6 Ways to Take Advantage of

Facebook’s New

Cover Photo Rules

Facebook recently relaxed the rules about what admins can and can’t put in cover photos.

The most important rule to remember: text can’t cover more than 20 percent of the photo. Other than that almost anything goes, including calls to action.

Here are six examples of creative ways to use cover photos:

Facebook allows a business Page to have up to 12 custom apps installed. Three of the installed apps can be "favorites" and appear to the right of the profile picture below the cover photo.  In this example, we use the cover photo to highlight new apps and direct our fans to them.

#1: Direct fans to your top apps

#2: Ask your fans to "Like" you"Ask and you shall receive!" This is true when it comes to Facebook. Try using the cover photo to ask your fans to "Like" your business Page. Get creative by having someone point to the "Like" button or mention what cool perks your fans receive by "Liking" your Page.

#3: Direct fans to an offerIf one of your apps is a link to something you know your fans will like, use your cover photo to display the offer and direct your fans to the app where they can claim it. When we released a new eBook, Big Brand Facebook Secrets for Small Businesses, we used our cover photo to direct fans right to it. In the photo we feature our eBook with a call to action and an arrow pointing to the top app where fans can get their free copy. Note: you cannot have active links in a cover photo see keep links short.

#4: Provide a link to valuable information

The Facebook cover is the perfect place to lead people outside of Facebook for more information. Just remember that you can't have active links in the cover photo so create a landing Page or have a simple URL or Bit.ly link that users can re-type easily. In this cover photo we directed people to our Twitter Page and invite them to follow us.  

#5: Ask your fans to share your Page

When people log on to Facebook, they scroll through their News Feed and visit their friends and favorite brands' Pages but they aren't necessarily thinking about telling anyone about their favorite brands. Your cover photo can be a great reminder for fans to pass on how cool you are. Let the photo speak to your office culture and give your fans a reason to want to tell their friends to "Like" you. For our “fun” cover photo we featured a still shot from our Harlem Shake video with the call to action "ShortStack Rocks! (pass it on)."

A Facebook Page is for offering resources, a place to talk about fun stuff, show off your employees, etc. You rarely get into the nitty-gritty of business and pitch your product because that's what a website is for. Try using your cover photo to lead your fans back to your website to learn about your product. We offer two months free when you sign up for any of our annual plans and used our cover photo to tell people this and lead them to our pricing page on our website.

#6: Send people to your website