how to-master-timeline-and-ads

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How to Master Facebook Timeline and Ads

© 2012 Buddy Media Inc. Proprietary and Confidentialwww.buddymedia.com 2

Introduction 3

New Reach Generator Product 4

New Facebook Ad Units 6

Timeline Is Here 8

Tie It All Together 13

Conclusion 15


At the first-ever Facebook Marketing Conference, Facebook relaunched its advertising platform to put the Facebook Page at the center of your paid, owned and earned media strategies.While you likely have read about the new products, you’re probably wondering: “What now?” What should you be doing to capitalize on the new functionalities and possibilities now present in the Facebook ecosystem? And what does this all mean for the way you approach an overall marketing strategy on Facebook?

Here are the four biggest topics you need to know in light of the Facebook Marketing Conference:

•New Reach Generator product: This gives brands the option to pay Facebook for guaranteed News Feed distribution of up to 75 percent of their fans.

•New ad units: The content you post on your Page is the ad unit. This means you will no longer create separate ad copy on Facebook.

•Timeline is here: All Facebook Pages will move to Timeline by March 31, 2012.

•Tie it all together: Optimize your content strategy with our insights and best practices.

We’ll discuss each of these in depth so that you can immediately begin evaluating and utilizing the power provided by these new product releases.

Introduction


Use the Facebook Reach Generator to Significantly Increase Your ReachAccording to Facebook, content that brands post to Facebook Pages reaches only about 16 percent of their fans. This is often a pain point for many brands, which is why Facebook launched a new ad product for guaranteed distribution.

Reach Generator lets you pay to guarantee that your Posts reach up to 75 percent of your fans each month. What will this mean for you? Reach Generator can more than double your average reach. In turn, engagement will more than double, thus exposing your Posts to your fans' friends, who will engage and expose others. The result is an incredible viral lift for your brand.

Invest in Content to Engage Your FansThe lines between paid, owned and earned media are now gone. You’ve already invested in your fans—now invest in the content that engages them. Reach Generator gets you the distribution you desire. Though you’re explicitly paying for distribution only, you’re inherently paying for significantly more engagement. This engagement is Facebook gold. Your EdgeRank score will skyrocket, giving you more stories to buy against using socially enabled ads.

All ads in Facebook will begin as content initially posted to a Page. You will no longer need to create separate Facebook ad copy, because the content you publish to Facebook and the data associated with it is the front end of the ad system. Continue to create great content, just as you have in the past, and then use engagement metrics to distribute the most engaging content further. Users can now engage with that content anywhere on Facebook, whether it’s on your Page or in ads. Facebook said it best: “Ads are more effective when they start from Page Posts.”

New Reach Generator Product


Your ads are your content. In this

example, Ben & Jerry’s took a highly engaging

Post and turned it into an ad.


Understand the Options Within Facebook AdsThere are two general categories of Facebook ads:

•Premium Ads. Today, these ads are purchased directly from Facebook. Brands will now be able to turn any Post made to their Page into a premium ad. Instead of appearing only on the Facebook homepage, as they did in the past, premium ads will now appear in four places: the News Feed, the right-hand navigation menu, the mobile News Feed and the log-out screen. The idea behind these ads is to put relevant content in front of an audience while also leveraging a user’s social connections to give the ad social context.

•Marketplace Ads. These ads appear on the right-hand navigation menu of the Facebook experience. Marketplace ads are bought directly through the Facebook self-serve portal, or through third-party API technology such as Buddy Media. These familiar ads provide opportunities to target by location, interests, time and demographic information.

The graphic shows the different

opportunities for advertisements within

the Facebook ecosystem. New opportunities

include mobile and the log-out screen.

New Facebook Ad Units


Marketplace ads, which display on

the right-hand side of the News Feed

and Timeline, can be targeted toward users

in any number of ways.

Let Your Fans Choose Your Ad Creative for YouYou need to monitor your engagement data in real time to make the right decisions about what content to amplify and when. This is not an easy shift and might require a change in strategy within your organization. However, we’re moving away from the age in which you simply create one version of an ad and then distribute it. Now, people can voice their opinion with ‘Likes,’ Comments, ‘Shares’ and clicks. Be prepared to buy distribution for the content that becomes most engaging to the right audience.


Timeline Is HereCreate Great Content for Your Page with Timeline Pages have been given even more prominence by Facebook, and now include a homepage with a canvas to tell your brand’s story. Your fans can check out the latest content and campaigns at the top of the Page, as well as easily explore the history of your company.

You now also have large, above-the-fold real estate on all of your landing tabs, campaign content and applications. Facebook is at your whim; program it any way you want.

The use of the new aesthetic

functionality of Timeline immediately conveys the desired

brand image for Subway.


Cover Photo and AppsAll of your Pages now have a slick new cover photo. There are also four large images for your tabs, front and center, directly beneath the cover photo. These are all orderable, with the exception of photos, which must remain in the left-hand spot. Your logo displays to the bottom left of the cover photo, and lastly, an info section appears to the left of your tabs.

