Courtesy of socialnicole.com

The Old Facebook Cover Policy

You might remember how strict the rules once were that detailed what you can and can’t design into a Facebook cover photo. You couldn’t write any calls to action on it for example, or Facebook would ask you to take it down, or just remove your page. The new Facebook changes have done away with every single one of those rules, except one.

The Rule That Still Counts

The only remaining rule that Facebook will still enforce is this one: “your cover photo may not be more than 20% text.” That means 80% of your photo has to be an image, and only 20% can be words of any kind.

This still restricts what you can say – or rather how you can say it – but as Facebook changes go, it’s a big one. They offer a lot more flexibility to business pages that are only on Facebook to sell their products. I never quite understood why Facebook had so many rules for the cover photo, but I’m glad to see them gone.

Try improving your impressions, clicks and sales without any calls to action in this prime real estate! It was very hard. Rumor has it that the Facebook changes happened because Facebook realized that they had very little hope regulating the billion accounts. What do you do exactly when someone violates a silly rule like that?

The Rules That Don’t Count Anymore

Courtesy of marismith.com

Facebook changes like this don’t come very often, but you can bet your boots that businesses all over the world will be redesigning their cover photos. Here’s what is now 100% legal to do on your cover photo:

• You CAN put price or purchasing information on your cover photo now. That means you can have a product image with a great big “only $14.99” right on your page. You can also tell your fans where they can go to buy, “download at jimmysburgers.com.

• You CAN put your contact information directly on your cover photo. This Facebook change will drive a lot of extra leads to your websites. Put your web address there, your email address, your postal address and telephone number – go nuts!

• You CAN tell your visitors to click, like or share your page with their friends. The Facebook changes make it possible for you to even have an arrow pointing down to the like button, like the old days! This will definitely increase your fan base.

• You CAN create calls to action and publish them on your cover photo. Phrases like ‘buy it now,’ ‘download here,’ and ‘share with your friends’ are perfectly acceptable. This opens up a lot of new marketing opportunities for page owners.

The real reason why these Facebook changes have occurred, is because Facebook needed to make their image policies for ads and cover photos the same. Cover photos are appearing in more and more ad campaigns, and without calls to action, pricing info and the other previously banned phrases – the ads were not living up to their highest potential.

If Facebook is going to capitalize on their new advertising systems, then they need to make marketing a standard and desirable part of using the platform. It has to be completely business friendly. You can’t sell a product to someone and then insist that ‘because of the rules’ they can’t have effective images in their ads.

Though the ad system has a long way to go before it’s perfect. Some Facebook ads are full of words, and they are approved – while others barely have any words, and they are rejected. This is definitely the teething phase for the platform. These Facebook changes are not going to stop coming.

Until Facebook can make their business users as active as their social users, it will continue to improve conditions for page owners. I read recently that they’ve got their heads in the books, and are working through tons of data to make educated decisions about their services. Facebook changes like removing the ‘unlike page’ option in the newsfeed is one of the tactical moves.

The data obviously showed that too many people were unliking business pages when given the chance. Facebook doesn’t want that to happen. For every unlike – there are businesses reaching less people. If you can’t reach people, why bother taking out an advert? It’s all part of their master strategy to become a hugely business-friendly platform.

The Cover Photo Potential

Courtesy of dreamgrow.com

My advice is to go and change your cover photo immediately. All covers are public and they are highly likely to show up on Google page one for a direct search. Launching a product? Use your cover photo. Appearing at an event? Use your cover photo. These Facebook changes will make it a lot easier to scale small business pages in the coming days.

• Put amazing discounts on your cover photo
• Put incredible specials on your cover photo
• Add a ‘like our page here’ arrow and graphic
• Add in some timeless calls to action to drive traffic!

Remember that the governing rule is still to publish way more image than text. But sales tools are back in, and that’s more than enough for now. We can all start using our Facebook pages a little more realistically because of this change. I expect that more Facebook changes are on the way, and we’ll be smiling about them all year.

Are you going to change your Facebook cover photo? What do you think about these new changes that are sweeping through the social network?

Join our Facebook page here!

