Facebook finalizes the transition to Timeline for brands one week from today (March 30), presenting a timely opportunity to make your Facebook page the visual, storytelling hub of your brand. Many brands have already crossed over to the Facebook Timeline. Favorites to date are using the new page layout to deliver a specific and targeted brand message. Some use aspirational imagery to take Facebook users somewhere special (Starwood Preferred Guest, Pier 39, Kurumba Maldives). Some are mission-driven (TOMS Shoes, American Heart Association). Some use the larger tab/app icons to drive viewers to other social channels like YouTube (Sphero). Some illustrate their brand with adorable baby photography (Kristin Richardson Photography). Some celebrate a milestone (AutoCAD). And some expertly showcase user-generated content (Verizon Wireless).

What they are all doing is taking advantage of the greatly-expanded visual space- the new Cover image is 851px wide- for visual storytelling that simply wasn’t possible with the old Facebook page layout. And most of them take advantage of the larger Custom App Icon to draw attention to the four apps posted just below the Cover image. (You can integrate more than four apps on your Page and you can reorder which ones appear in the top row of 4).

For those of you currently running Votigo-powered apps, your promotions and tabs will transition seamlessly to the expanded app page layout (now much wider at 810px). You’ll have the opportunity to optimize your live promotions for the new Timeline layout by adding a larger image. Or you can choose to let them continue as you originally designed them- they will function seamlessly at their original size, even within the wider layout. Just make sure to log-in and optimize the order of your apps and, if possible, add Custom App Icons to draw attention to all of your apps, including Votigo-powered promotions.

And all promotions created starting March 30 will automatically be optimized for 810px- so have your new images ready to go. We will also introduce new design templates and an expanded preview so that you can experience your apps more completely before publishing them.

For a complete recap and details of Votigo’s transition to Facebook Timeline, check out this post in Votigo’s resource center.

We can’t say it enough: Timeline is a tremendous opportunity to step up your Facebook Page to tell the story of your brand and engage with users at a higher level, since they will experience your brand on Facebook just as they experience an individual friend. Get your page ready to go for March 30- and let us know if we can help.