Is Advertising in Your Facebook Timeline Allowed?



Switching to the new Facebook Timeline will provide you and your business with a number of advantages that the old Timeline simply didn’t have. Along with a new look, the new Facebook Timeline is creating a bit of a stir among businesses that started with the ability to create something called a “Cover image.” The controversy comes in when trying to figure out what you can post on your Facebook page while still staying within the terms of service agreement.

What is a Cover?

A Facebook page’s Cover is a large banner-like image that appears at the very top of your Timeline. While this is a feature currently only available for people who switch over to the new Timeline, it will be a standard feature by December 21st.
As far as dimension go for your Cover image, Facebook has stated that the minimum width is 720 pixels wide. The consensus amongst page owners already utilizing Cover images is that an 850 pixels wide by 315 pixels tall image will produce the best results.

What Are You Supposed to Use It For?

According to Facebook, the purpose of the Cover image is to allow other people to get to know you better. In really simple words, it’s another way for your users to become more familiar with what your page has to offer. The main things you’ll probably want to use it for is to give new followers a brief overview of who you are and to give the users who already follow you a better sense of familiarity.

What’s the Controversy Around Cover Images and Timlines?

While the requirements for Cover images should be pretty straightforward, there’s a lot of confusion as to what Facebook actually allows. A number of pages have already received slaps on their hands from Facebook and had to alter their images to comply with Facebook’s terms of service agreement.
Here’s a rough guideline on what you can’t put in your Cover image:
  • You can’t put any information related to a price on it. This means you can’t put the value of an item on your image, nor can you even mention that it’s on discount. Stay away from any numbers.
  • Keep your contact information in the “About” section of your page. This means you should keep your company’s website, address and everything else where it should be. Don’t even put your company’s phone number in your image. Leave it all in your page’s “About” tab.
  • Don’t reference Facebook interface elements. In other words, don’t put a big message that says “Like” on your Cover image.
  • You can’t use any calls to action. Phrases like “Get it now” and “Share this” are things that belong elsewhere on your page. Keep them away from your Cover image.

The Big Question: Is Advertising Allowed?

This is the question that everyone wants to know the answer to. The short answer is that all advertising on Facebook should be done through Facebook’s ads. The long answer, on the other hand, is that it’s probably okay to have business-related advertisements on your page’s Timeline, but not direct product advertisements
The reasoning behind this is that the purpose of a Facebook page is to create a business presence with your demographics. It’s also supposed to be a way for you to keep in contact with them. There is absolutely nothing wrong about directing your Facebook fans to your website to interact with you.
Think of your Timeline just like your Cover image. It’s okay to have your website’s address listed in places that it’s supposed to be. It’s also okay to have your company’s identity on that page. If you can keep your Timeline in a clean and pristine state that doesn’t have messages of “Buy Our Product Now” written all over it, then you can advertise.
The bottom line is to keep your Timeline’s content in line with what your users would appreciate seeing. Don’t overdo it with calls to action, but don’t be afraid to interact with your fans. If you want to advertise a product, use either Facebook’s ads or redirect them to your website.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Contact Facebook Through Email and Phone ?

Image
There are a lot of unlike ways to contact a company. You can call their offices or their employees right, you can email anyone who works there or any of the official email addresses, you can send a letter to their home base or any of their branch offices, you can get a emissary to delivery a meaning in person, you can text certain numbers, and extra. Companies like Facebook, for example, only have so much to do at any given time that it’d be incredible for them to answer every query. Heck, it’s simple mathematics. Facebook has an spectators of over 1.6 billion monthly active users. Even if .1% of those users send in one ticket per month, that’s still 1,600,000 tickets per month. If every single one of them were keen to customer service, that would still be 4 tickets per employee per day, every day of every month, with weekends. Credibly,  not even a quarter of Facebook’s staff is customer support , and of those who are, many are keen to specific geographic regions...
Keep reading

How to Run a Budget Facebook Ads Campaign ?

Image
With the increasing cost of boosting posts and the lowering organic reach on Facebook, many marketers are shifting their focus more towards advertisements and Facebook’s PPC.  The danger of PPC, of course, is the cost.  It’s easy to nickel-and-dime yourself into far exceeding your returns.  The way to keep your costs down is to put a lot of time and energy into planning. Determine Goals The first thing you need to do is determine your goals.  Are you looking for new fans, new subscribers, traffic to your website, website conversions, app installs or something else?    Different actions have different costs.    Jon Loomer has a few price guidelines : Bringing in new Facebook fans is going to cost somewhere around $1 per fan, depending on a number of factors.  The competition in your niche, the recognition of your brand and the keywords you target will all affect this. Bringing in new email newsletter sub...
Keep reading

Are Facebook Ads a Poor Choice for Small Businesses ?

Image
Facebook began as a simple way to engage friends and family with everyday musings and status updates. As the platform evolved, especially after becoming a publicly traded unit, advertising became one of its core uses. Naturally, big businesses have refined themselves on Facebook use, pouring thousands of dollars into advertising and constant posts. However, minor businesses need a way to advertise to their specific customer base with a sensible price. Facebook ads, and the inevitable business page, are not the best choices for minor companies trying to make their mark. There are several key issues that can make the ads and pages possibly difficult to manage. Ads Don’t Equal Instant Clicks As a recent study from Reuters was published, it showed that   80 percent of Facebook users did not click on ads   or purchase those products. Although ads show up based on a user’s history of likes and hates, people were not tempted to click on the ads. However, users did say...
Keep reading