The guide outlines how small businesses can effectively utilize Facebook's new timeline format for brand pages, emphasizing storytelling and enhanced visual engagement. Key components include optimizing cover and profile pictures, managing posts through pinning and starring, and utilizing tabs and applications while adapting to changes in the messaging system. Overall, it stresses the importance of interaction and customization to enhance fan engagement and brand connection.

1. How Small Businesses Can Utilize
Facebook
TimelineBy: Chris Vaughn/Ashley Sasnett Design: Jenn Bryant

2. Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Visual
2a. Cover Picture
2b. Profile Picture
2c. About Us
2d. Tabs and Applications
2e. Landing Pages
3. Function
3a. Pinning
3b. Starring
3c. Milestones
3d. Post Management
4. Administration
4a. Admin Panel
4b. Messages
4c. Publicly Displayed Brand Information
4d. Insights
5. Specifications Review
6. Conclusion

3. 1. Introduction
On March 30th, Facebook will begin a mandatory
transition of all brand pages to the new timeline
format. While learning a new way of managing
your brand page might seem challenging and time-
consuming, you should place a priority on learning how
timeline works so that you don’t lose the opportunity
to share content or optimize fan engagement.
The new Facebook Timeline is all about storytelling.
It’s no longer about posting content that will be
presented in the newest-to-oldest news feed, but now
becomes about creating an interactive experience
that takes your fans on a journey of your business,
and engages them in a way that the current format
doesn’t support. In this guide, you’ll learn how the new
timeline will help you to take your fans through the
story of your brand with pictures, videos, stories and
more.
Let this eBook serve as your step-by-step guide to setting up and managing your new Facebook brand page.
By the time you’re done reading it, we’re confident that you’ll not only understand your new page, but
you’ll be excited to begin optimizing it and engaging with your fans on an even deeper level.

4. 2. Visual
There are significant changes to the aesthetics of the new Facebook brand pages. With an emphasis on
storytelling, each element and graphic on your timeline page will serve to tell the story of your business to
your fans.
Below are the key changes to how your timeline will appear, with step-by-step explanations on how to get
the most out of your timeline.
2a. Cover Picture
The cover photo serves as the “main event” of your page. It’s the first thing that visitors or fans will see
when they come to your brand page. Facebook has provided guidance for the content on the cover picture,
but there will still be plenty of ways to make it very engaging.
With your cover picture, you want to capture the attention of visitors quickly as soon as they come to your
page. It should be:
1. Welcoming
2. Visually appealing
3. Representative of your brand
Cover Picture Guidelines
● Size: 851x315 (pixels)
● Must not have price or purchase information.
● Must not contain any text that says “download here” or any text that implies it.
● Must not have contact information (Such as URL or company phone #).
● Must not have calls to action (Such as “Like us now” or “Click here”).
● You can click and drag the cover photo around to reposition it.
● May update or change the cover picture as often as you wish.

5. 2b. Profile Picture
If you’ve had a Facebook page before, this graphic is familiar to you. It’s been the primary identifying
graphic for your fans in the past, and will continue to serve as a branding tool for the new timeline pages.
Many brand pages are integrating their company logo directly in to the cover photo, instead of having it as
their profile picture. Some are opting to use their logo as their profile picture. Whatever you choose, it’s
important to keep both your cover and profile photos in line with your overall branding strategy.
Profile Picture Guidelines
● Size: 180x180 (pixels)
● Will also serve as your ‘avatar’ in conversations and comments. (That graphic is 32x32 in pixels, so
make sure it’s optimized to look good in the thumbnail version as well)
2c. About Us
This will pull the text you had entered in the ‘Basic Information’ part of your Facebook page. This text will
fall right below the profile picture and is an opportunity to succinctly explain your business to your visitors.
There is a 150 character limit to this text box.
Users, by clicking ‘About’ under this text, will be able to read more information about your business. Make
sure to spend some time creating and reviewing the copy for these sections:
● Founded date
● Company overview
● Description
● General Information
● Mission
● Awards
● Products
● Website
You want to make use of this space. Your most engaged and likely-to-spend prospects will want to learn as
much about you as possible before giving away their business.

