With the introduction of new Facebook Timeline cover photos, brands are using this space to breathe new life into their pages and give their Timeline a touch of their own personality. But before you get too excited at the possibilites take note, because the cover photo is not a free-for-all space to drop any and everything you want visitors to your page to see. Facebook has drawn out some very clear-cut guidelines explaining how you can and can’t use your cover photo.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. No Pricing Info
Say for instance you have a special offer or discount that you’d like to promote, if so, the cover photo is not the place for that. The updated Facebook guidelines state specifically that you must not include language such as:
“price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it on socialmusic.com”
2. No Contact Info
If you had the bright idea of displaying your company’s website URL as your web address on your Facebook cover photo, I’m sorry to say I have bad news for you. Displaying website addresses (including social profiles outside of Facebook), email addresses, street addresses, phone numbers or any other means of contact information is also against Facebook page terms. Instead, Facebook wants for you to include details like these in the ‘About’ section of your page. The guidelines state:
“references to Facebook features or actions, such as “Like” or “Share” or an arrow pointing from the cover photo to any of these features”
3. No Calls to Action
Not only can you not use calls to action that promote your brand’s exclusive offers or products, but your also prohibited from making calls to action like asking users to Like your Page. The new cover photo guidelines explicitly state that your cover photo can’t contain:
“references to Facebook features or actions, such as “Like” or “Share” or an arrow pointing from the cover photo to any of these features” or
“calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends.”
Now quick, someone call the Facebook Police on Mariah Carey!!!
