Facebook’s Timeline will be available for brand pages March 30, which means your brand should get ready for a facelift.
This will be a big change for businesses that have been using Facebook pages as part of their marketing mix. One of the main differences will be a drastically different graphical appearance to your brand’s page. In addition to the small thumbnail graphic in the corner is a big, wide cover photo. Your thumbnail graphic will now be placed inset in this cover photo. For some creative suggestions about using this new format, we turned to Toronto-based Blueband Media, and senior art director Anis Litim. He shared some tips with us, complete with examples from Blueband’s clients and elsewhere.
Here are 5 things to consider when deciding on your timeline cover photo:
Emphasize brand history
Since Timeline traces the history of a page, this is a good opportunity to engage your fans in the history of the brand. A cool photo showcasing the brand’s original product or first workers is a nice touch. You can pair this with telling your fans your startup story or asking them questions about your brand’s history (American Express).
Make a splash
Astro’s Timeline cover makes great use of colour. Click for full image.
The size of the photo is a big change, so make your photo captivating. The new size of the photo gives you more space and freedom to play around with, but also brings about a grand sense of competition between brands. Your photo must be powerful so that it can stand out from the crowd. You can celebrate the best and newest features of your product or show the large impact your brand has had on its fans. You can compliment this with highlighting and starring significant consumer comments or awards that your company has won. At Blueband Media, we’ve done a good job with this for the Astro Yogourt page.
Wow your fans
A Cheesy mascot stars in Cheesestring’s cover photo. Click for full image.
Your cover photo speaks volumes about your brand.
Whatever photo you decide to choose, make sure it captures the essence of your brand. Whether celebrating your brand’s classicism (Tiffany & Co.), activity (Facebook), innovation (Lexus), excitement (Red Bull), fast-paced environment (New York Times), creativity (MTV) or originality (Madonna), choose something that sets your brand apart from the others. You want your cover photo to wow your fans. For example, Blueband Media’s fun cover photos for Cheestrings centre around the iconic Cheesy as a symbol of the product. They show fans Cheesy’s new Web site and celebrate the brand’s current promotion.
Less can be more
La Creme Cow uses only the words it needs to. Click for full image.
If you are going to place words on the cover photo, make them minimal. Your fans do not wants to look at yet a large advertisement for your brand. This is a space for a cover photo that showcases your brand’s originality and transparency, not a billboard. The appetizing photos used for the La Crème Cow Timeline, created by Blueband Media, are simple and do not overwhelm fans with too many words.
Change is healthy
Weetabix is all about variety with cover photos. Click for full image.
Remember, change is always good. Change your photo every so often to keep it fresh and reflect significant milestones. Weetabix shows that it’s not just important to change up your daily breakfast, but also your cover photo.