6. 2d. Tabs and Applications
Remember how your brand page had a navigation panel on the left side of the page, where your fans could
navigate to different parts of the brand page? The new timeline has changed that, replacing that navigation
menu with these application “tabs” that you can control and use to direct your visitors around your page.
Tips and Tricks For Your Tabs Bar
● The first application listed will always be Photos. This cannot be removed or moved, and will display
the most recent photo uploaded.
● After photos, place the application tabs in order of importance. (What do you want your visitors
to see? Where do you want your visitors to go?) Keep in mind the top row of tabs will be your most
valuable real estate on your timeline, and you’ll want to prioritize that content accordingly.
● To change the application tab placement, select the drop down arrow to show a full listing of your
available apps. Hover over the app you would like to move and notice a pencil icon in the upper
right corner of the tab. Click on the pencil and then follow the commands to move the app to the
appropriate position.
● Tabs will use a default image, but can usually be edited! Go to the “Manage apps” section of the
page manager, and most of your apps will allow you to change the icon (size specs: 111x74 pixels).
● You now have the option to hide how many ‘Likes’ you have from your home page (Users will still
be able to see Likes if they pull down your tabs bar). If you are trying to build a following and don’t
have many visitors yet, you may choose to not display your total ‘likes’ in that top bar. In contrast, if
you have a lot of followers, you will want to publicly display that information.
2e. Landing Pages
You will no longer be able to direct users to land on a particular page. (For example, sending a visitor
straight to a promotion or products page) The “wall” page will now be default for all visitors.
Custom graphics can be uploaded with call to action text and titles, and added to the apps to encourage
fans to explore that content. Custom content created using apps can still use a “fan gate” as a way to
necessitate a user to “like” the page in order to access that content, but not to access the page itself.
This change might seem like it will negatively affect your ability to convert leads with your Facebook brand
page, but properly managing your tabs and the other new timeline features should not only replace the
landing pages, but should increase overall engagement and conversion.

7. 3. Function
The new timeline doesn’t just look neat, it serves both form and function. Keeping with the storytelling
motif, Facebook has included a suite of features that will allow you to optimize your ‘Wall” to present your
fans and visitors specific and targeted information about your brand.
Below are an overview of these features and some best practices.
3a. Pinning
You are now able to ‘pin’ specific posts on your wall. This is similar to making something “sticky” on a
message board or blog, ensuring it is prominent to all visitors.
Pinning will be a powerful strategy for directing time-specific and promotional content to your fanbase and
prospects. These posts can include calls-to-action or product highlights. As noted earlier, there are no longer
specific landing pages on the timelines, but a great pinning strategy should be able to engage just as well, if
not better.
‘Pinning’ Guidelines and Tips
● To pin a post, just hover over it and click the the pencil icon
to the right in the post’s frame and select “pin to top”
● A post will only stay pinned for 7 days, at which point it will
be relegated to its proper place in the timeline. You can re-
pin after 7 days to keep it pinned longer.
● You can unpin (prior to the 7th day expiration) the same
way it was pinned.
● Only one story can be pinned at time.
● When pinned, the size of the post will not be affected.
3b. Starring
Much like pinning a post, starring a post will allow you to display relevant and desirable information on your
timeline. The major difference between “starring” and “pinning” is that starring the post will give it a bold
and prominent placement by stretching it across the width of the screen, which will set it apart from the
other content on your page.
‘Starring’ Guidelines and Tips
● To star a post, hover over it and click the star to the right.
This will stretch the post to the width of the page.
● Starred posts, unlike pinned posts, will not be reordered to
the top of your feed.
● Unstar a post the same way you starred it.
● A starred post might be a visually engaging or more
evergreen one, whereas a pinned post will be something
that’s more timely and directive to your prospects.

8. 3c. Milestones
‘Milestones’ are perhaps the most fun and engaging way to tell your story. You now have the ability to
provide the history of your company, which will serve as a great business resource for visitors.
‘Milestones’ Guidelines and Tips
● To add a milestone, go to your status composer’s box and click milestone. List the event and provide
a time and location. Give details of the particular milestone if you wish.
● Adding a photo is highly suggested, unless you are happy with the flag place-holder that Facebook
uses as a default. (Size specs for milestone images: 843x403 pixels)
● You can create past milestones and back fill those dates to create a brand activity or history.
● Some great milestone examples:
○ When company was founded
○ New product launch or changes
○ New hires at company
○ Company acquisitions or mergers
○ Special events or anniversaries
3d. Post Management
You’ll notice a wide variety of activity on your new timeline, and there will be times when you want to edit
or change your posts. There are some advanced controls in place for you to make sure each piece of content
is displayed just how you want it.
Change Post Dates
● Hover over the post and click on the pencil and choose
‘Change Date’
● This will reorder the post in the feed on the page, but it
will not change the size however, like starred posts.
Hide a Post
● Hover over the post and click on the the pencil and select
‘Hide From Page’.
● Will hide post from all visitors, but not from page admins.
● This can be applied to any post on the page.
● Excellent tool to remove ‘clutter’ from a page.
Delete a Post
● Hover over the post and click on the pencil and choose
‘Delete’.
● Will permanently delete the content from your page.

