Facebook Fan Page Changes: Good or Bad for You?

Facebook has made some major changes to Fan Pages. (2-2011) In this there is some good news and maybe bad news for businesses using Facebook to reach fans. The changes will go into effect automatically in March but you can change over now if you want.

Quick review here then more below.

·         Notifications show up in the same place when people interact with our page or posts

·         You can now search for other pages to like and LIKE them as your PAGE, not your personal id. This is something Fan Page admins have been asking for and I’m really glad Facebook has delivered. Used correctly this could help you get your brand more exposure with careful planning and execution.

·         Now there is a newsfeed just for the pages you like

But the most noticeable change is the move of the tabs at the top to the sidebar and pictures up at the top. This will hopefully give more room (since it’s vertical) to show menu items than in the limited tab, but they are a bit less noticeable now.

• The last change is possibly the most noticeable one and we’ll have to wait and see what it does to interactions with the page. One piece of advice would be to make sure you have GOOD pictures to show up on the top and not just your logo as you see here! I’m sure this is Facebooks way of trying to make your page more dynamic because they know people can’t help but react to pictures, it’s just human nature.

Here are some things to think about:

• Will the move of the menu from the top to the left affect the number of interactions you get in these areas?
• Will the addition of photos at the top increase interactions?
• Will the sum of these interactions balance each other out to a net gain or loss?

We’ll have to see. What do you think?