All Facebook pages will be automatically switched over to the new design on March 10, 2011. It’s important to know what these changes will mean for your Facebook business page and marketing strategy.
While businesses could have pages and share updates and get fans, they couldn’t do many of the other activities on Facebook that an individual could do. The changes by Facebook will open up the doors to many of these features. Businesses will be able to navigate and interact with areas of Facebook representing your business page, not your personal profile. This means businesses can choose to receive notifications about fan activity, “Like” and comment on other pages as well as get their own news feed.
Business pages on Facebook will look a lot more like the new personal profile pages. As part of this new design, businesses can feature photos at the top of their pages, showcase administrators and highlight other pages they are connected with. The new design moves the page navigation to the left sidebar and there will no longer be a place on the left for information about your business. With this change it is important to create a profile image with that information included.
Specific changes:
Photos – At the top of the page is a scroll bar of photos. These are photos from your albums that you have uploaded. This bar will display the most recent uploaded photos, a great opportunity to highlight your business. If you don’t have a photo in one of the five spaces a default blank area will appear.
Tabs – On the left hand side of you page.
Wall Posts – The posts with the most feedback will show up at the top of your page not the latest post.
Notifications – Now you will be notified via email when there is interaction with your post.
Logged in as your Page – You can now use your Business Facebook page as your page, rather than your personal profile page. Just click the “Use Facebook As” on the top right. This allows your newsfeed to be only the pages you have liked in your industry. Also, instead of “Favorite Pages” these will now be “Likes” and be listed on the left hand side of your page. This makes it easier to interact with other business in your industry.
Category – Now you are allowed to change the category of your business if you need to. This is done by clicking on Edit info under your business name.
For the most part these changes are welcomed. Take a few minutes and update your page get familiar with the new options.
Great post, Phyllis! I didn’t realize that the changes were going to happen regardless of whether we opted in. Looks like I will be requiring your professional services soon! I appreciate the way you summarized what to expect. Thank you.
You are welcome, Robin. I am glad it was helpful, and I will be happy to assist you if you need it.
Thank you.