9. 4. Adminstration
While the presentation and the functions of the new Facebook timeline bring many improvements to the
page, there are also some additions and improvements on the “back end” of your page that only page
administrators will have access.
Listed below are the areas in which you’ll be able to keep your page optimized.
4a. Admin Panel
The ‘Admin Panel’ is the main hub of all your administration duties. The panel has four primary sections:
● Notifications (A list of your most recent page activity)
● New Likes (Your most recent fans)
● Messages (Most recent messages in your Inbox)
● Insights (A brief look at your page analytics)
You can drill down into any of the four categories with the ‘see all’ option in the right corner. If you’d like to
hide the panel while viewing your page, click the ‘Hide’ button in the upper right corner of your page. Click
on ‘Admin Panel’ when hidden to bring the panel back up.
4b. Messages
Fans can now directly communicate with your business via messaging, and you can respond back via private
message as well.
Private Messaging Guidelines
● Users are not required to have ‘liked’ the page to communicate with the page or for the page to
communicate back with them.
● You can remove the messaging feature (and button) from your page by selecting the ‘manage’ option
and then selecting ‘edit page’ and de-selecting the ‘show message button’ on page.
● Pages cannot initiate private messages with Facebook profiles (fans or visitors- it makes no
difference). They can only respond when the visitor has messaged them.
● A business may only reply twice to fans and then its capped until there is a response from the visitor,
at which point the business may once again reply.
While the private messaging guidelines might seem strict, they are aimed to protect Facebook users
from receiving spam or unwanted solicitation. You’ll have the opportunity to participate in the two-way
communication if your page has engaged a visitor to the point of direct contact. This is even more reason to
spend sufficient time optimizing your timeline!

10. 4c. Publicly Displayed Brand Information
When a user clicks on your ‘Likes’ tab, they will be taken to a page that will provide them with some of your
brand page analytics. This includes:
● Total likes
● Total ‘People Talking About This’
● Page Insights: Your page’s demographics and most popular content
● A 30-day rise and fall of your page’s activity
4d. Insights
If you click through to your Facebook Insights from your Admin Panel, you’ll notice a page featuring some of
your brand page’s most important analytics. This includes:
● Total Likes – How many people currently ‘like’ your page
● Friends Of Fans – This counts all your fans multiplied by how many fans they have
● People Talking About This – The number of unique people who have created content around your page
(see more below)
● Weekly Total Reach – The # of unique people who have seen content on your page
You’ll also notice specific analytics on each piece of content you’ve posted to your page. You need at least
30 fans to access Facebook Insights.
There are a variety of ways you can explore and learn from your Insights. For a comprehensive review of
Facebook Insights, head to our Facebook Insights guide.
5. Specifications Review
The new timeline is a visually stunning and engaging environment. Your cover graphic will stand out as the
first thing your visitors see, and you’ll now have the chance to spread out certain graphics you choose across
the width of your page. Whatever your photos strategy is for your page, you’ll have complete control over
how they are presented to anyone viewing your timeline.
Facebook will auto resize your photos if you upload them to the specific places, but if you want to get the
best quality and resolution from each graphic, here is a listing of the exact specifications for all of the
timeline photos.
Facebook Cover Photo
● Size: 851x315 (pixels)
Profile Photo
● Size: 180x180 (pixels)
‘Avatar’ Photo (The graphic that is used as a button or thumbail in comments)
● Size: 30x30 (pixels)
Tab Photo (Some of the graphics on your tabs are customizable, see ‘Tabs and Apps’ section)
● 111x74 (pixels)
Milestones Photo
● 843x403 (pixels)

11. 6. Conclusion
As outlined in this guide, the appearance and management of your Facebook brand page has undergone
significant change. Your new timeline should tell a story much like a book or a movie where you visitor takes
a walk through the history of successes of your business. This should help to familiarize yourself to your
clients and prospects and build an atmosphere where dialogue and engagement is encouraged at a high-
level.
It’s important to remember that Facebook is the same two-way communication tool it was before fancy
design and function changes. A fancy new paint job doesn’t mean your car won’t require the same care and
maintenance. Engagement is about a two-way dialogue between the brand and the audience. Think about
and execute the steps from this eBook, and your new timeline will propagate your brand and your message
clearly and effectively.
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