With the rollout of the Facebook timeline complete for personal profiles, Facebook has now, quite brilliantly, pivoted their attention onto brand pages, which is why when you logged in this morning, you saw the little notice at the top of your Fan Page saying:
"On March 30, 2012, all Facebook Pages will get a new design. Preview your page now to see what it looks like and try out the new features."
Effective next month, your dealership's fan page will have a fundamentally different look. You see those cool tabs underneath your dealership's profile picture ("Inventory", "Welcome", "Photos", etc)? Those tabs will no longer be there once you activate the Timeline look. Your entire page will be rearranged. While this does sound a bit scary, especially to those who have put ample time into designing interactive tabs for pages, there is a distinct advantage. Of course, I'm talking about the Cover Photo.
The Cover Photo is the photo at the top of your current Personal Facebook page (assuming your page has the Timeline feature). Essentially, the cover photo is replacing your welcome tab. It will be the first thing everyone sees when they visit your page. You'll have your own virtual billboard. A billboard with no limits, except for size :) You can play around with the cover photo until it suits your dealership's needs. You can design one in which you're Thanking your customers, or one in which you featuring a quote from a satisfied customer, and or just a simple variation your current Profile picture. There's so much you can do with it to benefit your brand.
The Facebook Timeline manager, Sam Lessin, had this to say regarding the new rapid change, "Organizations have identities too." And, he's completely right. Thanks to the implementation of the Timeline for Brand Pages, you'll be able to distinguish yourself from your competitors. With the cover photo (billboard!), you'll be able to brand your dealership in a much more effect way.
What do you think of the Timeline rollout for Brand Pages? Are you on board with it? Or, still partial to the traditional Fan Page?
