How to respond to changes in Facebook and Google+ company pages?

In early March this year, Facebook announced that at the end of the month all "pages" that are used mainly for  company/ business promotion will go to the new "Timeline" form. What brought about this change and how companies cope with it?

On notification of changes in the corporate website, Facebook immediately responded to a minimal number of firms. Although the timeline was known already to the personal profiles, Facebook also gave companies the opportunity to try a new look. The "dry run" company rather remained calm in March. Representatives of some companies, however, became more interested in what each will bring change.

Main photo and hidden bookmarks

The actual change is not only what essential at first sight. In fact, it is  a substantial change in design and operation of pages on Facebook . Most noticeable is the new course in the graphic. In the upper part appeared broad picture, which aims to attract the attention of Facebook users and to present the company an impressive manner. While the announcement itself rushed in advance, with   limited initial content of photographs in Facebook Timeline, Facebook took his time and because of this, the most active firms that responded to the announced changes immediately prepared their own Timeline twice. 

And what are the restrictions mentioned? In a particular way, it is prohibited to place this image into contact information (including address, company website) and various calls to action, discounts, price notifications or arguments, why become a fan of this page etc. Facebook tightening this of the rules and made ​​it clear that the initial photo should be just a visual complement and not for advertising space.

An ideal home photo, a character study or company Logo;  the picture is only appropriate to add the motto. Very popular graphic procedure is also  visually connect home with profile photo image .

As the biggest problem turned out to  change the tabs that were previously sorted in the left menu. Now in the space below the main photo shows only four and a list of all tabs you need. This, however, users may not be motivated unless the site administrators do not get from  a special reason in any page paper on the wall.

Great new form of a bad site is also impossible to set one of the tabs as  input ("landing tab"). Previously, the company implemented its own input tabs that were intended to convince users of Facebook to become fans of their site. This goal now can not use bookmarks effectively implemented and the old landing page, no choice but to drop, or rework for an entirely different purpose. Companies now have  the opportunity to convince users in a limited space "info box" that appears under the main photo.

Wall is now chronicle in the company pages

The new look changed the functionality of the wall itself. Facebook calls companies in this step to create their site to chronicle. By adding significant events in the life of the company, however, began only with a minor part of them. For example, Vodafone added only nine posts that are placed on the timeline until the founding of their Facebook page.

A very creative way of presenting selected Škoda Auto, which added to the timeline of events from a number of its long history. It can be assumed that the time axis will contribute to the website to make it to the  fans of the company spent a long time . But this can prove to future studies and measurements.

Most sites also visited not to take advantage of  "pinning" a contribution to the top of the chronology and thereby disrupt the timeline. Similarly, the  stretch selected contributions on the entire surface of both the column wall  is now rarely used as a marketing tool which can alert fans to important company information.

An important factor for the effectiveness of marketing at Facebook are constantly refined statistics sites, called Reporting. Now you can have a very easy way to evaluate the overall success of the company's activities on the wall of Facebook page. Even i can easily evaluate  the success of individual contributions like Fanta, Skoda, Vodafone etc.

A completely new feature is the ability to  send private message to site administrators through facebook post. It turns out that this company is in our opinion a very useful function of fear and a fifth of them have banned it .

Overall Timeline came as positive, because the fans brings  greater motivation to return to the page and following not only through the company posts but also the "news feed" (news on the home page). But it seems that many companies do few necessary changes that is too short for those in a monthly period. Users still find a huge number of pages, which do not contain photographs or home.

Google+ is in the footsteps of Facebook

Big surprise, Google+ prepared to  change its appearance without prior notice. Here, however, changes have less impact on what companies must have to do. In fact Google+ only changed design and added graphics to present the  initial image  as Facebook. But Google+ left the choices and location of the images; you can have five photos, as it already had many corporate sites before.

About this change of Google+ is said to be a direct response to Facebook. Its functionality is very similar and strong sense of inspiration is literally at every step. This claim can be supported by current and changing visage of corporate sites that again a little more closely the form of Facebook. Companies that can facilitate the work - they can easily be  visually present in the same style in both of these social networks .

Google+  is still very little used by the companies in non-english countries, which is a shame. The presence on this network can provide us  a significant competitive advantage  while the opportunity to fill your page relevant content that will be increasingly essential for  success in the search engine company Google .

If you work in a company that whose Facebook page still has not modified into a new form, or you are not based on Google+ page, do not hesitate to try it. Bring added value to your permanent long time customers and keep your company brand potential. It is a pity not to say that Marketing and PR in social networks is a powerful weapon.