The Costs of Facebook’s New Timeline for Pages

• Tweet
• 
• Share
• Email

• Tweet
• 
• Share
• Email

In a recent survey conducted by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the American Marketing Associaiton, Chief Marketing Officers are planning on scaling back on traditional advertising by 0.8%. According to previous results from a survey held in August 2011, CMOs were planning to increase their spending on traditional ads by 1.3%. On the other hand, digital marketing is expected to increase 12.8% over the next year.

This comes as no surprise with the release of Facebook’s new Timeline for pages. By March 30^th, all Facebook Pages will be converted over to the new Facebook Timeline format, whether your brand likes it or not. Bigger brands like Nike, Red Bull, and Coca-Cola are excited about the ability to share even more with their consumers. People will now be able to make a stronger emotional connection with brands, by having the the ability to see the company’s history play out through out the years right in front of them. They will even be able to see the evolution of the brand’s products from their very first one, to the most recent.

The Costs

Bigger brands have more money to spend, so it will be easier for them to make the proper changes and transition smoothly. For small companies, the initial costs to make the transition might come as a huge shock. The thing that will really bother small businesses is the fact that the money they have to spend will ultimately be to redo all the work that they have already done for the old format. The changes include costs for new designs, new content, and the time spent developing their page with the new format. Developing a banner photo and new logo will cost brands some serious money, if they are looking to do it right.

The Changes

With the new redesign, Logos will appear differently, along with a massive banner photo taking up most of the page. The use of landing pages, fan gates, and calls to action will not be allowed in the ways that they once used to be. Now, visitors will be brought straight to the timeline page, allowing them to see everything posted on there right away. All the tabs that used to be on the left hand side under the page photo will now be located on the right side under the applications section as small thumbnails.

Timeline for pages will only be effective for brands, if there is a continuous flow of interesting and engaging content. It will cost more money and time to keep creating this content on a continuous basis to keep up with competitors and keep your fans interested. Along with engaging content, page administrators will have to keep a keen eye on the page with the new threat of spammers posting comments on the page. With timeline, these comments and posts will be more visible, making it equally important to create new content and monitor the content being posted on the page.

If you’re not sure how to go about making the transition, Please don’t hesitate to fill out the form to the right and we will gladly consult you on what your brand needs to do in order to continue your Facebook Marketing Success.