Perhaps the most important piece of real estate you have on Facebook is your cover photo. And the good news is you don’t need a big budget to make it fun, engaging and informative.
All you need is a little creativity, and the ability to think outside the box!
Whether you’re creating your very first Facebook timeline cover, or it’s just time for a makeover, hopefully some of the ideas below will inspire you to come up with your own captivating design!
1. Use Polaroids or Snapshots.
A fairly classic and popular design for timelines continues to be incorporating snapshots or polaroids of different people or events. This can be a great way to feature various photos that may not normally seem to go together.
I love what Kay Int Veen has done by incorporating not only snapshots, but also finding a way to actually appear WITHIN the Facebook platform. A+ for creativity!
2. Incorporate your profile picture into your cover design.
A trend that never seems to get old is incorporating your profile photo into your cover design. You can see that in the example above, the profile picture appears to be just another polaroid.
I also love what Aly Moffatt did with her cover. Not only did she incorporate her profile photo with her cover photo (notice she’s INSIDE the dryer), but she incorporated Facebook colors and design at the top (facebook/aly.moffatt).
3. Showcase your products.
People like your business page because they like your product, so why not showcase your wares in your cover design? I love what Little Jules Boutique has done with their photo; they’re showing off their gorgeous kid’s clothes, and clearly state what they sell (‘Beautiful Clothing for Girls’).
The only thing I may have done differently is to include their url somewhere within the design.
4. Use your cover photo as a thought bubble!
This is an easy one to implement and to change regularly, so it’s definitely a good choice for anyone on a small budget and/or with limited design skills.
5. Introduce your employees.
Smaller companies can give a more personal feel to their business page by showcasing photos of their employees. This is a great way to infuse a little personality into your brand, and the design isn’t difficult, so virtually anyone can do it.
6. Tell your story.
People love to connect with businesses that have a great foundation story; when they can relate to how and why you started your business, they are far more likely to trust you and to want to engage with you.
Use your cover photo to tell your company’s story; regardless of how you got your beginnings, I bet there’s something about your story that others can relate to.
7. Be true to your brand.
One of the most important considerations as you’re designing your cover photo is making sure it’s congruent with what you want your brand to stand for. What I mean is this: Let’s say you run a spa, and your cover design is full of bright, brash colors, imposing fonts, and pictures of men hunting in the woods. Now obviously this is a silly example, but the point is this: the colors, design, wording and overall feel of your design should be congruent with what your brand represents.
Red Bull illustrates this perfectly; as a brand known for adventure and excitement, the loud colors and reference to extreme sports fits their brand perfectly. This design for a spa? Not so much.
8. Use a call to action.
Brands everywhere rejoiced when Facebook removed it’s strict cover design regulations regarding text to image ratios, calls to action, and promotions.
Happy to see these rules go! Image courtesy of Social Bakers
This means you can now use your cover photo to promote your products, announce a contest or promotion, or direct visitors to your website.
9. When in doubt, go simple.
Let’s face it: not everyone has design skills. If you don’t have the budget to have your cover professionally designed, using your logo, a simple quote, or a photo of your product can work just fine. Better to acknowledge your limitations than to try to design and execute something too complicated!
What other creative uses for cover photos have you seen? What have you done with YOUR cover photo? Share a link to your Facebook page below so we can check it out!
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I’ve been noticing a lot more of these types of cover photos lately. I must admit that some of them are really clever and creative though. Whoever was the first to come up with this is pretty smart.
There are tons of great covers out there! I actually had a tough time narrowing it down for this article 🙂
Yes I completely agree with you your point about the cover picture being the centre of attraction for the pages you ought to create for your businesses. That’s because that’s the first thing that comes into display when one opens the page.