With 851 x 315px of Facebook real estate, the World Wide Web is your oyster! Most companies look at this (what may seem like gigantic) area of Facebook as more space they are required to fill―so they populate it with an image of their office building, products, stock photos (eek!) or logo. Leverage this space and think of creative cover photo ideas to boost engagement between your brand and audience. Captivating photos create a chain reaction―they show up on your fans’ news feeds and after they like, comment or share your photo, it shows up on their friends’ news feeds and so on. What an easy way to get in front of your audience and stay top of mind!
So what does it mean to have a captivating cover photo? Let’s start with the basics―the dos and don’ts. Facebook has specific guidelines on what is and isn’t allowed in your timeline photo. For example, did you know that you are only allowed 20 percent text in your business’ timeline cover? Facebook has also done us marketers a little favor, though, by finally allowing us to include calls to action and website information in our cover photos―which was previously forbidden. Do follow Facebook’s guidelines. Don’t be boring. Teach, entertain, inform, give an insider look into your company and brand your business!
Take advantage of every pixel of this freedom by using your cover photo to drive people to your website, entice them to download your content, like and share your page, and buy your services or products. Here are some great ways to put your company’s Facebook cover photo to work:
- Invite fans to download your latest content (see our image as an example!)
- Highlight a new blog post with a catchy headline, image or quote
- Invite your audience to an upcoming event
- Announce a product launch
- Promote a Facebook Page Tab
- Present survey results, statistics or interesting facts
- Encourage fans to download your apps
- Display your website and contact information
Keep things fresh and interesting by changing your cover photo every week or two – this will give people reasons to visit your page, enjoy your content and participate in conversations!
