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Facebook Pages Upgrade: What You Need to Know

New Facebook Pages are here.

If you are a Page admin – you will have seen the “Upgrade” button by now. Facebook is providing the option to upgrade now, or wait until March 10 when all Pages will be automatically upgraded.

Tip #1: Have a look at the Preview

Get a sense of what your new Page will look like by taking the Preview. Everything will still be there, but organized differently. There are a number of Admin friendly tools available to get to know and understand. Recognize that this will take some time. Do some learning before you proceed.

Tip #2: Tell your fans in advance about the upgrade

Don’t just flip the switch, tell your fans at least a day in advance about the coming changes. Facebook has a bit of a history of changing things and people not liking them. So give your fans some fair notice that their Page will change – I say THEIR page, because it is absolutely theirs. Also, don’t position this as “Facebook is making us do this”… Yes, the changes are coming no matter what, but don’t blame Facebook. After all, this platform is providing you with a media rich space to engage and sell to thousands of your fans! Be ready for negative feedback and handle it promptly and publicly.

Tip #3: Where’d my Tabs Go?

The biggest change to the layout is that the Tabs are now organized under the profile pic – they are more like links now (and consistent with Profiles). You likely have some sponsored content in these tabs – it’s a good idea to reconnect with your corporate partners and talk them through this new layout design. There are new features that enhance sponsor integration, and tabs remain intact as well.

Here’s some other new features:

• Pages will now be able to interact with other pages, much like individuals do. A page can “like” a page. Sponsorship marketing opportunities here…
• Live notification when fans post or comment
• Photos are displayed prominently at the top of the Page
• The ability to feature or promote staff

This is going to take some getting used to, but I think its clear there are more tools available for teams now to engage and monetize. Some of these new features provide excellent sponsor integration opportunities… so get ready what comes next! I will break these down in the coming weeks.

In the meantime – Here’s a Manual for the new Pages.