Facebook Timeline Template – Free Download

Facebook Timeline Template Download

I’ve been covering the new Facebook Page Design or template for quite some time here because the layout impacts your cover photo. In fact, I’ve been helping clients all month in getting their creative assets in order. If you haven’t heard, the new design is going to move your company name and category from the bottom of the cover photo and make it a text overlay (along with a few more changes – watch the video for details).

Read More

New Facebook Page Design is Almost Here

New Facebook Page Design is Almost Here

In March I covered the 4 Facebook Page Design Features You Should Watch when Facebook rolls out their new design and now the time has finally arrived…

Early adopters who signed up for Facebook’s Waitlist started receiving messages this week that their Page would be upgraded to the new design on Friday, June 6, 2014. As predicted, the ability to “Highlight” posts no longer appears to be an option for Page Managers with the new single column design. However, Page Managers can still “Pin” posts to the top of their Timeline to capture the attention of visitors that come to their Page.

Facebook New Page Design 2014

Read More

Facebook’s New Page Design: 4 Features to Watch

Facebook’s New Page Design: 4 Features to Watch

Facebook's New Page Design
Facebook just recently gave the News Feed a makeover and now the company plans on making changes to the design of Facebook Pages.

The goal of the new Facebook Page design is to “make it easier for Page Admins to find the info and tools they use most.”

Changes include:

  • a single column layout,
  • business info featured on a left column, and
  • new metrics section on the far right hand side of the Page highlighting the performance of Facebook ads, Likes and Post Reach

Looking at the screenshots Facebook provided in their announcement, there were four things that really stood out to me as a Page Admin. Let me explain…

4 Facebook Features to Watch

1. One-column page design may impact the Highlighted Post feature.

Today if you were to highlight a post on your Facebook Page, the post would expand and take the full width of your timeline making the content more prominent.

This tactic has been great in highlighting photo albums and drawing attention to specific posts, images and videos. This new one-column design looks like the Highlighted Post feature will be stripped away. It makes me wonder about the Milestones feature as well.

Facebook One Column

2. What to do if the People Talking About This metric disappears…

The “People Talking About This” or PTAT for short is a number is pulled from a variety of interactions that can occur on Facebook over the past seven days. It’s helped Page Admins gauge how their content in the last week has sparked conversations on the platform.

Some social media enthusiasts like to calculate the Engagement Rate of a Page by taking the PTAT and dividing it by the Page’s Total Number of Fans and benchmark that percentage against competitors.

Facebook Left Column

After taking a closer look at the new Page design, this metric is removed (speculating) from the new left column. That means Page Admins will have to identify a new metric to benchmark against competitors. That’s where #3 comes in…

(Update 3/19/14: PTAT can be found under the Likes link)

3. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

“Pages to Watch” was released last August and allowed Page Admins to monitor five other Pages to see how many likes they were getting in a week. When the new design is complete, Page Admins can view additional metrics such as New Likes, Total Posts and Engagement This Week.

Pages to Watch

4. Tabs are moving under the “More” module.

Custom tabs today have prime real estate under a Page’s cover photo. They’re great for drawing a visitor’s attention and persuading them to take action like entering a contest or signing up for a newsletter.

Inside Facebook confirmed that custom apps/tabs are going to move under the “More” tab. With custom apps being “hidden”, this may negatively impact tab views and engagement.

So if you have a custom app that encourages your fans to sign up for your newsletter, I suggest you benchmark how many tab views you are getting now before the new page design is rolled out.

(Update 4/3/14: App thumbnail apps will also appear on the left hand column.)

Facebook Custom Apps

While no one except Facebook knows for sure how these changes will impact Page Admins, there’s one thing I know for sure…the social media landscape is always changing and it will keep you on your toes. So to make sure you’re up to date on what’s new, subscribe to my newsletter below. And if you have questions about Facebook, feel free to leave a comment below.

Image Source: Facebook

Social Tip Thursday: How Long Should My Facebook Posts Be?

Social Tip Thursday: How Long Should My Facebook Posts Be?

