New Facebook Pages: Changes Will Help Optimize Business Page

9 March 2009 1,236 views 2 Comments

Following a change in the redesign of their Facebook page, the business pages will now have the same wall and tabs design that personal profiles are using. In this article, we will share with you some of the changes, challenges and opportunities for the Facebook page.

The Changes

1. The mini-feed and wall will be merged together into a “wall” tab which will become front and center of the pages.

2. The company information and other static information will live in the info tab while most of the photos will be in the photo tab.

3. Pages will now be able to share status updates and these updates will be visible on the wall tab

4. Most custom content and application will be on the “boxes” tab. Page admin will be able to create multiple boxes with custom name to it.

No Change

Like before, the business page will have the same functions, sharing of photos, videos, text, applications and custom content. There is also no mention of any cost involve with this new page design.

Opportunities

1. Stronger interaction with fans. Because the wall tab will become the focus, Pages will become active and dynamic, this will encourage more interaction and participation between the brand and their fans.

2. Increased virality. Content that are pasted on the wall will also show up on the fans’ news feeds more often. this means that posting updates to your page will get more viral and has the potential to drive significant traffic to the page.

3. More ways to communicate. The Status Update will provide a powerful way for Pages to share short interesting blurbs with Fans in a way that is less obtrusive than an Update delivered to their inboxes. Brands that use Twitter can sync their accounts so that selected Tweets will automatically post to Facebook as Status Updates.

4. Specific Landing Page for Non-Fans. The Wall tab will be the point of entry for all Fans when they visit a Page (with the idea that they’ll first be exposed to the newest content). When it comes to non-fans, Page admins will be able to choose which tab they’d like to use as the landing page. This means that if a Page has a new application or custom content that they’d like to promote, they can set this as the point of entry for all new visitors to the Page.

The Challenge

Overall, the new design will make Pages more dynamic and viral, but it will also pose some challenges too:

1. Content will need to be updated frequently and consistently to ensure the Wall tab (the new focus of Pages) stays fresh.

2. The addition of Status Updates will require brands to establish guidelines on what content can be posted here on a consistent basis.

3. Page admins will need to determine what content (text, links, photos and videos) Fans will be able to share on the Wall tab so permissions can be set accordingly.

4. Static brand content will become secondary to Fan-to-brand interaction, so there will be less content control for brands.

5. Placement of custom content and applications will need to be determined so that it remains visible and accessible for Fans.

6. Static brand content will now need to adhere to the standard template, so Pages may need to adjust the format of their About and Contact information to fit.

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