Custom Facebook tabs can help you deliver a better social media experience to your fans. Basically, these tabs are nothing but your regular Facebook apps, which over time, have evolved.
You don’t have to be intimidated by the new changes in FB’s layout either; for most part, they do not make the task of creating custom tabs challenging. We’ll show you how to go about it, in step-by-step format, so you can try it as you read on, or bookmark this page to try out tab creation at a later time.
#1: Log in and authorize. Go to https://developers.facebook.com/apps and log in with your current Facebook details. As a first-timer, you will be asked to authorize the developer tools, something you can do in a matter of few seconds. To do this, you will need to type your mobile phone number, upon which you will receive a code. Use this code for authorization, and you’re all set to move on!
#2: Start creating your app. Once you’re done with #1 above, you will be able to see a ‘Create New App’ button on the right hand side of the page. Click on this – a dialog box asking for ‘App Name’ and ‘App Namespace’ will appear on screen.
The App Name is just a readable name while the App Namespace is like a unique identity for your app. In the screen shot below, you can see that we have named the app as ‘New Tab’ and added ‘newwtab’ as the app namespace.
#3: App information and image. The next step is to fill in the basic information, such as contact email, your website’s URL, the tab name you prefer (‘Godot’ or ‘New Tab’). Keep the Sandbox Mode disabled.
You will also be adding the URL of the web page that will be pulled into the tab page in the Inline frame/iframe, as well as its secure page tab location (without this, your page content won’t be visible to users opting for secure browsing).
Upload a suitable graphic in the ‘Page Tab Image’ box. Make sure it is 111×74 pixels in size.
#4 Upload to your Facebook page
To upload your custom app to your Facebook page, you have to paste a URL given below into your browser, in a modified form. That is, replace ‘APP’ with your app id and ‘URL’ with your site url. To get this information, you can look at the app’s summary tab.
Upon finishing this, a dialog box will pop up, asking you to choose the Facebook pages on which you want your newly-created custom tab to appear. You will then be able to see your new tab on the chosen FB page(s).
Are FB custom tabs a good change? With Timeline came custom page tabs, allowing you to add 111×74 pixel images for greater clarity as opposed to the previous single-line text and favicon. In fact, this is one of the benefits that Facebook’s Timeline has brought with it – the extra space to work with your custom tabs.
The greater width means that you can now explore more design options. This in turn can help you identify a design that complements your custom tab. Under the cover image of your FB Timeline, you can feature three tabs with names and images. This gives you an opportunity to focus on anything you are trying to sell/promote, such as events, specials, new product, contests, etc.
Using Facebook tabs to market your brand. Now that you’ve understood how to go about creating custom tabs on Facebook, here’s a look at how you can use them to market your brand effectively.
One idea you can explore is accommodating all your Facebook contests under your newly created custom tabs on top of the timeline.
Bring out announcements prominently by using a striking image and putting the spotlight on your contests. You can just swap out the tab images with each passing contest. This apart, you can use the custom apps for different calls to action such as (a) liking your Facebook page (do this without going against FB’s policies) (b) participating in a promotion or making a purchase (c) visiting your website and (d) experiencing your brand.
To get results from your custom tabs, you can try a few tactics. First, decide which tab you want to drive most traffic to – this will be your most important tab, one that has the potential to deliver the best results.
Once you have zeroed in on this, link directly to the app as much as you can.
This means linking to it from your website, blog and other social media networks on which you have a presence. A good option is to shorten the url using Bit.ly instead of using the full, lengthy one. Bit.ly will also give you the click statistics, telling you where fans are trickling in from.
Add an attractive call to action, but with care! Even as you link directly to your custom app, many people will land on your Facebook page. Display your custom app on top of your FB page. Make sure that the thumbnail you use for it is eye-catching and click-worthy.
It is also important that you name the thumbnail appropriately; for instance, if you’re giving away a discount or a free gift, add a catchy call-to-action like ‘grab your free gift now’ or ‘huge discount for limited time.’ However, keep in mind Facebook’s rules when adding a call-to-action for your Timeline cover. For instance, you cannot invite people to ‘like’ your page in exchange for a free gift.
You can also consider creating posts that link to your custom tab, every few weeks. This will encourage new users to see what your offer is all about and prompt your present fans to act on it. Solicit your fan’s opinions on your offers and keep the conversation going with questions, feedback and other requests. If you do not have the in-house resource for creating blog and social media posts, you can hire a writer for a top-notch output.
There are many Facebook custom app creation tutorials online. If you want, you can also look for an app that helps you simplify the process of creating custom Facebook tabs. It also helps to look at a few custom tabs from leading brands, for inspiration and ideas!
About the author. Jessica Davis is a Content Strategy Specialist with Godot Media. She has years of experience in working closely with online businesses, helping them refine their marketing strategy through optimum use of content. She works closely with other blog writers at Godot Media.