Facebook Question

I had lunch with a girlfriend recently and she told me about a conversation she had with her boss about Facebook.  Her boss wanted shorter posts and thought it would drive more engagement. My friend on the other hand, was worried that cutting the word count by more than half would have a negative impact on engagement. She asked me what I would do if I were in her position and that conversation was the inspiration for today’s blog post!

My answer was twofold…

First, Facebook posts should be interesting and compelling enough to inspire your fans to like, comment or share. If you haven’t read Jonah Berger’s book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On, buy it now.

Second,  take a look at your Facebook Page Insights to analyze how short posts perform versus longer posts.

WARNING: This post is going to go into detail on how to do this in Excel. Hope you’re ready! Let’s get started…

Export Facebook Page Level Insights

1. Go to your Facebook Page Insights and click on “Export Data.”

2. When the Export Insights Data modal window appears, select at least a month’s worth of data.

3. Choose “Post Level Data,” select “Excel” as your file format and download your data.

4. Open the Excel file and move the tab “Lifetime Post Stories by Action Type” into a new workbook.

5. Delete columns A, F, G, H and K. You should be left with the following columns: Permalink, Post Message, Type, Comment, Like and Share.

6. Next, insert a new column between the “Type” and “Comment”—name that column as “Character Count.” Now it’s time to count how many characters there are in each of your Facebook posts. Don’t worry, we’ll use the formula “=len(C2)”. C2 represents the cell you want to be counted.

Facebook Character Count
7. Copy the formula above and paste it in the remaining rows to get a full count. Delete the “Type” column to clear up some space or leave it in there if you want to see what type of content is driving engagement.

8. Next is the fun part (at least in my opinion – I’m a data nerd). Select all of your data and create a filter. Sort the “Character Count” column in ascending order.

9. We’re now going to break up the data into three categories: Under 100, 101 to 150, 151 and up. You can choose different categories if you want. Create a new column between “Post Message” and “Character Count” and name it “Category.” Go through each post and identify which category each post falls under.

10. The next step is calculating the average Comments, Like and Shares of each category. Insert a line after each category and use the formula “=average(select range).”

Facebook Average
10. You can now create a table illustrating an average of engagement you get on each length of post. Note: To make sure your averages are accurate, make sure you are comparing the same amount of posts (i.e. 15 posts under 100 character, 15 posts that are 101 – 150 characters and so on).

Facebook Table
11. Once your table is all set, create a Clustered Column Chart and guess what—you’re all done now!

How Long Should My Facebook Posts Be

Note: If you don’t want to make the chart, you can just sort the data by Comments, Likes and Shares in descending order. You can eyeball how posts are doing in terms of engagement.

I know this exercise is really long and can be hard for those that aren’t Excel friendly but I’m here if you need help. Post your questions or leave feedback in the comment section below.

Facebook Tag Feature For Pages Impacts Your News Feed

Facebook Tag Feature For Pages Impacts Your News Feed

fb-newsfeed

Facebook announced earlier this week that topics you like on Facebook are going to play an even bigger role in your News Feed.

Now when a Facebook Page tags another Page in a post, users that are fans of both pages will see the post in their News Feed. This initiative is very similar to what happens when a friend tags you in a photo (once you’re tagged, overlapping friends get to see that photo and can engage by liking, commenting or sharing the post).

For example, if many people who like Dwight Howard also like the Bleacher Report, it suggests that these two Pages are connected. If we see that people who like both the Bleacher Report and Dwight Howard are liking the post above, that’s an indication that it may be relevant for people who only like Dwight Howard.

This means some Page posts that tag other Pages may be seen by new people. – Andrew Song, Product Manager

Dwight Howard

Overall, the benefit of this rollout is that it allows Pages to extend the reach of their content, drive engagement and possibly attract new fans.

However, I must admit that I’m a little concerned on how this feature might be abused. What if a competitor tags my client’s page to announce a better discount? Fans of both pages would see that post. I’m curious to see how Facebook will deter spammers from abusing the tagging feature.

Have you started to see these types of posts in your News Feed? 

