When Timeline for personal pages was revealed last fall, Facebook had endeavored on a major shift. The Facebook of old was great for sharing one-off moments. But Facebook with Timeline turned Facebook into a platform for human storytelling. They explained: Timeline tells the story of your life, as expressed through status updates, images and milestones.

Within minutes the speculation started. Timeline would certainly roll out for business pages eventually. If it did, what would that mean?

Last week rumors became fact. By March 30 all business pages will be converted into the Timeline format.

If you only read three things about Facebook Timeline, read these three things:

1) Facebook Timeline is about storytelling

The new format allows brands to share their history and stories in a compelling way. A timeline is inherently linear, and with Facebook Timeline people can now visually see the greater corporate story along with the stream of bite sized status updates.

2) Timeline shines with images

Facebook Timeline makes it easy for brands to incorporate images into their stream. From the cover photo, to the favored display of wall posts with images, to the requirement that images accompany milestones, Timeline is all about showing your history in a visual way.

3) Timeline is not a friend to organic marketing efforts

The new format makes it increasingly difficult for brands to market their products and services. Brands can no longer create separate landing pages or require people to “like” a business to access the wall. Moreover, brands are prohibited from putting promotional language on their new cover pictures.

In early February, Facebook disclosed 35 things that could kill their company as part of its SEC filing. Items two and three were especially interesting:

• “We could lose advertisers — and new technology may let users block ads.”
• “Facebook’s mobile platform doesn’t show ads — so the more that grows, the worse for us.”

It isn’t coincidental that Facebook shared some new advertising opportunities on the day Timeline launched. For example, the new Facebook Offers are being offered to brands that have a premium account. These offers will ultimately appear on mobile streams, unlike other Facebook advertisements. We predict the shift to Timeline will accelerate the necessity for brands to advertise on Facebook.

Check out part two on Friday when we share what we learned from reading the fine print about Timeline for Pages.

What do you think about the change? Tweet us @BRGLiving and let us know.