Facebook also released a set of guidelines for your cover photos. Be sure to check them out here: https://www.facebook.com/help?faq=%20276329115767498.

The biggest restrictions include no price or purchase information; no contact information; no references to user calls to action, particularly in regards to Facebook functionality; and no stolen, false or deceptive intellectual property.

Lastly, make sure you create assets that utilize the different-sized canvasses on your Timeline:

•Cover Photo: 851 x 315 pixels

•Logo: 180 x 180 pixels

•Tab Image: 111 x 74 pixels

Old Spice uses a bright, bold cover photo to grab the attention of users, making a product

such as deodorant very exciting.


New Timeline Page FunctionalityThe functionality of brands’ Timelines is very similar to that of personal profiles, with a few extra options. Tabs now have even more space in which they can display on the Page (810 pixels in width), so plan to adjust your design according to the new dimensions. Preview your tab before publishing in both 520- and 810-pixel widths in order to see whether extensive updating is necessary. ProfileBuddy™, powered by Buddy Media, gives you the ability to preview in both widths. Additionally, the extra real estate gives you the ability to add even more content. A new third column of sapplets within ProfileBuddy gives users the space and functionality to do more with tabs than ever before.

The ability to add a third sapplet within ProfileBuddy in the Buddy Media social

marketing suite gives brands extra flexibility

for their tabs.

The SXSW Coffee Cash Cart tab on the Buddy Media Page uses a background image to utilize the extra space on the

810-pixel-width tabs.


Pinned PostsPinned Posts are a great way to highlight engaging content and drive traffic to any number of online destinations. Though setting up a default landing tab is no longer an option, pinning a Post to the left-hand side of your Timeline will keep a Post at the top of the Page for up to seven days. This is a great way to guarantee that anyone who comes to your Page will see your most important and engaging content. Devise a strategy for pinned Posts to ensure you are effectively using this functionality to present users with the right content on a regular basis.

This Walmart pinned Post

reflects a large, high-quality image of a featured dish

for its users.


Fill Your Timeline with ContentTell the story of your company. You have the opportunity to put your entire company history in photos, videos and text on your Timeline. Timeline allows you to star, hide and milestone all stories on your Timeline. Make it visual and utilize the entire canvas. When you make the switch to Timeline, all of your current content will come with you. Complement that by filling in the details that you haven’t yet had a chance to highlight—in particular, those events and milestones that occurred before Facebook even existed!

The Today Show filled in much of

the show’s history upon the launch

of its Timeline and featured a primate

anchor on the show from February

1953.


Tie It All Together—Build Your Fan BaseBrands that empower their connections to sell, share and engage on their behalf create shareholder value. Now is the time to focus on your audience development and engagement efforts using content, Timeline, News Feed and tabs. The Buddy Media social marketing suite helps you do this with our Sapplet Library and powerful geotargeting, publishing, moderating and analytics features in ConversationBuddy™.

Use Reach Generator to Get More Visibility, Traffic and Page EngagementUsers have already opted in to receive updates from your brand by clicking the ‘Like’ button. Reach Generator ensures that they see it. With all of this new engagement, users need compelling experiences once they land on the Page. This is why tabs are now even more important. The new distribution options and pinned Posts give you the means to share effectively and efficiently, and tabs become a true home for content on Facebook, even more than before.

Tie It All Together

American Girl grows its fan base through engaging

Posts and links to its Facebook tabs.


Add Facebook Paid Ads to Create More Engagement—Then Amplify ItPublishing the right content at the right time is critical. Once you’ve done that, make sure everyone can see it by amplifying with paid ads. Targeting that content to friends of fans and non-fans using demographic and geographic information will help engage friends of your fans while driving more connections in the process. It’s a virtuous cycle of continuous returns, in which any engagement, whether on Pages or in ads, will surface through both.

The Ford Mustang

tab on the Ford Mustang Page provides a great deal of content

and social activity with which fans

can engage.

Buddy Media

empowers you to take a Post created in

ConversationBuddy and easily monitor its engagement

—then promote that story using a Facebook paid ad to amplify

engagement.


ConclusionThe Old Versus the NewWith the old method of owned, earned and paid distribution on Facebook, the number of people you were able to reach with content was marred by the lack of fans who were actually able to see a Post made by your brand (only 16 percent, according to Facebook). With the new method, that number is significantly greater because of the potential of Reach Generator. With Reach Generator, at least 75 percent of your fans can see a Post made by your brand. The new model of distribution allows you to reach 3.5 times the number of people with your content.

With these numbers in mind, it’s essential to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the new Facebook announcements.

•Create great content with Timeline

•Amplify content with the new Facebook ad models

• Ensure distribution using Reach Generator

To see how Buddy Media can help you create, monitor and amplify your content, register for a demo today!

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