Courtesy of myphonedaily.com

Goodbye Single Newsfeed Options

The Facebook changes that will affect you and your business the most, are the ones happening to your newsfeed. There are new ways to filter your newsfeed that include viewing streams according to certain categories like music or photos. Instead of having to scroll down a million times only to run out of new content – Facebook proposes this.

Each newsfeed steam will be just as long, only you’ll be able to see and engage with more content – much more content. This will inevitably improve the time people spend on Facebook, and on finding content from YOUR business. It’s a win-win for Facebook and Facebook users alike.

The Information Junkies We Are All Becoming

Personally, I think this improvement by Facebook is the best thing they could have done right now. Facebook changes like this improve the user experience, instead of making it less tolerable, like all of their recent advertising changes. I bet a smart executive said – ‘but how can we keep people using Facebook for longer?’ That was the million dollar question.

The answer was also simple – these new Facebook changes. Increasing the amount of clean friend-based information that a single Facebook user can consume quickly, is key to maintaining their current business model. And with the ad increases this doesn’t come soon enough. If there are going to be more ads, there must be more content.

We are all becoming information junkies, and there is an increasing need for sites like Facebook to make more information available to us. The only problem is – we want it to be simple, super-fast and convenient. That’s no simple task. In order for the Facebook changes to meet this need, they also need to make the navigation of Facebook a little more complex.

Courtesy of techcrunch.com

The New Facebook Look

Along with the massive newsfeed changes, you can also expect updates to the photos and ad systems. Photos on Facebook will appear larger –which is great for marketers, and actually marks the beginning of a more friendly way to market to your customers. Text is great, but let’s be honest – images and moving images are becoming more important online.

Since Pinterest and Twitter Vine, the internet and your potential customers only seem interested in sharing the best images and Vines – text is left alone. But even as these numbers climb, more Facebook changes are on the way. There are rumors that a radical mobile redesign is on the cards for Facebook as well.

The mobile feed makes advertising look really bad, because it’s so noticeable and unwelcome. I wonder how they’ll improve this! Also on the way is a camera app, or some kind of app that will compete with Twitter Vine. At least that’s the news on the wire right now. With all of these additions and changes, Facebook as we know it will be gone.

The Changing Faces of Facebook

There is a desperate need for Facebook to improve their cluttered appearance. Experts like Techcrunch suggest that they will achieve this by giving things like ‘newsfeeds’ and ‘tickers’ the ability to be hidden. This would definitely leave room for the larger images and whatever new apps they want to promote. Facebook changes like these are needed.

• The newsfeed is getting an overhaul – you can switch between different content feeds
• Facebook is punting Instagram by dedicating an entire newsfeed to photos
• Facebook may introduce an independent music feed to make Facebook users engage more often with Spotify and the music shared on the site
• Facebook changes could include a new ‘news’ section dedicated to business page updates and general news
• Link and image posts will be much larger to get more responses from people. This is great for advertisers who can expect better click through rates
• Luxury brands will be attracted to the larger ad formats, and Facebook will get the extra investment it’s been looking for all this time

These Facebook changes tell me a few things. First of all, Facebook is STILL a people-centered platform, they want you to be happy. By keeping you happy, they can make money for their advertisers and business page owners. This is also good news for small businesses that want better returns from their Facebook ad investments.

All in all, the site isn’t just getting swamped by adverts – it’s also getting overhauled for the users that want more, and want it from Facebook. It seems that Facebook as a company is moving in the right direction. I had my doubts at first, but they are making every effort to balance out the business side, with the user side.

Courtesy of digitaltrends.com

The Facelift and The Pace of Change

This new Facebook facelift will no doubt have the internet divided again, as some people love the new feeds, and others hate them. People don’t like change, but it’s so crucial for a giant like Facebook to continue to change to stay relevant.

Just when they bought an image sharing app for a billion bucks, Twitter goes and buys Vine – which becomes the hot new thing.

These Facebook changes will continue because all of the social sites are in competition. A moment spent on Twitter is one not spent on Facebook. I would safely assume that more innovations – especially app-wise – will come from Facebook in the coming year.

You’ll notice that the Facebook trailblazers are being mimicked by just about every other social platform out there. They need to change constantly to stay in front! Hopefully this update will reduce clutter and increase time spent on Facebook, as the developers intend. If it doesn’t, Facebook will be left with a flawed design and a lot of ads bothering their users.

