Want to know what your digital DNA looks like?
Take a look at the new time-lined Facebook Page for your business, band or brand. It’s the life story of your business, expressed through your ‘genes of meaning’ – aka memes – images, ideas and interactions. And whether or not you want it, this is what your Facebook page will look like in 696 hours, and counting…
Of course, it’s the Facebook newsfeed where all the action happens – not the page, and this will continue to be the case: Your customers, who live in their newsfeed, will rarely return to your Facebook page (unless of course you give them a compelling reason to do so – such as fan-first exclusives from a popup fan-store).
But this new memetically-enhanced Facebook timeline uses your digital DNA to create a new ‘microsite of meaning’ that will raise questions for old-style corporate web pages.
Brand hype and brochureware on the web, or a human-focused interactive and visually-oriented Facebook microsite? You choose. Vested interests will say both. But…
So what does the new Facebook for brands and businesses mean for Facebook commerce?
Great things we think.
Take a look at the new Coldplay Facebook page with its ticketing app (screenshots below); the app looks smart, clean and professional on a wider (810px) and more uncluttered canvas. It suggests a viable future for Facebook as a mainstream app platform, including e-commerce-enabled apps.
So here’s our initial take on what your new Facebook page means to you from a social commerce perspective.
And remember, you have just 696 hours left before your current Facebook page automatically self-destructs. If you don’t do anything, Facebook bots will use the shrapnel to randomly cobble together a new starter page for you… (here’s the need-to-know from Facebook on your new Page)
- Goodbye Check-in Deals: Want to drive customers to your store? You’ll need something else…
- Hello Facebook Offers: New free couponing service to drive customers to your site, store or app (shown in newsfeeds, in ads, and on logout page)
- Goodbye Tabs: You can still show tabbed content on your Facebook page, but the menu is hidden below the cover image
- Hello Apps: There is an Apple iOS-like app gallery for your Facebook apps, accessed from a new Apple-style dock under the cover image displaying your top apps (app icons are 107 x 70 pixels BTW).
- Goodbye Custom Landing Screens: No more setting the main URL of your Facebook page to show splash content or a Facebook app – it’s the timeline. Period.
- Hello Wider App Canvas: Facebook apps have a wider, cleaner canvas (810 pixels) to live and work in (yay!) (option for narrow app canvas 520px remains)
- Goodbye Fan-gating: If you measure Facebook success by Likes instead of ROI (which you shouldn’t), and coerce users with Like-us-for-access tricks to bump up your numbers (which you shouldn’t), you’ll have to think again
- Hello Reach Generator: Today your posts only reach 16% of the newsfeeds of your fans, now you can pay Facebook to up that to 75% with Reach Generator
- Goodbye Promotional Cover Images: No more 30% off, ‘like us’ or ‘visit us’ commercial messages on your main image – your cover image (850 by 315 pixels) must be free from any call-to-action
- Hello Pinned Promotions: You can pin promotional posts (with image) to the top (under the cover image) of your FB page for five days
- Hello FB Customer Support: Customers can now send private pre- and post-purchase messages to you on your FB Page
