Download - Facebook Timeline executive briefing
Executive Briefing: Facebook timeline for brandsSean McDonald & David J. Neff
@antseyeview #aevbriefing
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Session purposeUnderstand forthcoming changes to Facebook timeline and illustrate the impact to brands.
Outcomes
• How the role of the Facebook community manager will change.
• How imagery will be as important as words.
• 3 new strategic objectives to consider.
• How changes may affect skillset needs.
• 2 key tips on visual display requirements.
• 4 key tips on new content attributes.
• 3 key tips on measurement changes.
Agenda for this briefing
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Sean MacDonaldSenior Vice PresidentBrand Engagement
David J. NeffSenior ConsultantTraining and Readiness Content Expert
Ben McConnellVice PresidentLeader of Readiness and Training
Presenters for this briefing
Collective practitioner experience:
• Global brand building• Global reputation management• Community management• Data visualization• Information architecture• Dell.com• The Dallas Morning News• The American Cancer Society• Creating Customer Evangelists
(2003) • Citizen Marketers (2007)
Facebook timeline for brands
Impact on strategy
5©2012 Ant’s Eye View | Proprietary + Confidential | antseyeview.com | Austin + Seattle + Mountain View
What most brands do on FacebookVie for attention.
Rise of the experimenter brandsAT&T’s customer service strategy on Facebook.
Facebook timeline is a crossroads for brands
• All brands required to adopt timeline on March 30
• Facebook holds all the cards
• Brands are simply a tenant in the Facebook kingdom
Facebook and brands: Impact on strategy
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Timeline prompts new Facebook objectives
• Share brand heritage
• Serve customers where they surf
New objectives impact resource planning
• Design
• Content creation
• Customer service and support
Resource planning changes include
• Community manager becomes de-facto brand historian
• Administrator has more data to inform business decisions
• Digital agencies enhance image libraries and align storyboards with timeline functionality
Facebook and brands: The impact on strategy
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Facebook wants brands to become storytellers
• Stories are memorable, repeated
• Posts have short shelf life
The heightened role of imagery
• Vital for content
• Vital for navigation
Participation at the forefront
• No longer about wall posts
• A new frontier to master
Facebook and brands: Impact on strategy
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Share highly specific information
• Company heritage
• Company values and culture
• The people of your company
Embrace the power of imagery
• Humans have been reading for 2,000 years
• Humans have been observing for 100,000 years
New tools to learn and use
• Content management
• Brand engagement
Facebook and brands: Impact on strategy
Facebook timeline for brands
Impact on execution
Visual identityContent creationMeasurement
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Visual tip: Make an impact with the cover
• Always a photo, not a billboard.
• No calls to action.
• No contact info.
• Work in conjunction with the profile image.
Facebook and brands: The impact on execution
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Visual tip: Highlight apps with photos
• iframes, pages, landing pages are gone.
• Keep app thumbnails in mind when designing.
• Unlike the cover photo and profile photo, keep app thumbnails consistent.
Facebook and brands: The impact on execution
12©2012 Ant’s Eye View | Proprietary + Confidential | antseyeview.com | Austin + Seattle + Mountain View
Content tip: Update visual content frequently
• Rotate cover image often.
• Update photos from events.
• Tell stories visually.
• Notice new visual attention levels in heat map.
Facebook and brands: The impact on execution
Visual attention levelNew Old
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Content tip: Identify a story of the week
• Important updates can be pinned to top of page.
• Similar to pinning FAQ in forums.
• Remains pinned for seven days.
• User posts are not eligible for pinning.
Facebook and brands: The impact on execution
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Content tip: Get to know apps
• Pages, iframes and tabs are gone.
• Unable to link to apps from ads.
• Highlights four apps at a time.
• Photos always the first app.
Facebook and brands: The impact on execution
15©2012 Ant’s Eye View | Proprietary + Confidential | antseyeview.com | Austin + Seattle + Mountain View
Content tip: Start sharing brand history
• Identify several key milestones in brand history.
• Perfect opportunity to tell history of brand.
• Pictures and content are splashed across width of timeline.
• Use video and images as much as possible.
• Friend activity section highlights users friends who liked the page.
Facebook and brands: The impact on execution
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Measurement tip: Set expectations for the new inbox
• Displayed above Like button.
• Allows brands to get direct messages from their fans.
• Behind the scenes customer service opportunity/set expectations/office hours.
• Optional feature.
Facebook and brands: The impact on execution
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Measurement tip: Use activity log to determine timeline priorities
• Timeline is hard to scroll.
• Ability to update key info.
• View past content in an easy format.
Facebook and brands: The impact on execution
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Measurement tip: Update / create new Facebook measurement goals
• Improved UI and dashboard look.
• With new content types numbers will change/OGST needs to be revisited.
• Track all posts/reach.
• Real time data rumor.
• Self guided tour.
Facebook and brands: The impact on execution
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Key points on strategy
• Facebook wants brands to become storytellers.
• Increased importance placed on imagery.
• Time to revisit strategy plan for new, updated objectives.
• New requirements may require additional skillsets.
Key points on execution
• Brand cover pages should be designed for visual impact.
• Tabs are dead; replaced with apps.
• Apps are best when photo-driven.
• Brand history is key component to successful timeline.
• Customers/users can send email directly to a brand.
• Activity log can help determine timeline priorities.
• Create new or update previous Facebook KPIs or goals.
A summary of this executive briefing