Are you breaking Facebook Rules? What you can use in your cover image - The Big Picture!

Facebook Rules for Cover Photos

 

I love Facebook. Do what you want, say what you want, post whatever pictures you want as long as you don't offend anybody. Right? Nope.  Nothing is ever that easy... There are a few rules that you have to follow to make sure that your company Facebook page (and all those lovely followers that you worked hard to attract, engage with and keep) doesn't disappear, hauled from the web by Facebook for breaking its terms and conditions. First up, that huge attractive space at the top of your company Facebook page that is just begging to have an advertising picture on it?  Don't even think about it.  You might think that you can get around the rules, but Facebook is sitting there thinking, "You might think I won't notice, but I will" and you will get caught eventually!

What is banned from Facebook Cover Photo?

Do not

• Put any contact info on the picture. At all. Put it all in the sections of your Facebook page that they are meant to be in. The "About" section is the first place to start
• No ad copy AT ALL. No special offers, no sales incentives, no "buy now" text. No calls to action.
• No big arrows pointing to the Like button, or saying Click here.

So, what can you use? Treat your Facebook picture like you treat a blog post. Provide something interesting and beautiful to attract attention and stand out from the crowd.  Use it to make a statement about the kind of company that you are.

What Pictures for Facebook Cover Photo?

Use it as an opportunity to stamp your identity on your Facebook page and make people think, "I want to stay around here and see more from this company".  If you try to break the rules with your image , your page will be shut down and people will be thinking, "I wonder where so and so's Facebook page went? I enjoyed reading that!"

Stay on the right side of Facebook's guidelines and enjoy picking your picture identity!

Are you breaking Facebook Rules? What you can use in your cover image - The Big Picture!

Facebook Rules for Cover Photos

 
 
I love Facebook. Do what you want, say what you want, post whatever pictures you want as long as you don't offend anybody. Right? Nope.  Nothing is ever that easy... There are a few rules that you have to follow to make sure that your company Facebook page (and all those lovely followers that you worked hard to attract, engage with and keep) doesn't disappear, hauled from the web by Facebook for breaking its terms and conditions. First up, that huge attractive space at the top of your company Facebook page that is just begging to have an advertising picture on it?  Don't even think about it.  You might think that you can get around the rules, but Facebook is sitting there thinking, "You might think I won't notice, but I will" and you will get caught eventually!

What is banned from Facebook Cover Photo?

Do not

• Put any contact info on the picture. At all. Put it all in the sections of your Facebook page that they are meant to be in. The "About" section is the first place to start
• No ad copy AT ALL. No special offers, no sales incentives, no "buy now" text. No calls to action.
• No big arrows pointing to the Like button, or saying Click here.

So, what can you use? Treat your Facebook picture like you treat a blog post. Provide something interesting and beautiful to attract attention and stand out from the crowd.  Use it to make a statement about the kind of company that you are.

What Pictures for Facebook Cover Photo?

Use it as an opportunity to stamp your identity on your Facebook page and make people think, "I want to stay around here and see more from this company".  If you try to break the rules with your image , your page will be shut down and people will be thinking, "I wonder where so and so's Facebook page went? I enjoyed reading that!"

Stay on the right side of Facebook's guidelines and enjoy picking your picture identity!

Make sure you post a profile picture on your Social Media Page!

What do people look at on your Facebook Page?

  You may spend ages crafting that tweet, putting together that Facebook Wall Post or thinking up a pithy LinkedIn update, but according to a recent study by EyeTrackShop and Mashable, profile photos matter.

• Profile pictures matter. The site feature that attracted most attention on Klout, Facebook and StumbleUpon was the profile photo.
• Job title garnered more attention than profile photo on LinkedIn. In fact, it got more attention than anything else on the page.
• Who you know gets noticed. Even if for no better reason than their placement on the page, people do look at those little thumbnails of friends that appear on many social profiles. You can see this in the data from the Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Klout profiles.
• Content on top wins. The further something is down a page, the fewer number of people look at it. This was true on both content-focused profiles such as Pinterest and Digg as well as socially focused profiles such as Facebook. On the Twitter and YouTube profiles, the effect was less extreme.

Have a look at the photo slideshow on the original article to see where people look. It may help you decide how to glitz up your Social Media pages.

Social Media Statistics 2011 - social media infographic with statistics to make you think!

2011 - the year social media moved into mainstream consciousness in the UK. Thanks to this infographic from Dream Systems Media we can see the fascinating picture of what goes on online. In 2011

• There were 100 million active Twitter accounts
• 200 million accounts were added to Facebook
• 4.8 billion people have a mobile phone while only 4.2 billion people have a toothbrush
• 65% of adult internet users have a Social Media Account

It's a huge virtual world, with a lot going on in it!

Using Video on your website - Integrate with Facebook

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Third in a series of entries inspired by Social Media Examiner - 26 Ways to Engage With Customers Using Video All quotes come from the article - have a look, it's an informative lesson in using video.

Facebook

By now you’ve probably heard that Facebook is a good place to upload a company video. However, what shows up in a user’s news feed is dependent on a number of news feed optimization factors referred to as EdgeRank. The good news is that video is one area that ranks higher and is more likely to bring a post onto someone’s news feed.

Users love videos, so it’s extremely beneficial for businesses to continue to add to their library.

Video consumption on Facebook is growing. The blog All Facebook recently reported, “Nearly 47 million people in the U.S. watched videos on Facebook in February 2011. That puts the site in fourth place on the comScore Video Metrix ranking, two spots higher than it ranked in January.”

After you have created video for your website, you can increase the number of people who see your video by posting it onto your Facebook page. It's instant feedback. When your customers like and pass around the video you've gained valuable knowledge on the information that your customers react to. Lesser reaction instantly lets you know when you have gone down the wrong path. Posting regular videos encourages repeat visits to your page.

Do you use video on your Facebook page? How do you think it would increase customer interest in your product?

Read the full Social Media Article here

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Social Media Marketing : Quality of Following, Not Quantity.

Oh, I love starting a blog post with a riff on a cliché, but please bear with me. When it comes to assessing the success of your social media marketing, there are basic things you should do. Have a look at your Twitter followers, Facebook Friends and Likes, LinkedIn Connections, YouTube subscribers. How many do you "know" and can you list one or two things about them off the top of your head?

It's not always about the numbers, it's about the Social Media Engagement. Without this, you're wasting you're time. Have a look at your lists and spend a bit of time every day going through it. Say hi to people, comment on their posts, reply to their tweets. Hang around for the conversation that evolves. Share others' links and thoughts too. You'll get to know the people on your feeds and streams and they'll get to know you too. That can only be a benefit to your knowledge and your business.

How do you expand your knowledge about the people in your feeds and streams? We'd love to hear other examples!
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