What you need to know about Facebook pages new Timeline

At the beginning of March Facebook introduced the New Timeline for pages earlier than was expected giving a big shock in the business world as now to get business through Facebook requires technical and marketing skills more than before. The major change in the New Timeline for pages is the so called Fan Gate which was used extensively from almost everyone to capture leads. The Fan Gates do not exist anymore as “Welcome” pages even they still remain in the page at the apps section. The visitor lands directly in the new timeline and has no particular reason to “Like” the page in order to get through. I personally believe that this is the end of fan gates and it remains to see how businesses are going to collect emails from potential clients.

It looks to me that Facebook make things more challenging for the small and medium size businesses that were using this platform to generate clients. There is also the positive site of the New Timeline that has to do with the layout of the page which is more capturing with bigger images, the main big cover photo and the ability to communicate with your fans directly via email.

What has changed in the New Timeline

New Administrator Panel: Gives you the possibility to respond when people write on your page timeline, and view your latest insights.

Message Your Fans Directly: Now people can contact you privately using messages. Notifications about new messages will appear right in your admin panel.

Cover Photo: According to Facebook terms about the Cover Photo you must consider that the cover photo can be up to 850 pixels by 315 pixels but may not contain any of the following:

·        Price or purchase information, such as “40 percent off” or “Download it at our website.”

·        Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s About section.

·        References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features.

·        Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends.” If you have a page that generates leads through a fan gate do you believe that this changes will affect your business? Leave your comments below...

w

Well known brands are investing more in Social Media this year

Marketing Week published recently an article that I found it very interesting as the topic was that all the well known brands are investing more money into their Social Media Campaigns this year. This is very interesting if we consider that the recession is still here while at the same time there is a global financial instability that has affected consumer’s spending habits. All the well known brands according to Marketing Week they said that they sold more products via their own Youtube Channels than other type of commercials.

Waiting for the perfect Man

During my marketing career  I saw many business owners being paralyzed by waiting the perfect Marketing System which is going to solve all their problems like in a fairy tale story. Let me reveal you a big secret here: There is not a perfect marketing system and there are no guarantees that your campaigns either are online or offline are going to give you the ROI you wished for. This attitude reminds me the old saying about the woman who was waiting for the perfect man. Guess what? The perfect man doesn't exists so stop wasting valuable time! Time is money and a smart marketing system even if its not perfect, is going to move your business faster. If you are waiting for the Perfect Marketing System in order to take action is going to be too late. I highly encourage you to review your marketing strategy asap and take advice from people who have mastered a formula to convert suspects into prospects into customers.

Quantity vs Quality

How often I have to update my Social Media?

When it comes to Social Media one of the major issues is how often you can update your Facebook, how often you can tweet etc.

These days that we are connected 24/7 is very easy to slip in an over posting mode in order to get attention. The “New Media” experts declare that this is one of the critical mistakes someone can do and has the opposite results. The audience is going to hide your posts or stop following you if you fire hosing them with your latest offers, deals and services.

The Myth of the Overnight Success

I have been inspired to write this article because I understand that many people including myself, we are crashing on the myth of the overnight success. We all have been challenged by that. We admire the successful people but are we willing or determined to do what they did? Long days and nights, long weekends, obsessed from their mission, living and breathing their business. And the answer is categorically with only few exceptions NO!!!