A perfect cover picture works as a magnet to attract people to a brand’s Facebook page, therefore it must be visually appealing, and include the use of bright graphics, a quote or motto, or a unique sales pitch. The cover picture is larger than anything else on a Facebook page hence, is the most prominent unit on the page. A recent eye tracking study for Mashable shows that visitors will look at it within the first 0.5 seconds of landing on the page. Studies also show that viewers tend to completely overlook the entire top section of a page if it looks anything like promotional material and hence, a cover picture must not be treated as a billboard, but rather a creative and informative flashcard that depicts the uniqueness of the brand. Here are some tips:
- An impactful Image – An image must speak to the audience on an emotional level – it should intrigue them and drive them to learn more.
Digital agency Studiobanks suggests showing people interacting with the brand or product: “What better way to help potential fans connect emotionally with your organization than by embodying the lifestyle and personality of your brand?”
A successful strategy is to ask questions directly to the viewers and engage then by taking their opinion. Essar Group, a multinational conglomerate, weekly posted questions as part of their campaign to which the fans replied. This enabled the brand to communicate closely with its brand thereby establishing an interactive relationship.
Essar’s interactive cover picture
Photographic supply company Midwest Photo Exchange uses a long-running monthly Cover Photo Contest to showcase their fans’ images. This ensures that their image is always fresh and keeps people coming back to see what’s new each month, moreover , it gives an opportunity to connect with the fans as they are able to relate to it.
- This space is best used creatively, especially if the 180 x 180 pixel Profile Picture can interact with your 850 x 315 pixel Cover Photo and if one can establish a design element that flows between them. It becomes further interesting if the smaller image looks like it’s a part of the larger one. Fanta succeeds in creating this illusion perfectly, as can be seen in the illustration below.
Fanta’s cover picture and profile pictures mesh perfectly
- The optimal image size for cover photos is 851 x 315 pixels. It is advisable to start with a canvas of double that size – 1702 x 630 – for sharp, crisp images. To get the fastest load times for your Page, upload an sRGB JPG file that’s less than 100 kilobytes. For images with your logo or text content, you may get a higher quality result by using a PNG file.
- Promotional Messages – While remaining true and consistent to the brand message, it is helpful to take into consideration the current content marketing campaigns and integrate that into your cover photo. Since this is the first impression, it should definitely reflect what is being promoted at that time.
- It also is a good idea to keep updating the cover picture in accordance with special events, seasonal trends, or other types of campaigns. This will enable to engage more viewers and will also give a reason to stay.
Amul attracting viewers to its website
- Call to Action – The cover picture can include a call out to like the page or to visit a website utilising Facebook’s 20% Text Rule. A logo does not count as text and one can use the cover photo to showcase URL to the audience. The recently revised Facebook guidelines for the cover picture promise to be beneficial to marketers. It relaxes the restriction on a call for action or contact information on the image but imposes that the cover picture must not exceed 20 percent text.
Previous research has shown that people make relatively accurate and persistent evaluations based on rapid observations of even less than half a minute. This validates that an inviting cover picture that captures the essence of the brand is necessary to augment the fan-base. Do you have any tips of your own? Share with us.