Facebook Timeline 101: Part 3

May 17, 2012, 2:00 PM

How to Use Timeline to Support Your Overall Marketing Activities

This is the third and final post in a three-part series designed to help you keep up with and take advantage of Facebook’s Timeline interface. In part one, we looked at the immediate changes that would alter your fan page’s look and feel. The second installment explored the new features that affect how your content is displayed on the Timeline. Now, we’re going to talk about how to fit Timeline posts into your overall marketing plan.

Check out our fan page
to see the changes in action.

Objectives – Your activities on Facebook should be goal driven and aligned with your overarching marketing strategy. Whether you need to educate your audience about new product/service offerings, bolster your email database, drive people into your place of business, create a buzz and/or grow your community base, a clearly defined set of overall objectives will guide you through your Facebook outreach activities. With these objectives in mind you can put into play an editorial calendar and supporting strategy that outlines your plans for creating and posting Facebook content.

Editorial Calendar and Strategy – A Facebook editorial calendar is a tremendous asset with respect to your posting activities. With it you can put together a schedule of activities that coincide with your overall marketing plan. Using the calendar as your guide, you can devise a specific content posting strategy aimed at helping current and future fans connect the dots to your other marketing efforts throughout the course of your campaign(s).

Here are a few examples of how Timeline’s features, an editorial calendar and strategy can amplify your marketing efforts:

Special Offers/Promotions – You can promote time-sensitive offers like coupons or specials on the Timeline by “Pinning” a post. Use your editorial calendar to coordinate weekly, monthly or seasonal specials that complement traditional ad campaigns and promotions and pin those posts to the top of your Timeline for up to seven days. Be sure to include a visually engaging graphic to capture visitors’ attentions and provide a link from this image to more substantive information about or access to the offer. This link could connect a visitor to your website or a special tab within Facebook. "Highlighting" these posts (which can’t be done if a post is already pinned) is great way to make your promotion more visually engaging to fans.
Events/Announcements – Coordinate with your public relations team to identify opportunities where the Timeline can extend your message’s reach. Upcoming announcements or events can be promoted before, during and after the special occasion. In the weeks leading up to the event, create content that can be “Highlighted” with regular frequency to tease the upcoming event. As the event draws near, “Pin” the final post to the top of your Timeline. During the day of the event, capture images and video to be used as part of a “Milestone” post.
Exclusive Content – Ongoing offers and contests that are exclusive to your Facebook fan base are a great way to engage and reward your audience members. By creating an incentive that positions your brand as unique and customer-centric, your organization is encouraging customer loyalty. So, remember to use Timeline’s new features to push exclusive content to your fan base. These posts can be implemented in lieu of, or in addition to, marketing activities on a regular basis.

Measure, Analyze and Optimize – Facebook provides an analytics dashboard for all page managers to track fan and visitor activity. These insights provide a granular view of their behavior. Using these metrics you should be able to recognize which types of posts have the most success and identify those that are lacking in performance. Use this information to make changes and tailor content to what works best according to the numbers. If your page is reporting activity that is under performing by your standards, it may be time to rethink your content strategy and/or consider Facebook advertising to bolster your efforts.

It’s important to note that Facebook only scratches the surface when it comes to your online marketing activities. There are plenty of opportunities to cross promote traditional and digital marketing efforts to achieve greater ROI. If you have any questions about using Facebook Timeline or how to maximize your online outreach activities please don’t hesitate to contact Jennie or Kevin.

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