, 2010 through January 5, 2011.

The company narrowed down the entries to the top 5, and has opened up community voting to select the winner. The contest is promoted through traditional media and via social media outlets like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Voting is easy – right on the website with descriptions for each of the finalists – and voters see who is in the lead with a real time graph once the vote is cast.

Benefits for the community: support for the not-for-profit community and for the people it serves. Benefits for Blackstone Media Network: great branding and a very effective way to give back.