Join our Facebook page here, and stay updated on the latest Facebook changes!

Have you seen the new Facebook changes? What do you think of them – better or worse?

Courtesy of fbcovers.com

Facebook Time: The Good

What is the absolute BEST part about the new Facebook timeline? The page revival that Facebook has built in, thanks to their new reach generator advertising offering. The problem with engagement on Facebook, is that once people like your business, they never again return to your page. Why should they? They have a newsfeed!

This doesn’t always align with your business goals, especially if you’re trying to stick to the 80/20 rule of content publication. People should be seeing your promos and deals all the time, but they can only do so on your new ‘sales’ Facebook timeline page.

Grab some of your most liked and chatted about promos and turn them into ads, with a link straight back to your Facebook page. Conversions can rise as much as 40%! Believe it!

Facebook Timeline: The Bad

Right now, the most pressing ‘bad’ thing about Facebook timeline is that no-one knows how to use it yet. Then there’s the fact that Facebook owns everything you publish on timeline. Publish a fantastic slogan on Facebook first, and it belongs to them. While you will probably never be sued for it (Facebook is not that interested in us), it’s still a concern for celebs.

Then, the elephant in the Facebook room. People really, really hated it when it first came out, and aside from marketers that are catching onto the brand potential – normal users STILL hate it. Whether this will affect engagement on brand pages in the future is anyone’s guess. I’m going to carry on hoping that people snap out of it, and realize timeline is great.

Facebook Timeline: The Ugly

What could possibly be worse than the general public hating timeline? Well, the reasons why people hate timeline, of course! Popular opinion states that it’s mainly because every last terrible, embarrassing or horrible post you’ve ever made on Facebook has suddenly reappeared on your page. And timeline was not optional, it was forced upon you!

For businesses, all you have to do is comb through the rubble and hide the posts you don’t want people to see. But it’s also a good idea to make your timeline page as fan friendly as possible. They already don’t like the new layout, so you have to give them a real reason to want to stay on your page. Apps, videos, images and great content will do that.

So, Facebook timeline is still the prince of the social media world. And sometimes, princes have to make tough decisions for the people, that people might not like. In the end – they’ll thank Facebook for it.

Do you have a good, bad and ugly comment on Facebook timeline? Tell me what you love, hate and are irritated by the most!

Courtesy of mashable.com

New Fan Page Timelines

You’ve seen the timeline changes on your personal profiles – now say hello to the same format on your brand page! This changes your entire Facebook strategy and effectively eliminates a lot of functionality, that used to be part-and-parcel of the old format. But what does this mean?

It means we’re entering the age of extreme-social.

It’s been happening rapidly over the last several months, fueled by Google’s networking philosophy, Youtube changes and Twitter updates. Now Facebook has revealed their plan – no more junk sales nonsense. It’s all social, all the time. In other words, your new profiles are meant for real time interaction, not for contrived marketing messages, sales and stagnant promotion.

• Custom set tab features will become extinct, replaced by better apps
• This means no more landing pages, but it does mean great app potential
• Can’t use your cover photo for promotions of any kind
• No more contact details in your profile photos
• No more asking people nicely to like your page!
• No more calls to action

Basically Facebook is sucking the sales poison out of your fan page, and replacing it with you. Real time interaction, customer relations and brand identity, culture and management. That’s it.

Advertising Super Punch

Facebook giveth and it taketh away. In this instance, Facebook is aggressively ramping up their advertising potential. Lucky us! Facebook announced yesterday that there are a lot of new places and things they’re doing with ad space.

• News feed ads from brands you or your friends like
• Ads on the right hand side that aren’t so much ads, as updates and info
• When you log out of Facebook – guess what? More ads!
• Ads will show up in your Facebook mobile news feed

This new functionality is excellent for brands and page owners. It allows you to get free ad space in user’s news feeds if they interact with you often, or you can pay for a variety of different spaces to maximize your ad efficiency.

All in all, Facebook is making serious in-roads on this ‘extreme-social’ idea. It looks like you won’t be able to force people to buy, or trick them into buying, or misuse your Facebook page for blatant promotions. And that’s the way it should be. Facebook is about interaction. It’s ALWAYS been about that.

