Although most Facebook changes tend to make people, well, a little stabby, the latest news might just make your day. The site has quietly removed the majority of its cover image restrictions, making it easier for brands and businesses to use this valuable visual real estate to promote things like sales, events and the Facebook page itself.
Here’s the scoop on what cover images can now include:
- Price or purchase information
- Contact information (including website, email, mailing address or other information that might be included in your page’s About section)
- References to Facebook actions such as “like” or “share,” as well as arrows pointing from your photo to these features
- Calls to action such as “Buy now,” “Tell your friends,” “Contact us,” etc.
Although most of the restrictions no longer apply to Facebook cover images, one rule remains in effect: text can only occupy 20% of the cover image area. Additionally, Facebook TOS states that, “Covers can’t be deceptive, misleading or infringe on anyone else’s copyright. You may not encourage people to upload your cover to their personal timelines.”
To us, this seems like a smart move on Facebook’s part. The introduction of Timeline made custom apps less impactful, and the inability to encourage liking or sharing or post pertinent contact or promotional information seemed a little ridiculous, especially for a site that clearly wants as much money as possible from businesses who want to use the social network for marketing purposes.
This may not be big news to many, since a ton of brands and businesses large and small either didn’t know about the rules for content in Facebook cover images and/or blatantly ignored them. Given the sheer number of business pages that exist on Facebook and the ongoing flack about sponsored posts and promoted posts and posts only being seen by a fraction of your overall audience, perhaps Facebook realized that imposing fewer restrictions on business pages might actually be a smart move for marketers wanting to use the platform in a manner that drives awareness and, more importantly, sales.
What about you? Did you develop your cover images with the TOS in mind and, if so, will you be modifying them to include calls to action and contact information or are you just so sick of Facebook that you don’t care?
Image: Marcin Wichary via Compfight cc
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years’ experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging develoment, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly’s coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”