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It’s Time for Your Timeline!
According to a study by internet market research and statistics firm, eMarketer, Facebook will reach an estimated 143.4 million U.S. users in 2012. With numbers like these, it’s hard to argue that Facebook isn’t a powerful tool to help your practice’s marketing strategy. Your Facebook page provides a personal touch to the services you provide, and engages current and prospective patients with easy online access to information about your practice. With the new Timeline layout becoming live for all on March 30th, there are a few things you should think about to optimize your usage of this powerful social media tool.
What’s New?
The new layout will enable you to organize your status updates onto a timeline, making it easy for your fans to look up your posts by month and year, though the most noticeable difference in the Facebook experience is in the visual category, with larger and more clearly displayed photos.
Upload New Cover and Profile Photos
To get started with the new design, choose a cover photo that showcases your practice. Ideally, the image will be 851 by 315 pixels; just click on “Add a Cover” near the top-left of your Facebook page, and choose “Upload Photo”. The profile photo is the smaller image that appears beside all of your status updates, as a box within your larger cover photo. This is an ideal spot for a logo! If you already have a page, your existing profile picture will be here, but you can always change it if you’d like.
‘About’ Section
The section that used to be buried in the “Info” tab on your company page is now front and center right below your profile photo, so consider rewriting it to show it off. Keep it short and to the point, like a mission statement.
Control Your Posts
With Timeline, you can pin a post to the top of your Facebook page for up to seven days to highlight popular or relevant content, such as a big announcement or patient contest. You can also change the post’s date to keep it at the top of your feed longer. You can also “star” a post to feature it more prominently, increasing the size of the post to take up the full width of your Facebook page.
Add Milestones
You’ll be able to create company milestones on your Timeline, which gives you an easy way to translate the history of your practice on Facebook. You can also feature events like new location openings and the addition of specific services to help your clients understand your practice’s story.
Control Posts on the Activity Log
Facebook’s new Activity Log will let you manage your posts. This administration panel lets you hide and reveal posts, “star” posts to feature them, and even change post dates.
What’s next?
The Facebook Timeline changes to business pages are just the next evolution of Facebook’s tools for businesses.
Looking to grow your online presence with social networking? Shoot us an email at [email protected] or call 877·633·5193. Sesame can help advise you on how you can grow your practice with online marketing and social media strategies!