Silverback Marketing hopes that is the case, particularly since we talked about this change a few weeks ago. The new Timeline look for Facebook that individuals still have the option of using or not using became the required look for any brand page just three days ago on March 31. A March 14^th Silverback post discussed the Timeline requirement and provided our readers with some necessary information on how to make the Timeline style to work for you with a follow-up to that discussion two days later on March 16. However, since there are sure to be some Facebook users that missed the early opportunity to edit their brand pages appropriately Silverback Marketing felt that it was important to address the issue since the update occurred over the weekend.

The uninitiated should take a look at a screenshot of a brand page that effectively makes use of the new Timeline:

If you happen to be a business owner that has taken the time to set up a brand page and promote contests related to your business, provide your Fans with a history of the brand, showcase upcoming events and deliver coupons to your Fans, you may not be able to find that content on your page anymore if you neglected to make the change to the Timeline look. The new Facebook look for brand pages has moved areas around within the new template, making it difficult to keep track of critical areas of the page if you did not change to the Facebook Timeline look before the required March 31^st shift.

We have discussed the main image on the top of your brand page before and the restrictions on what can appear in that area. This image can and should be used to effectively promote your page. The size of the image is so large that a user’s eyes will immediately be drawn to the area, so change that image often to reflect an ongoing promotion, featured product or featured service.

One other key item to understand with the new Timeline; your landing page will now default to the Home Page. Brands used to be able to send users to specific tabs on the profile. A great example is a musician with a Facebook profile that could choose whether to send a Fan to the About page for a brief biography, the Band page to give users a chance to sample music or the Events page so Fans could see tour dates. That function has been eliminated and users will now immediately visit the Main page. Therefore, adjust your marketing strategy accordingly and update the manner in which you coerce a visitor to Like the page and visit again.

Facebook users have a tendency to complain when the look and methodology of the social medium changes, but generally speaking a short time investigating the changes will make it easy for a user to adapt. That is the case with Timeline as well. Take the time to optimize your brand page to give yourself the best opportunity to make the new Timeline look work for you and your brand!