Facebook Timeline is Good News for Fashion Brands

This past Wednesday, Facebook announced that Timeline is now live for certain organizations who use pages, and will be live for everyone March 30.  Pictured above is Kate Spade’s interactive new page.  We’re already used to Timeline on our own or friend’s pages which allows us to look back at our history on Facebook, but what does this change mean for brands?  Well, it could mean great things.

The layout of the page alone creates a much more visually pleasing look; with the opportunity for brands to use the cover photo as a place for logos, production promotions an all around creative way to capture people’s attention.  The old format of Facebook got boring, with just line after line of text.  The new Timeline has an improved layout, that to me is similar looking to Pinterest, featuring two columns scattered with pictures and posts chronicling your past.  Think about how insanely popular sites like Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest have become.  People would prefer to browse through photographs rather then text, and the pictures help create an image with which we remember a company.

This setup also lets people connect with the identity of the brand and learn about it’s history.  The new Timeline allows companies to enter in events that occurred before Facebook, even dating back to the founding of the company. Burberry’s Facebook Timeline dates back to 1856, when they opened their first store in Basingstoke, England.  Their cover photo is a black-and-white picture of the store opening way back then, making consumers feel more connected to Burberry and it’s history, (like I said in my last post, they really are an industry leader in using social media).  In addition, brands are able to highlight specific milestones or photos by starring the post, which expands it to fill both columns and drawing attention to it.  The opportunities are endless, and the whole experience of going on Facebook will be so much more engaging and personal for consumers.  It’s especially great for fashion brands since fashion is all about seeing the clothes, not necessarily reading about them.  Starting March 30, all pages will switch over to the new Timeline, so here’s two key strategies to help you prepare:

1. Figure out what you want to use as your cover photo.  It’s the first thing that people see when they visit your page and Facebook has given it a lot of space.  You can change this photo often to keep your page interesting.  You can also use it as a way to promote new products or brand representatives.
2. Go through your company’s history, back to its founding, and highlight which events you want on the Timeline.  The ability to do this creates a much more engaging experience for visitors to your page, so use it to your advantage.

I’m excited to see how brands use Timeline and it’s features.  What do you guys think?