New Features in Facebook Timeline for Brand Pages

Friday, March 9th, 2012

At the end of March 2012, all Facebook Pages will be migrated to the Facebook Timeline for Brands Layout. This will give Facebook Pages the same look and feel as individual profiles. Here are some of the key changes that you need to know:

No More Default Landing Pages: Facebook has removed the default landing page. All users, fans and non-fans, will always land on the main Timeline Page. You cannot change this. You can, however, use landing tabs in conjunction with Facebook Ads to send users to specific landing pages. You can still use the Fan-Gate in this method.
810 Pixels in Width: This is a huge change. No more 520px boundaries – you can now go full width to 810px. This gives pages a lot more room to add design, functionality, and content. We should see some really beautiful timeline apps (formerly known as tabs) with this new, extended width.
Icons for Timeline Apps: Instead of those small 16×16 icons with tabs, you can now have 111×74 Icons for your Timeline Apps. Facebook has placed this section in a prominent space – directly to the right of your profile picture. Be sure to take advantage of these icons as calls to action to click over to those apps.
Private Messaging: Fans can now directly message the page, allowing for private 1:1 communication between fan and brand.
New Admin/Insights Panel: The Timeline Rollout also brings anew Admin Panel with fresh stats and a nice user interface.
Fill the Timeline: Facebook allows brands to add “Milestones” to help fill their timeline. Examples could be launch date, first product release, ten year anniversary, $1M Revenue, etc, etc.
Pin Important Posts: You can now pin posts that you feel are important, keeping them at the top of your timeline for 7 days.