Facebook announced yesterday, on February 29, the Timeline for brands. The social media giant said it would roll it out earlier this month. The specific page offers companies a new opportunity for advertising.

Photo: Manchester United’s Timeline, a snapshot

Brands can customize their Timelines adding stories and designs as well as a cover photo that can showcase their logos or products. New admin capabilities include the ability to stick selected pieces of content for seven days, says Mashable.

With the Timeline brands can tell their stories and provide users with more information about their brands philosophy. For example, Manchester United‘s Timeline depicts its rich history, with the first entry dating back to 1878.

The milestones of brands can include such dates as a first sale, a debut of a key product or signing an agreement with a movie star. Timeline means a personalization of a brand, making it feel more like an identity, not just a material thing. With a convenient admin panel that hides or expands on command page admins can easily make any changes and updates.

“The goal is to make Pages more engaging and more social,” said Gokul Rajaram, Facebook’s product director for ads. Visiting the brand’s page you can see how many of your friends like the brand.

Additionally, Facebook has announced the ‘log-out’ ads, to launch in April. The ads will reach the 37 million people who log out of Facebook every day. This is one of several new ‘premium’ products for advertisers that were announced at the Facebook Marketing Conference in New York.

There are also right-hand ads on the homepage and ads within the News Feed on desktops that are already functioning. The Premium ads use ‘storytelling’ rather than traditional advertising. The stories are told with help of questions and videos engaging users to react to each status update.