Enough with the shock and awe already! This is a good thing for brands that have done what we’ve always recommended – focused on their fans. For everyone else that has relied on sales tricks to get this far, time to make some changes.

In the meantime, set up your new business fan page timeline. Make it personal. According to Facebook, it will help propel your brand into another social dimension.

Do you like the new fan page timelines? Tell us why you love or hate them right here!

Courtesy of socialtechpop.com

Mandatory Personal Timelines for Everyone

Facebook has finally made the new personal timelines mandatory for all users. This means if you haven’t switched over yet, you only have a few more weeks to do so – or it will change on its own. Timelines allow you to create a profile of your life, that your friends can interact with.

It also documents everything you publish – like a running story that never ends! So far, it’s encouraged a lot of users to put more thought into what they publish on Facebook – which has elevated the content value of the site. Hide the stories you don’t want people to see, and create a multimedia portrait instead.

Applications Add a Fresh Dynamic To Facebook

The Facebook applications that were released a few weeks ago, will really start to change the way people use the social network. The applications are refreshingly personal, and encourage real sharing between friends. The foodspotting app for example, is geared towards finding unique dishes, using the recipes, trying the food and sharing your views on the outcome.

We can look forward to engaging with people on a more personal level – sharing experiences and hobbies. Right now, these apps are for personal timelines only, but we have a feeling that they’ll have a lot more relevance to businesses, once Facebook changes our business pages.

Look Out! Business Pages Will Change!

The big news is that Facebook is planning to launch timeline for business fan pages. Marketers and small business owners are hesitant about the kind of interaction they’ll get from this HUGE change. It will restructure everything. Exactly how Facebook plans to do this and succeed – is as yet unknown.

Hopefully, you’ll still be able to add special sections onto your page, to attract fans. But this radical change may mean that the functionality we’re used to is thrown out of the window. Whatever happens, we just have to trust that Facebook has our best interests at heart.

Right now, many small business owners are creating second Facebook accounts – for professional reasons. The new timeline functionality allows you to set up a professional profile that will document your progress as an industry leader. You should think about doing this if you want to harness the power of Facebook for ‘celebrity’ reasons. Niche experts are getting a lot of success from this move.

Hold off on the application development for Facebook, until it’s clear what their intentions are for the business pages. Once they’re released it will be easier to chart a way forward. Until then, explore the features of your personal timeline.

Timelines for business pages? What do you think of this bold move by Facebook, and will it work? We want to hear from you!

Courtesy of blog.photobiz.com

#1: Publish Times and Live Interaction

The ticker has made is possible for you to interact with your fans just moments after they’ve posted a comment on your page. That’s why it’s important to find out when the best publishing times are for your location. Publish content, promote it around Facebook and spend an hour or two chatting in ‘real’ time to your fans. As Twitter has proven, the faster you reply the more comments you get.

#2: Planning Your Photo Albums

Have you noticed that albums are getting a 3 photo showcase on Facebook now? Not only are photos bigger, clearer and easier to load – they’re also drawing more fans to pages. That’s why when you upload your new album, you need some planning. Make sure the best three photos end up in the display areas, and write an attractive comment underneath to describe the album. This is great for events and product launches. It might also be a great idea to come up with a question to inspire comments.

#3: Get Recommendations

Use the new recommendations area to get your fans, clients and friends to recommend your business to others. They behave as your own private testimonials on Facebook. The more testimonials you have, the more business you’re likely to pick up. Also make a point of recommending businesses you like on Facebook, as it will reflect well on your own.

#4: Facebook Applications

With open graph, Facebook apps just became even more important. Every business should have at least 1 custom application that actively attracts likes from around Facebook. Use this in conjunction with your next Facebook ad campaign, and you’ll get more likes, and a whole lot more interaction on your page. This in turn will translate into more ‘top stories’ posts, as your likes and comments increase.

#5: The New Facebook Gestures

Businesses watch out! Soon your fans will be able to do so much more than just ‘like’ your comments. Coming soon are the new ‘listened,’ ‘watched,’ and ‘read’ buttons. These will be joined by a range of other gestures that any Facebook developer can create. While not out yet, these changes are just around the corner, which means more interaction and more accuracy around your page.

