Blog

By Amy Mullins, Social Media Coordinator

The rollout of the new Facebook Timeline for pages on 30 March, 2012 took some Australian businesses by surprise.

As Facebook has in some cases become the first online contact a customer has with a business, it is very important for any consumer-facing Facebook page to be strategically planned and regularly maintained.

icon.pr has been developing tailored social media strategies for our clients in order to specifically utilise the new aspects of Facebook Timeline for businesses and brands.

Facebook Timeline was created to tell a chronological and visually engaging story about a person or brand. Page content, like text and photos, have become more prominent with a larger font and individually separated post boxes, which are now viewed in two infinitely scrollable columns.

Screenshot taken on April 23, 2012.

Sound a bit confusing? Don’t worry. Here are icon.pr’s three basic tips on tackling Facebook Timeline for businesses:

1. Create a cover photo that best represents what your business is about. It will also help form the Facebook user’s first impression of your page and company so choose carefully. The cover photo can be abstract or expressive, it could be a photo of people in your workplace, or even just a beautiful-looking zoom on a company graphic. “It’s just the vibe...” The optimal size of a cover photo is 850 x 315 pixels.

Keep in mind that Facebook has very specific terms of use regarding cover photos:

“This space is not meant for promotions, coupons or advertisements. Your photo should not be primarily text-based or infringe on anyone else’s copyright.”

2. Add a founding date to your page. The founding date you choose is usually the date your business came into being. Facebook allows businesses or organisations that have a long history to start their page’s Timeline anytime from 1000.

The best part about this feature is that you can add Milestones to tell the history of your business or related area with key events, illustrated with a photograph and a few interesting facts. See the Timeline pages of Coca-Cola, The New Yorker or The New York Times for excellent examples.

And if ‘founded’ doesn’t work for your business you can also choose from, ‘born’, ‘started’, ‘opened’, ‘created’ and ‘launched’.

3. Make your page beautiful with large pictures linked to text or URLs. Instead of attaching a link to the ‘Status’ section, which will automatically display a thumbnail image with the post. Upload an appealing photo in the ‘Photo’ section that illustrates the link you want to attach. In the description section write a comment about the website and then paste in the link, shortened by bit.ly, to make it look neat.

This is a little trick that makes your page more visual, engaging, and as I like to say, “pretty”. This can be especially useful if your business area is text-heavy and information-focused. 

Best of luck!

Baby boomers are the change agents of ageing. In their youth they transformed living patterns, closed gender divides, invented rock and roll and fought for the right to enjoy life – not just live it. Now, in their mature years they are transforming old notions of retirement. 

As boomers (Australians born between 1946 and 1964) begin to reach retirement age, marketers and communicators need to understand some key distinguishing characteristics, which make previous tactics aimed at the ageing Generation X entirely redundant.

First and foremost, retirement is a dirty word and baby boomers don’t identify with it.

Here are some key facts to keep in mind when devising your communications or marketing strategy for baby boomers:

// Most continue to work full-time or part-time

// They enjoy active and independent lives

// They largely seek enriching experiences not ‘things’

// They spend free money on travel and debt reduction

// Boomers are financially stable but not fully secure

// Superannuation largely bypassed them.

And in case you thought baby boomers aren’t active internet and social media users, think again. Social media use among Australians aged over 55 doubled in 2011.

Internet usage among 50-64 year olds in Australia (Sensis e-business report 2011):

// 91% use the internet:

// 45% use social networking sites

// 92% have a mobile phone

// 32% use mobile devices to access the internet.

Reasons for using the internet:

// 88% looked for information on products and services

// 65% used a social networking site

// 48% read a blog.

Jess Brophy joined icon.pr in the position of Account Manager at the beginning of March and the office has never been the same since. Her bubbly personality has been spreading positive vibes throughout the team and we are so fortunate and happy to have her on board. We are impressed by her strong professionalism and enthusiastic work ethic – she is a wonderful and essential element in a diverse new team. Jess will head up the consumer public relations team at icon.pr and with her wealth of experience, our consumer clients couldn’t be in better hands.

Find out more about Jess:

Jessica brings to icon.pr several years of industry experience most recently as a Senior Account Executive in a major integrated agency working with leading consumer clients including McDonald’s, Whirlpool and Walt Disney Company.

Her expertise in client and stakeholder management, media relations, event management and corporate communications spans high-profile events including McHappy Day and Clean Up Australia Day. This is in addition to supporting clients to leverage their own high-profile sponsorships, with Hawthorn and Collingwood AFL clubs.

Jessica’s experience also extends to the not-for-profit sector as she worked at the Starlight Children’s Foundation for two years. She also worked on the Reach Foundation’s Open Book Project campaign, which earned her a bronze placing at the 2011 International YoungGun Awards.

Jessica holds a Bachelor of Communications (Public Relations) from RMIT University.

icon.pr is pleased to have secured coverage for our client, Lifestyle Communities, on Channel 7's Today Tonight television program. The five-minute story, three-minutes of which featured Lifestyle Communities, centred on the resort community model which is becoming an attractive living option for baby boomers.

The Today Tonight crew, with support and coordination by icon.pr, interviewed Geoff and Lynn Morris from Warragul Village and James and Linda Howie from Lifestyle Cranbourne, about the move they made from their family home to a resort estate and the opportunities it has opened up.

Today Tonight crew and reporter Lynda Kinkade with Lifestyle Communities Managing Director, James Kelly

Lifestyle Communities Warragul couple Geoff and Lynn Morris

One of the most positive aspects raised was the equity that the Morris’ freed up when they moved to Warragul Village and how this has enabled them to travel to Alaska in July and New Zealand in the New Year.

Lifestyle Communities Director James Kelly was also interviewed for the story, which ran under the headline of ‘Half Price Homes and Affordable Living’ and aired in primetime nationally on Friday 30 March. Watch the story here.