In several of our previous posts, we’ve discussed the great potential of Facebook for your business. While just keeping an active newsfeed can put you ahead of much of your competition, there are always a few things you can do to take yourself to the next level. With that said, over the coming weeks we’ll share with you a series of posts filled with tips and advice that will help you become a Facebook pro.
And to get us started, I will focus on one the most important, prominent pieces of real estate on Facebook: your cover photo.
Take a look at this screen shot below from an example of a Facebook cover photo:
When a client visits your physical place of business, what do they see? Do they see clutter, outdated furniture, falling ceiling tiles or overflowing trash cans? Hopefully the answer to this is “no” because you want to give a first great impression. Most business owners understand that a client’s impression of the office will go a long way in whether they decide to do business with you.
Likewise, in many ways your website and your Facebook page are your virtual offices. While some clients might not notice the issues with the image above, many others will. For those that do, even if they may not make an outright negative assumption, subconsciously it may still have an impact when the client is teetering on deciding whether or not to do business.
So how do you make a cover image meet Facebook’s standards? This is easier said than done due to the automatic resizing that takes place between your desktop monitor and your smartphone. Yet in general, the photo needs to be 820 px wide by 312 px tall on desktop and 640px wide by 360 px tall on mobile.
However, if you want a cover image that will also display your logo or text, take care. When viewing the above cover photo on the Facebook mobile app, the “Hendi” shifts up and the top half of “Insurance” displays. What would your client say if you handed them your business card with 2/3s of your logo cut away? Or what would you do if a printing company sent you a new box of business cards in this shape? Without question, you’d send them back. Why should your Facebook page be held to a lower standard then?
Thus take advantage of your Facebook cover photo real estate and make certain it shows an attitude of excellence. Find a fantastic image that represents your brand; display your logo and maybe a CTA. Look at the images below:
Notice the differences in the overall dimension ratios? Due to this, the second image (the mobile app version) has the logo shifted up and the overall image is taller. Yet by compensating for the sizing differences, both versions are aesthetically pleasing.
With this in mind, I would suggest setting aside a few hours and make certain your smartphone is fully charged. Depending on the complexity of your image, you may have to make multiple adjustments and re-upload the image several times to get it just “right” on both the desktop and mobile views. Remember, this isn’t some dusty closet nobody will see. Very likely, if managed correctly, your virtual office will receive multiple times more traffic than your physical office. This means that you will have multiple opportunities to build relationships that will drive your business to success. So take a look at your office and note what needs some spring cleaning. From there, take the same attitude you would as if you expected several major clients walking through the door today.
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