Marketing Spotlight – Brands using the Facebook Timeline

I’m sure you’ve all wondered how to best use the new Facebook Timeline. For this week’s Marketing Spotlight, I’m taking a look at a few brands using the “new” Facebook Timeline to promote their products and brands. They’re all great examples of how to take what the Timeline profile offers and use it to creatively market yourself or your consumers.

SAMSUNG

Samsung uses its Facebook Timline to promote its new Galaxy Note tablet/phone. They show they interactivity of the product and the fact that it uses a stylus- something that its competitors doesn’t have. The Facebook Timeline really makes imagery a key part of a brand’s page, and Samsung makes no exception for this. They tie their brand logo into the promotional image, giving a smooth appearance to the marketing. Additionally, all of the covers on their tabs (Photos, Worldwide, GALAXY Note, etc) have the same graphic design, creating a unified appearance that is pleasurable to the eyes and enhances the professionalism of their brand page.

You can do the same thing as Samsung. Pick a product you’re currently promoting and make it your Timeline photo. Show a key differentiator it has against your competitors. Tie your logo into the image, and create tabs that have a consistent look and feel.

TARGET

Target takes Facebook Timeline promotional imagery to the next level. Rather than use a strong image, they use their Facebook Timeline image like a billboard. Currently, Target is using the space to promote their “National Princess Week.”

Doing this is easy enough for you as well, but you must make sure you follow Facebook guidelines. Though you can use the space as ad space, you cannot list prices or percentages.

BP

BP uses their Facebook Timeline as a PR outlet. After negative feelings towards the brand from their oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP was on a spree to change their entire brand image to a company that supports the environment and new forms of energy. Naturally, BP does this on their Facebook Timeline, displaying images of nature, smiling people, and wind technology.

If you or your company is battling a PR issue, use the Facebook Timeline to help recreate your brand in the mind of your consumers like BP did.

These brands are all ones we can learn from, and there are many, many more doing some cool things with the Facebook Timeline. How are you using it to promote yourself or your company?

-Bryan Nagy