Facebook are changing the way pages work on the 30th March 2012, they are bringing them more in line with personal pages, which means content and imagery is king. We see this as a great marketing opportunity for the following reasons:
Out with the old
You can no longer choose a landing welcome page – If you want people to engage with you, you need content.
There was previously a tendency to force people to Like a page through the welcome page. This was called “like gates” as people would not be able to see content without liking the page.
The navigation on the left hand side has been completely removed. It now exists in a visual style underneath the header image.
In with the new
There are new visual elements that enhance the experience see the image below:
The large image area (called the cover photo) is a fantastic opportunity to show off your brand. But it does come with some conditions. It may not contain:
- Price or purchase information, such as "40% off" or "Download it at our website"
- Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page's About section
- References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features
- Calls to action, such as "Get it now" or "Tell your friends"
This takes facebook imagery away from being a forceful tool to convert people and more about brand exposure.
The logo has changed to a new square size, so you can no longer have those deep logos with messaging space.
You now only have 3 optional tabs to display your apps – these are critical to converting your users. We would expect job search and work for us to be the main tabs for our clients.
You can pin content on the page for 7 days, which could be great for marketing purposes.
The app areas now go full width, which means you have a fantastic amount of area to play with to create a visually stunning facebook experience.
4MAT’S Opinion on the Changes for recruitment
Our view is the new upgrade will help with recruitment on a number of counts.
Brand consistency will be improved simply from the amount of visual space that can be controlled.
The timeline will build trust and brand personality for an organisation; which lends itself well to recruitment for such things as success stories, events and featured jobs.
There is a focus on three key apps, as always you will need a strategic approach on how you want your facebook page to work commercially, should it be a job search, work for us or brand engagement?
The page is more open than ever by removing the shackles of the “like Gates”
The pages will rely less on likes as a metric and more on engagement.
Our recommendations
Here are 3 simple edits we’d recommend making before the new Page layout launches on 30th March. They will help you get started maximising your Facebook presence with the new layout.
1. Change the dimensions of your logo to 180px by 180px. This image now has to be square, so don’t use a rectangle or the full image won’t appear.
2. Edit the apps that appear as optional tabs to the 3 you’d like to promote.
3. The information pulled through in the About section will vary according to how you define your company. Edit this to display the information you want, it could be 15-20 words of copy, or contact details.
If you would like further information on the update to facebook pages then please contact me at
matthew.lasky@4mat.com
