Facebook cover art real estate is a perfect space to announce products and promote your services. Great cover art is even socially sharable. Using some the following tips, you can create Facebook cover images that raise product awareness, amplify your message, build your brand and ultimately drive new business.
1. Create visual engagement with aspiring images
Good imagery goes a long way online — proven to generate more clicks and engagement. Facebook cover art gives brand managers a lot of canvas to work with. Gorgeous and inspirational photography will give people a reason to pause and absorb your ad. When you couple that imagery with a solid campaign headline, even better. The cover art ad below supports a sweepstakes and does so beautifully. Get people visually engaged in your promotion and you can get them to click.
2. Fine print? Um, no…
Keep the fine print for rules and such. Cover art should have as few words as possible to convey the message and fast. Simple headline and simple subhead should do it. Keep in mind the fan is glancing at this in the midst of catching up with friends. They rarely pause to read ads let alone headlines. Let them get to the details if they want them when they click through to the product page. The cover art as an ad should be designed to entice an action.
3. Keep it simple
Cover art is cut off on the initial load. So, be sure that the meat of the content is anchored at the bottom of the image. However, cover art that is too busy can be a miss for the user. In the example below, the cover art is gorgeous, however, there is so much to look at, it is hard to decide what you’re supposed to do. Best bet, cover art should be simple to look at.
4. Tie your product promotion to a contest
This is a great way to placate those consumers who resist sales promotions. The simple approach of: Learn more about our product and win a car! There is something in it for the fan and they appreciate it, interact with it and engage with it. It feels less like an ad to the end consumer.
5. When doing promotions, dot those I’s and cross your T’s
This might seem really dumb, but make sure there is a call to action, and a working link! Not having a call to action will make sure no one enters, applies, learns or shares. Not providing a working link is like poking a hornet’s nest. This infuriates people and makes your brand show up in their friend’s timeline with unfavorable comments about your brand’s ability to run a contest and test a link. Neither of these scenarios will deliver against the goal of advertising your product via a promotion.
6. Wherever possible, tell them why they should care
When you have a new product launching, your Facebook cover is an ideal place to deliver that message. Tell them why the product matters to them. The example below does a nice job announcing the product and explaining to consumers in short order what it means to them.
7. Better yet, get your customers to do it for you
Word of mouth marketing is the most powerful asset in the arsenal. People believe their friends word over any marketer any day. Never before in mankind has it been easier to gather customer feedback — both the good and the bad. The following testimonial wall post for Fifth Third could be used to create a great Facebook cover art ad. What feedback do you have from customers/members that could be turned into an ad?
8. Be prepared
It is mission critical to be prepared for the onslaught of unhappy customers posting unhappy stories on your advertising based cover art. Hey, it’s going to happen… there is basically a 100% guarantee. It is best to have a plan in place with your customer care team. Let them know you have an ad going live on Facebook, and that ad will be a place for people with problems to talk about this and that — many times things that are completely unrelated to the product you’re advertising. When Nationwide Building Society in the UK posted this seemingly innocuous cover art ad (below), they were blistered so badly by consumers that they decided to remove the post from their page.
Tracey Parsons is the Digital Strategist at Social Media Explorer. With more than 15 years in digital, Tracey is dedicated to bringing cutting edge, thoughtful and measurable solutions to marketers. She has worked with some of the world’s most recognized brands to develop and devise cutting-edge social, mobile and digital marketing practices. Connect with Tracey on Twitter @tparsons.