Yesterday, my Facebook page officially became Extra Black Olives (follow me!). It was a very lengthy and frustrating process, so I decided to share how I updated my Facebook page with my rebrand. I think I submitted around five requests to update my page name before it was approved. So I can’t guarantee that following these steps will change your Facebook page name successfully on the first attempt, but it should get you on the right track to change your Facebook page name.
Launch your new brand
Be sure to update all of your current sites (including social media) to your new branding. Update your headers, website links, photos, and logos. Facebook can check out your other sites to verify the new brand, so you want to make sure your new brand is available across all of your platforms.
Share posts explaining the new brand
Facebook’s appeal process specifically mentions submitting links to your website and your Facebook page where you share the new brand. Make sure you publish a post explaining the old and the new, and be sure to share it on your Facebook page. Again, they can (and may) verify your new branding.
Pin an tweet with your updated branding
Thanks to Alex for this suggestion! She pinned a tweet with all of her new URLs (for her site and social media). This again easily allows Facebook to verify your new branding.
Begin with a transition name (without parentheses)
Facebook’s page name policy states that you can’t change your page name from “I Love San Francisco” to “I Love New York,” but you can change from “John Smith” to “John Smith – Trainer.” I was able to change from “Sorority Life to Army Wife” to “Extra Black Olives – previously Sorority Life to Army Wife.” Strangely enough, I submitted “Extra Black Olives (previously Sorority Life to Army Wife)” and had that denied several times. After some research, I found that the update function doesn’t like parentheses. Leave them out, and save yourself the hassle. My name change request was approved immediately when I submitted it with a hyphen instead of parentheses.
Update to your current name after a week
Facebook’s update policy also prevents you from requesting a second page name change or deleting your page within seven days of your approved request. Once your initial change is approved, wait a week (or longer if you’re me) then submit a request to your new name. This was also approved immediately.
Appeal your decision if denied
Facebook will allow you to appeal any decision. Here, you can submit the links for the posts where you shared your new branding and why. You should have a Facebook employee assigned to your appeal, so you can communicate with them a bit easier than the automatic review.
Did you have to change your Facebook page name?
I can’t believe how difficult they make it! Glad you finally got switched over!