Remember the last time you went to a party and made a ridiculously bad first impression? Wasn’t good, right? You felt nervous, ignored and generally a social outcast. It happens. Well just imagine if your brand had that poor quality first impression every day. How about every minute of the day?
If your Facebook page cover photo is not of a sufficiently good quality or it is simply bad, then you are making that poor first impression. But with branding, it could have incredibly dire consequences that affect your bottom line.
Your prospects and customers come to your Facebook page expecting a professional and positive outlook on things. But they expect classic branding too. They look to you for a great customer experience on one of the biggest social media platforms around. If you can’t deliver that experience, the consequences don’t bear thinking about.
So what should a brand be thinking about when it creates that Facebook cover photo? Let’s take a quick look at some of the best options you have.
Accolades, accolades
We all like showing off how good we are, and generally illustrating the incredible journey our brands have been on, but not enough brands actually showcase this stuff on their Facebook cover photo. It’s the perfect spot when you think about it.
Maybe it’s something you could offer as part of your rotating cover gallery. Grab a few industry notices you’ve been part of. Or any quality marks or awards you have received as a brand. Then, get them up and package them all nicely in a Facebook cover photo to die for.
The result? Instant credibility, and reassurance for your customers.
Sell, for Heaven’s sake
Yes we know, selling is seen as a pretty awful thing in social media. But every now and then it is something worth doing. If you can take the time to create an awesome cover photo that focuses on a product that you sell, with details on how to buy, why not include that in your rotation?
Done right, it can be a crucial part of the sales funnel anyway. You’re branding all the time, and part of that whole process is to ask for the sale every now and then. Your prospects will expect you to be selling something, and there is nothing wrong with putting up what amounts to a mini sales page with a link to buy.
Make it tasteful and subtle, and you’re onto a winner.
‘Tis the season
Unless you’re a super conglomerate with millions in the bank and a product range that encompasses the human race, you will be using seasonal products at some point in the year. And even if you’re a super conglomerate, you will have a promotion for Christmas. So getting seasonal is a big deal and something you should be focused on.
Having the ability to switch your Facebook covers is essential, and you need to make sure that your seasonal promotions have fantastic imagery and really pop out so that your customers know you’re making a big deal of the time of year and the accompanying promotion. Whether it’s Halloween or Easter, shoot for the big and full-on promotion, and use your cover photo to make it a huge part of your branding.
Tell it from your customer’s point of view
This is basic marketing 101 stuff. If you have testimonials from your very happy customers, it is well worth the time and effort to include them in your Facebook cover photo. To make things uber effective, consider having photos of your customers on there too. This will mean that you have both written and visual testimonials of your greatness.
This works because it just adds that extra level of credibility to what you do, and shows that you care enough to show people that you can add value.
Make it competitive
We all know the value of contests and competitions. They motivate people to get involved in your brand, and they are a true spur to engagement. Make the contests exciting and meaningful to customers and you have a real engine for brand awareness.
Stick an appealing notice about a contest, with details and dates, on your Facebook page via an attractive cover photo, and you have a real banner ad that will get people involved. The bigger and brighter it is, the better basically.
Get an opt-in
This is more important than you think. It has always been the case that the best Facebook pages are essentially websites, but if you think about it, you can fine-tune this to allow customers to opt-in to an email list by adding a call-to-action button. And if you’re running a promotion, this is a perfect opportunity to do so.
Use the chance to schedule a special opt-in version of your Facebook cover photo at the right time, during a promotion for example, and watch as your Facebook page becomes a marketing tool, pretty much instantly. If you do this during a promotion period, you’re actually using your cover photo, not just showing how cool you are.
The core principle
Of course, you can create a set of cover photos quickly and effectively, and then tie them into the types of content we have outlined above, but why do this?
Rotating cover photos on your pages makes it very easy to maintain engagement. No one likes coming to a Facebook page and seeing the same image for six months in a row. That’s not good. Mixing it up and doing this on a regular schedule means that you are able to seem current, exciting, and, most importantly, there.
Showing that you are maintaining an active Facebook page simply illustrates that you care about your audience. This is a huge thing and helps to build a strong bridge between you and your audience. You understand they like you, and you’re making an effort to make their time on your page interesting and varied.
In addition, the more you mix up the page, the more people realise that you respect the platform, and are using it effectively. This is more professional, and people like professional.
Finally, by utilising the ability to rotate cover photos throughout the year, you are able to capitalise on the buzz around promotions, highlight testimonials, and generally make your Facebook page a branding tool. It’s all good.
So fire up the creatives, get some excellent artwork or photos, and start planning a schedule for your Facebook cover photos. The more you do it, the more benefit you will see. And you can use Locowise and our Publish tool to schedule your Facebook cover photo changes. Try it out with a free trial now.
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