Exploring Enhanced Facebook Pages

Have you been implementing Enhanced Facebook Pages (EFPs) into your or your clients’ Facebook Pages?

I’m finding a dearth of discussion about the enhancements that are now possible within Facebook Pages such as:

• Custom Tabs
• Custom Pages
• Enhanced Wall Pages

But almost too quietly, companies are rolling out beautifully augmented Facebook Pages that thumb collective noses at the weak, poorly-branded default Page programming options.

Why have a company information page like this:

When you can have a branded, action-oriented, compelling and engaging landing page like this:

Am I missing something here?

I mean is there a reason why more people aren’t taking full advantage of EFPs and FBML to build out more clearly branded and interactive Pages to take a Facebook Page from a plain-vanilla, moderately interactive billboard into a visually-appealing, dynamic space? Even if we treat your Facebook Page as a gateway to your site, blog or other forum, shouldn’t we be leveraging the best creative options and features at our disposal to give a great first impression to our potential (and existing) customers and clients?

I’d argue that one reason for the slow and quiet rollout of these pages (Facebook did announce these capabilities in Q1 2009) is because it does take a certain degree of skill and understanding of FBML and Facebook Apps to develop these. But I think the real reason we aren’t hearing about these enhancements yet is because while there are awesome programmers out there with the capabilities, they may not be marketers. Seeing these EFPs warms the cockles of my marketer’s heart, and I sure other marketers – when shown the differences between default FB Pages and EFPs will be equally as giddy.

What we need to do is to get the awesome programmers together with the savvy social media marketers to best leverage these technical developments. Throw in a great designer in the mix, and we will no longer have to suffer through boring and confusing default Facebook Pages.

Pros of EFPs

Quick thoughts on the benefits of EFPs:

• Strong branding
• Enhanced visuals and multimedia placement
• More prominent calls to action
• More familiar – and less confusing – interfaces
• More positive emotional impact upon landing
• Ability to target an enhanced landing page to non-fans and the interactive Wall to existing fans

Cons of EFPs?

Here are some things I think naysayers might say about EFPs. Worth discussing.

• Could turn your Facebook Page into more of a destination which could split your audience away from your main destination so there might be an impact on traffic referrals from Facebook.
• Increases time of production and cost of Facebook Page development.
• Requires additional strategic planning, and design discussions to create truly effective EFPs.
• Just because something CAN be done might not mean that everyone SHOULD do it. You need a strategic reason to invest the extra time and money to execute.

So why am I talking about Enhanced Facebook Pages?

Shouldn’t I be hoarding the information within my own company to set us apart from other SMM firms? Of course not! We as an industry are better off as a whole by sharing knowledge and establishing a higher standard of best practices in social media marketing. As we all improve our services and offerings – and our understanding of the tools and tactics which constantly change – we create a bigger and more enticing pie as we prove that SMM is coming into it’s own and cannot be ignored.

Will you help me spread the word? Let’s talk about and compare EFPs – pros, cons, best practices, and the worst.

By the way, don’t look at our company FB Page – Cobbler’s Kids’ Shoes, know what I mean? But we’ll get there because we know we have to in order to remain competitive and to best leverage available technologies and tools.

Who do YOU think has a great EFP? Do YOU?