Artists Facebook Pages Are Being Updated!
For artists Facebook has been a mixed blessing. On one hand the social network allows you to easily connect with a large and very engaging audience. But on the other hand Facebook has never had a format or a design that is flattering to visual artists and for many artists Facebook is just too hard to navigate and use to its full potential.
But Facebook pages are changing to allow businesses, organizations, and artists to better tell their story.
Facebook is bringing the Timeline to Pages.
You most likely at least have a FB profile for yourself and maybe you use it for you art as well. If so you are already familiar with the recent Timeline update. Now that same format is coming to FB Pages and I believe that change is good news for artists because the Timeline format is more visual and an artist Facebook Page will look much better than it ever has.
There are actually quite a few changes on multiple levels but I want to go over the basics so you are ready when your artist Facebook page updates to the Timeline.
One: The Cover Photo
The large image at the top of the Timeline is a great place to show off your best work. Take advantage of the full 850 pixels by 350 pixels it allows.
You could either use a single large image or create a photo that has multiple examples of your work. You’re an artist, get creative. Use a free online photo editing service like Photoshop Express if you need to crop or otherwise edit the files from your camera.
More details on the FB cover photo can be found here.
Two: The Profile Picture
This is the square image that appears in the lower left corner of your cover photo at the top of your page. It also appears next to every post and update in your newsfeed. Upload a 180 pixel by 180 pixel image of yourself for this one so that your audience can put a face to the work. Being able to see you really helps people connect with your work. Don’t be shy.
Three: Pinned Posts
A new feature of the Timeline is pinned posts. Click the pencil icon in the upper right of a post and select “Pin to Top.” This will keep an entry at the tope of your timeline for a week. A nice way to have an image of your latest work stay at the time even after you’ve updated your Timeline with other news.
Four: Highlighted Stories
Want to really show off a new piece, photo, or video? By using the highlighted story feature your post can span all the way across your Timeline, not just the default half page size. To do this just click the star icon in the upper right of a post.
Bonus: Larger Images and Videos
Facebook’s Timeline format is designed with storytelling in mind. Because of that photos and videos will now be bigger and more appealing. Use this to your advantage by experimenting with larger file uploads to find an ideal size for your work.
To transition your artist Facebook Page to the Timeline start with these four upgrades. To recap:
- Cover Photo: 850 pixels by 350 pixels
- Profile Photo: 180 pixels by 180 pixels
- Pinned Posts: Click the pencil icon then select “Pin to Top”
- Highlighted Stories: Click the star icon in upper right of post.
I agree that the cover photo will be the biggest change for visual artists. On the other hand if you’ve set up a custom tab with some kind of offer to get people to “Like” your page, you might not be as happy, since you can’t setup a custom page as a default. Despite this, I think artists will be able to make far more use out of Facebook than ever before.
I like that the custom tab is going away because now the content of the page is front and center. How many times have you liked a page because of a the fancy landing page only to discover that there is no real content behind it? And for the average user it was too hard to set up in the first place.