Facebook Marketing: Why News Feed Still Trumps Timeline Pages

February 29th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Reggie Bradford is the founder and CEO of Vitrue, the leading provider of social marketing software, offering SaaS solutions to help brands and agencies harness the marketing-communications potential of social media on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social communities. Follow Reggie on Twitter @ReggieBradford and Vitrue @Vitrue.

Facebook unveiled its much-anticipated new Timeline Pages Wednesday, giving marketers a glimpse of what lies ahead as the feature rolls out over the next few months.

We’ve already experienced what Timeline means for consumers: a visual, multimedia chronological history of “you.” And it will be similar for brands: a dynamic new destination that will allow companies to present a visual treasure trove of stories, events and fan interactions.

[More from Mashable: Facebook Timeline Brand Pages Are Here [PICS]]

The Timeline Page feature does represent a significant improvement over the previous Page format. Not to mention, it creates a new opportunity for potential consumers to spend more time exploring brand Pages on Facebook.

But amidst the buzz of Facebook’s new Pages, we should not lose focus on something that hasn’t changed: the power and importance of the News Feed.

News Feed is Still King…Along With the Content In It

Providing relevant, interactive and valuable content via the News Feed is the number-one priority for consumer engagement. And with Facebook’s recent EdgeRank changes, creating this type of content is more critical than ever in order to gain exposure on News Feeds.

Why is the News Feed where engagement happens? Because that’s where consumers spend most of their time. Don’t believe me? Consider your own Facebook behavior. Need some real-data proof? Our research shows that the News Feed is 110-times more engaging than other features.

However, the importance of News Feed shouldn’t downplay the importance of new Facebook Pages. The Timeline Page format is a fantastic new feature for brands, a showcase for conveying information that should, if done well, get consumers more invested in your story, your history, your products and your success.

After all, scrolling through friends’ Timelines is simply fun! It’s a visually engaging way to get to know people. Smart brands will create engaging Timeline Pages as well, packed with a compelling history illustrated by powerful images.

Still, I spend the majority of my time engaging with content via News Feeds. So do most people.

Now that I’ve driven home the importance of the News Feed, let’s get to today’s news. Three themes come to mind: expression, reach and response. You’ll see these three opportunities woven throughout the key attributes of the new Pages.

A Brand Page’s Cover Photo and Timeline: Visual, Interactive Presentation Tools

The new Page is all about visual engagement. As with consumer Timelines, a brand’s Timeline Page can tell its story in a more visual and impactful manner, giving consumers an interesting new destination to explore.

Immediately, the cover photo jumps off the page and is a great way to visually capture consumer attention. The Timeline feature is far more stimulating than the old Page format, so the effective use of multimedia will become increasingly important in order to make your Page come to life. My company’s research has shown that photos and video lead to far more engagement in News Feeds. This will be no less true for new Pages with the Timeline feature, where the bar has been set for a variety of visual presentations.

If you don’t already have the multimedia engines humming in your organization, there’s no time like the present to invest in quality photo and video content. With Timeline Pages, brands can emphasize the chapters in their history that are relevant and interesting to customers — all the way back to its founding. So, if your company launched in 1901, you might begin your history there, taking your consumers back in time over a century. That’s pretty cool.

Pinned Posts, Friend-Centric Features, DM, Mobile and More

Although the new, visual canvas will be the primary message, Facebook has introduced other features of great interest to brands. New Pages will allow brands to use “Pinned” Posts, so consumers will be exposed to a company’s key messages first.

Pages will be more “friend-centric” in nature, with friend activity more prominently featured, above the fold, and regularly refreshed. This gives consumers a more humanizing connection with the brand and helps increase engagement.

The new Pages also have a new direct message feature, which allows consumers to connect with the brand in a one-to-one, closed-loop manner. This has enormous implications for brands that want to masterfully utilize Facebook for customer service.

Also, the new Pages will abandon tabs. Tabs or apps that marketers currently host will now appear as boxes on their Page Timeline chronology, just as apps now function on users’ Timelines.

Last but not least, it’s expected that tabs will be optimized for mobile. Although not available right out of the gate, brands can likely look forward to mobile optimization within the next few months.

The Bottom Line on New Pages

The Timeline feature is a huge improvement for Pages. It will certainly provide a more visual and engaging experience for consumers, and it will let brands present their identities and stories as never before.

However, marketers should not lose sight that priority number-one is getting into fans’ News Feeds. Simply put, that’s where consumer attention remains. News Feed is the gatekeeper for other parts of Facebook, such as the brand Page.

It’s probably best to think of the Timeline Page feature as a great new marketing bonus. It allows your brand to create an interactive, visually stunning, historical view of the brand. But as always, your content must be engaging and appealing in order to experience real success on Facebook.

Do your job right and your Page content will find its way into News Feeds and onto peoples’ Timelines, all the while helping your brand curate its own story via a dynamic, visual presentation.