The new Facebook Timeline format for Pages has been rolled out for everyone now, including “brand Pages” for companies and organizations, such as libraries. That means many libraries have been, or will be, spending time reworking the graphics and other features of their Facebook Pages. You might be wondering how your library users are viewing those changes, and a new eye-tracking study (pdf) by the market research company SimpleUsability provides some answers.
- Eye-tracking: Consumers disorientated by new Timeline (BizReport/Helen Leggatt) “SimpleUsability’s eye-tracking research found that consumers dismiss the cover image as advertising and, with little to distinguish pinned posts from other content, they are often missed. According to SimpleUsability, ‘no users realized the pinned post was intended to be highlighted’.”
- Adapting to Facebook Timeline is a huge challenge for brands, here are some tips on where to focus (The Next Web/Nancy Messieh) “If you haven’t already filled in your brand’s history into the Timeline, you should do it now. It certainly will take a bit of effort, but it’s worth it. Simple Usability found that users gravitate towards the Timeline navigation on the right hand side of the page. Users are interested in finding out more about the brand, pre-dating its Facebook existence, which represents a chance to communicate with them.”
- Eye movement study reveals six must-know things about Facebook brand Pages (ReadWriteWeb/Dave Copeland) “Timeline’s biggest benefit for brands, according to the study, is the ability to tell a brand’s story. The Timeline design is particularly effective in accomplishing this online, but users also liked the ease of finding the ‘About’ button on brand pages. In many cases, users said it was easier to learn about a brand than it was on a corporate Web site.”
- Report: How effective is Timeline for Pages? The eyes have it (All Facebook/David Cohen) “Regular updates are more important than ever with the layout of timeline for pages. Simple Usability found that users consider themselves to be up-to-date on topics such as sports and music, and they expect Facebook pages to be the same way.”
Updates fact:
Another new study by Recommend.ly found that 82% of Facebook brand Pages are updated less than five times a month, while politicians update their Pages more than twice a day.
