Facebook Ch-Ch-Changes…It’s Kind of a Big Deal!

Change is good, right? HECK YES! This week, Facebook announced a number of changes that affect businesses. Here’s the quick and dirty report of what you’ll need to know! 

Timeline for Businesses:

Ready, set, time to get creative!  In efforts to make pages more engaging and social, Facebook announced that all Fan Pages will covert to the Timeline format by March 30^th.  Just think of all the great things you can do with that big juicy cover photo (no advertising or promotions allowed).  There are many changes that come along with the new format that you should be aware of, most notably, we will see the extinction of “Landing Pages.”  There are however, MANY great new features. Check out this article from HyperArt  that summarizes all the changes and answers the most frequently asked questions.

Page Insights Go Real-Time: For the first time ever, page administrators will have access to real-time analytics, which will allow administrators instant access to real-time results.  The upgrade to Page Insights is expected to roll-out over the next few weeks. 

Facebook Offers for Business:  When the first Macy’s offer came across my newsfeed last week, my eyes lit up! Facebook has created a perfectly simplified way to provide a better version of social offers to their users.  With a one-click claim, offers allows businesses a quick and easy way to share discounts and promotions directly from a Facebook Page and distributed through the News Feed or as promoted Sponsored Stories. Users can redeem offers on a mobile device or email.

Reach Generator: For a premium, Facebook is now offering an advertising option that promises to reach 75% of a page’s fan base.  Fans will see your message as a Sponsored Story on the right-hand side of their homepage or in their News Feed, including on mobile devices. According to Facebook, here are some of the benefits:

• Reach 75% of your fans on a regular basis

• Increase the volume of engagement with your brand (likes, comments, and shares) by 2×4

• Receive custom monthly reports that show reach, engagement, and brand tracking

Premium Ads on Facebook

There is speculation, based on leaked documents, that Facebook will launch Premium Ads.  No official word yet, but if you’d like to learn more about what those ads consist of, check out this article from GIGaom.

Want to show off your new Timeline profile page? Share them with us here! Want to figure out how you can leverage all of these new tools for your business?  Give us a call, we’d love to share some of our ideas with you!