Use these changes to integrate new strategies and grow your Facebook community. Soon, anyone will be free to customize their page to the point where the ultimate form of sharing is possible. It’s now up to you to decide which route your business page will take. Start changing now, and make the best of these new Facebook updates.

What features are you already using on your new Facebook profile? Tell us about them!

Courtesy of borderbuster.blogspot.com

One thing is clear, Facebook is trying to steer people and brands towards greater interaction and social connectivity. Predictably, Facebook is placing more power in the hands of the user, which will make it more difficult for businesses to gain fans without spending money. Let’s take a closer look at how you, as a marketer, will be affected.

Open Graph in Basic English

What the heck is Open Graph? Open Graph is really Facebook’s attempt to extend the social connectivity and interaction of its users across the entire internet. In other words this is Facebook trying to create its own search engine without actually doing it. Open Graph was launched last year, but the new changes – well they’re pretty extensive. Open Graph links with other websites on the internet. When you interact there, Facebook publishes your activity in your news ticker.

This is a bold move by Facebook – a sort of response to the Google+ hostile takeover. Now, when you interact on third party websites – you’ll be able to see which of your friends liked the particular song, book or sports event on that page. Without being on Facebook. It’s a running Facebook profile available on other people’s websites. We’re talking about a personalized web experience here.

The change is extremely profound, but there are mixed reactions coming from the marketing community. One side of the coin has us yelling: great! More reach for Facebook fans on our own pages means more brand visibility. Closer communities and greater interaction – and its all automated! On the other side of the coin – it all belongs to Facebook. Facebook is muscling in on your website ownership. They’re claiming parts of your website for their own personal use. Red flag moment!

In simplified English? Facebook is gathering information on every single individual, and using it to promote brands and sell their products and services. Information targeting is the future, and it’s a good thing for marketers. Our advice? Apps just became even more important than they were before. Real-time, action based apps that use Open Graph, are going to make people fortunes. Get in NOW.

News Feed and New Ticker

We’ve already explained that the news ticker isn’t just going to be there for Facebook based interactions with your friends. It will incorporate outside interaction as well. What’s even more amazing, is that you’ll be able to click on a friends outside interaction, and do that same activity – direct from Facebook.

It’s so revolutionary that you can almost see the Facebook team snickering at Google from behind their office desks. We’re impressed, and as a marketer, this is going to open up an entirely new chapter in interactive-marketing for you. Better prepare!

Our predictions – The news ticker and feed just made social management more important than any other form of marketing in the world. The leaps that Facebook is taking to customize the online experience, can only improve sales for marketers that learn how to use interaction properly. It might be easier to get content into your fans tickers, but the pay-off for top story posts will be that much greater. Edgerank still matters to get on that coveted list.

You’ll have to be smarter, more creative and write content that blows away your competition if you want to make an impact. Remember, you’re not only competing with other businesses now, you’re competing with friends and family. Targeting is crucial, social content is pivotal and accurate strategy and maintenance is a priority for brands that want to earn money from Facebook.

Timeline and Sponsored Stories

Everyone on Facebook will have a timeline, or a page that essentially sums up your life or who you are in one neat profile. This will be the central part of Facebook for many fans.

That’s why for brands to make it into a profile timeline, they will have to find ways to become truly meaningful to their fan base. Marketers will be working extra hard to make an experience with their brand timeline-worthy. It’s excellent exposure and ideal brand promotion space.

Sponsored stories have a bunch of new interactive features, which will be great for customer feedback and attracting customers to your page. As a marketer on Facebook, you’re looking at a lot of change coming your way very soon. Keep reading and we’ll keep posting about the changes, and how they impact your life and your business!

Do you have any questions about the new Facebook changes? Ask and we’ll answer!

Courtesy of businessinsider.com

The result has been some rather awesome changes that will help your business get more exposure, build better relationships and yes – make more money. But how do you use these new features?

1. Personalizing Your Business

Facebook has now made it easier to personalize your business, by allowing you to act as your business, instead of a random name or third party. The new “Use Facebook as” option, lets you capitalize on Facebook’s functionality by using your businesses voice.

This means that you can interact with other people, on other pages – as your business. The benefits of this of course, are endless. You can build a credible reputation on Facebook, by speaking to a variety of different people, even if they don’t ‘like’ your page.

