By Melody Harstine, goodmedia communications, staff writer

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Since its debut last September, Facebook’s new Timeline format has received mixed reviews. It seems that it’s a love it or hate it matter. Individuals who have taken the initiative to switch to Timeline, for the most part, enjoy its benefits, whereas Facebook users who have resisted the new design feel lost when viewing another friend’s timeline.

Read my initial thoughts on Timeline in our blog archive.

Undoubtedly, the feature users love most about Timeline is the page-wide cover photo at the top. The new layout takes on more of an appearance of a website or blog than a profile. The cover photo allows users to express their creativity and individuality like never before.

goodmedia timeline cover

Since Timeline’s release, Facebook has been tight-lipped as to whether or not they would roll out Timeline for brand pages. (Though really, did we ever doubt they would? Facebook is clearly transitioning to Timeline.) According to a report and a recent Mashable article, Facebook does in fact have plans to roll out Timeline for brands.

When?

That question will likely be answered at Facebook’s first fMC, an event for marketers, on Feb. 29.

What are the benefits of Timeline for brands?

Most importantly is the ability for a brand to express its own unique image in the cover photo. I would suspect that Facebook’s ultimate goal is that a brand’s Facebook page will eventually receive more hits than the company’s website (if that isn’t already happening). To encourage that, brands must be able to have more control over the design element of their Facebook page. Timeline allows room for more creative expression.

As with the benefits for individual users, Timeline will allow brands to “go back in time,” and share important events in their company history. If I wanted to, I could add photos from my own birth to my timeline, and in the correct chronological order. The same goes for brands. A fan visiting a brand’s timeline will be able to review that brand’s business history, and important events in that brand’s history.

bauhaus facebook timeline

Along with Timeline, Facebook has hinted that it will soon release an expansion of the Like button, with Gestures. The current Like button, now found on nearly any website, has become a way for people to endorse articles, brands, videos, etc. But what if you don’t want to endorse something, so to speak, but do want to share that you read, watched or listened to something. Expect to see buttons similar to the Like button for these and other gestures.

leslie ezelle timeline cover

We will stay tuned for the official announcement from Facebook, most likely coming Feb. 29, but no doubt, brands can expect a rollout of the Timeline feature for brand pages in the near future. Time to gather the design and marketing team and set your strategy for the launch of your all-new Facebook page.

Want help designing the perfect cover for your brand? Contact goodmedia communications for more information.