March 16, 2012 - Posted by Amy Rose Brown
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Have you ever wished that there was some sort of combination of Twitter lists and Google Circles for Facebook? Even if that thought’s never actually crossed your mind, Facebook stayed one step ahead of you and created a new feature to fill that void anyway! They’re called Facebook Interest Lists, and they allow you to create and subscribe to lists of users who talk about things you’re interested in. Facebook describes the new Interest Lists as a “personal newspaper,” and says they’ll be coming to your bookmarks in the next few weeks. To prepare you for their arrival, let’s go through the basics.
Many Facebook users have already created Interest Lists on a wide variety of topics. You can browse through these and choose the ones you think you’d want to read. Based on your profile information and likes, you might also have some suggested lists:
If we click through to Animal Causes, we can see a list of who and what we’d be receiving updates from.
So we decide to subscribe to this list. Where does it show up in our default newsfeed view?
Your interests will be underneath your individual friend lists (you may have to click the “more” button to get to them).
Since these lists are relatively new, some of your major interests might not have a list yet. This means that you can either wait around for someone to compile this list, or you can just make it yourself. Making an Interest List isn’t hard! Let’s walk through it.
Let’s say I want to subscribe to news about my alma mater, Ohio University.
By selecting pages related to the university, the surrounding area, and the specific school within the university that I attended (plus one Ohio University-related joke page), I can compile my very own Interest List. On the next screen, I am given the ability to name my list, as well as indicate whether it should be public, friends only, or private. And then…
Voila! A customized interest list. But wait – there’s one more important thing to show you. Say you come across a page that you’d like to add to an Interest List. How does that work?
In the dropdown menu at the top right of the new Timeline pages, there’s a new top option: Add to Interest Lists. Obviously, we’ll click that…
I can then add this page to the list I already created, or create an entirely new list. The page I happen to be on is a restaurant in the university area, so I’ve added it to my existing list.
In addition to adding pages to Interest Lists, you can add people – regardless of whether or not you’re friends with them. If more Facebook users begin to subscribe to your Interest List (assuming you haven’t made it private), they will be able to see the public updates of everyone you’ve added to the list. Additionally, you are not notified if someone adds you to an Interest List.
What does this mean for you? If you’re posting a lot of things publicly, your updates are now available to a much wider audience. This can be great for exposure, unless you publicly say something embarrassing. As always, think before you Facebook.
March 2, 2012 - Posted by Amy Rose Brown
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The day has finally come: the Timeline format we’ve seen introduced to personal Facebook profiles is now here for brand pages. What does that mean for you? Read on for some of the major changes coming your way.
Until then, you can preview Timeline on your pages. You and your page admins can see the Timeline and make changes to it, while the public and your fans will see your old design through the end of the month.
You can choose to publish your Timeline before March 30, but doing so will take effect permanently. If you’re not sure you want to switch to Timeline just yet, do not press the “publish now” button at the top of your preview Timeline page.
You cover image is an 851×315 pixel photo that should represent some aspect of your brand. However, Facebook guidelines state that your cover image should not contain:
So what do you do with your cover photo if you can’t do any of those things? There are plenty of ways to visually represent your brand while still following the rules. For inspiration, check out Old Spice, Coca-Cola, or the Olympic Games (these are just a few of the many creative examples that have popped up in the past few days).
Previously appearing as customized tabs, your apps are now at the top right of your page, directly underneath your cover photo.
A few things worth noting about apps with the new Timeline format:
Let me rephrase that: fans can now privately message your page, and you can respond to them. However, you cannot initiate conversation through messages. From a customer service standpoint, though, this is potentially the most useful new feature. If a customer is complaining about a negative experience on your Timeline, you can encourage them to send you a private message to settle the conflict in a much more private manner.
Facebook requires that you add the date in which your company was founded/started/opened before you can add more milestones (the dates only go back to 1800, so if your business is really really old…you’re out of luck). You can then add information about notable company events with corresponding photos, completing the actual timeline function of the Timeline.
How do you anticipate this switch to Timeline will affect the way you use Facebook for online marketing? Let us know! If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, don’t hesitate to contact Marketing Zen for some assistance from the experts.
February 24, 2012 - Posted by Amy Rose Brown
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Those of you who’ve been following along may remember our post from a few months back about the difference between sweepstakes and contests. If you’ve decided that a Facebook promotion is the next step in your online marketing campaign, regardless of the type of promotion (if you’re doing anything where you’re going to pick a “winner” then you’re having a promotion), you need to be aware of Facebook’s official Promotions Guidelines before jumping in head first.
Our CEO Shama wrote a similar post about the Facebook Promotion Guidelines back in 2009. As you probably know, the site has had a few facelifts since then – and its legal language hasn’t been exempt from the company-wide makeover. The biggest change is that now you do not need written permission from a Facebook account executive to hold a contest, sweepstakes, or giveaway. Previously, you needed explicit permission from Facebook to hold a promotion.
The rules
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