How To Use This:

‘Like’ other pages that are similar to yours, where people with the same interests will find your contributions valuable. Don’t spam your competitor’s walls. Social media is about sharing.

Contribute knowledge to their pages, and allow the same on yours. Eventually, as time goes by and you become friends, you can straight out say, “Hay like me too!” In the meantime, your comments lead back to your page anyway.

Find useful and important things to say on your competitors pages. And monitor your own very carefully, for foolhardy businesses that will see this as an opportunity to spam your pages. When you’re done, simply switch back to your personal profile on your main page.

2. The New Photo Updates

You’ve already noticed that there are now 5 photos at the top of your fan page that continually update themselves. This is an excellent new feature on Facebook, because it encourages further investigation into your photo albums, from new visitors that land on your fan page.

It’s also great as a monitoring tool, because you’ll always be informed about the photos your business is being tagged in. If something unsavoury comes up – you can remove it before any damage is done.

3. Making Friends With Your Top 5 Competitors

Now, your business fan page can ‘like’ up to 5 pages of its own. From a business standpoint, this is a unique opportunity to become allies with 5 of your competitors. Instead of seeing them as enemies (as we are taught to in traditional marketing), view them as friends. Together you are helping to complete your reader’s knowledge on your industry.

How To Use This:

Research and begin a dialogue with a competitor business. Be realistic about it, and don’t approach huge businesses unless you are one. Once the dialogue is open, explain that you would like to add them to your top 5 ‘likes’ on your fan page.

If they are open to it, they might be willing to do the same. Essentially this will feed traffic between your pages. It’s a mutually beneficial situation that very few savvy businesses will decline. Choose wisely, and genuinely make friends with your top 5 competitors.

Use this new functionality to spread the word about your business on Facebook. If you continue to create engaging content and uphold a good reputation, there’s only one way your business can go – up!

How do you use the new Facebook question tool? Tell us below!

Courtesy of masternewmedia.org

So let’s take a look at some of the changes that have happened, and how they’re going to affect your Facebook fan page.

1. Leaving Messages As Your Business

One of the most promising changes is that now you can log into your business page and comment on other pages as your business, instead of as yourself. This is great for promotion and marketing – though there will surely be many businesses that abuse this new change.

Keep your page promotion relevant and don’t spam people – ever! Now your business name is directly related to everything you say on Facebook, so keep it clean and professional.

2. The New Layout

The most obvious changes have been to the old layout. You’ll notice that your photo features have changed for the better – and are now easily viewable in thumbnail form on a friend’s (or your own) photo page.

They are also available at the top of your profile now, and will refresh with new photos every time one is uploaded and your business page is tagged. Fans are not allowed to tag photos as businesses to prevent spam and constant abuse of the feature.

The tabs have been removed from the top of your fan page as well, and instead slotted in below your profile picture. This makes room for the new image feature, and perhaps future changes that Facebook plans on implementing. Only time will tell what the true reasons are for the tab reassignment – as far as we can tell, it’s purely aesthetic.

3. New Owners Box Added on Pages

Another great change that will help B2B, or person to person interaction – is the new ‘page owner box’ on every fan page. This clarifies who exactly is running the page, and makes it easier for other businesses or ‘fans’ to get hold of the page admin.

Before this change, tracking down the owner was a huge hassle. The box lies on the left hand side, in the same column as the profile picture – and holds the names of all the administrators of the page, with their profile photos.

4. Changes To The ‘Likes’ on Facebook

A minor change has been made to the ‘likes’ boxes on your fan page. Basically your overall ‘likes’ box doesn’t show any profile images anymore, while your ‘friends who like this page’ box has been redesigned with some slight, subtle changes.

Your favorites pages have also been transformed into ‘likes’ boxes. This feature still allows you to choose which pages are your favorite, only now they appear in a box with ‘likes’ as the title. A little confusing, but in the grand scheme of things – nothing to worry about. It won’t affect your marketing goals at all.

Finally, Facebook has changed their markup language (FBML) to iframes, to make it easier for web developers to design outside of Facebook – and when they’re done, add it to the iframes platform. More changes are set to happen fairly soon, so keep an eye on our pages and we’ll let you know when!

Do you find the new Facebook changes useful?
If not, why don’t you like them?