 

Facebook Graph Search Optimization for Brands

Facebook Graph Search Optimization for Brands

fbgraphsearchpilates

Facebook Graph Search, is a new way to search on Facebook that allows users to search not just by name but by people, photo, places, and interests.

Users can perform specific search queries that connect the dots between people in their network and information shared publicly on the social graph such as likes, interests, and activities.

For example, if I want to go to pilates this weekend and invite a few friends, I can search for “My friends that live in San Diego that like pilates.” Any of my friends that indicated in their profile that they lived in San Diego and like pilates will appear in the results.

I can even plan ahead on where we could go for lunch after pilates by refining my search to, “Restaurants near The Pilates Room, San Diego” and garner results for restaurants that my friends have checked-in to or are fans of.

Facebook Graph Search Optimization

Now that we understand how Graph Search can be used when it hits mainstream, it’s important that companies set aside time for Facebook Graph Search Optimization and update their Facebook Brand Pages now for maximum visibility. Below are a few tips on how you can get your Facebook Page ready for Graph Search.

Update Facebook Page Info
Make sure details about your brand are up to date:

  • Select the appropriate group and category for your business
  • Specify up to three related sub-categories (these will appear in the page header and search results)
  • Confirm that your address is correct
  • Establish a vanity URL and list your website address
  • Allow users to tag photos posted by your company (under Manage Permissions)
  • Check that your business appears in Facebook’s Nearby tool on your smartphone

graphsearchoptimization

Optimize Photos and Videos
Users will be able to search for photos and videos related to brands:

  • Add descriptions and locations to photos, albums, and videos
  • Tag photos with your Page name

Publish Content Directly on Facebook
After announcing Graph Search, Facebook advised businesses to share content directly on their Pages because, “Only photos and videos shared on your Page can appear as results for photo and video-related searches.

  • Avoid publishing content on third-party plaftforms and post directly to Facebook when possible
  • Leverage Facebook’s post scheduler
  • Strengthen Your Page Connections Ensure that fans are interacting with your content as check-ins and likes will appear in results:
  • Employ a check-in strategy if your brand has a physical location
  • Launch a Facebook campaign to drive Page Likes

fbgraphsearchopt2

Strengthen Your Page Connections

  • Ensure that fans are interacting with your content as check-ins and likes will appear in results:
  • Employ a check-in strategy if your brand has a physical location
    Launch a Facebook campaign to drive Page Likes

Have any other tips on how to optimize Facebook Brand Pages for Graph Search? Feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments below.
– See more at: http://www.theideabrand.com/2013/01/31/facebook-graph-search-optimization-for-businesses#sthash.ZgjJXcrb.dpuf

Have any other tips on how to optimize Facebook Brand Pages for Graph Search? Feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments below.

Originally posted at the Great Matters blog for i.d.e.a.: http://www.theideabrand.com/2013/01/31/facebook-graph-search-optimization-for-businesses

This Week’s Highlights

I have 32 subscriptions to blogs and 1000+ items in my Google Reader that’s waiting to be read. While I filter through these unread items and take steps to simplify and organize my RSS feeds, here are a couple of standout posts, websites, and tools that I found worthy to be highlighted this week.

Posts

Websites

Tools

Save Time Post at Ping.fm

Ping.fm is the most effective way to update your status on multiple social networks. A single post to Ping.fm can update 16 popular social services at the same time so you don’t have to sign into each account individually. You can post a status update, a blog, or micro-blog through one platform and posting a link won’t be a problem at all – Ping.fm will automatically convert it to a shorter link before posting to your services.

This week my status updates to Facebook, LinkedIn, Mashable, Myspace, Plaxo Pulse, Plurk, and Twitter and took less than a minute to complete. If I signed into each account individually, it would have taken me even longer.

Ping.fm saves me time and it can save you time as well.Go to Ping.fm and sign up with the beta code “pingofpings”.

After you sign up, check out a quick-and-easy tutorial that Trevor at BordelineTheory.com put together. Or you can check out Bwana.tv’s video tutorial below.

(Photo Credit: Ping.fm)

(Video Credit: Bwana.tv)

Bookmark and Share