The new Facebook Timeline for personal profiles allows for a large cover image at the top of the timeline. Cover images were created so profile owners could creatively display more of their personality and life to their community.
According to Facebook… “We’ve found that people have a better experience viewing your timeline when they see a cover that is as unique and individualized as you are…”
Many people are uploading images from major events in their lives, like weddings and children, or graphics to support a charitable cause.
Cover images are also public by default which means anyone on the internet can view them. Could this spell “potential” for businesses? Read on.
According to Facebook’s terms, “You will not use your personal profile for your own commercial gain (such as selling your status update to an advertiser).”
This has been known for years. Your personal profile cannot be used for the purposes of selling your products or services. Many a marketer’s accounts have been shut down for contacting friends and soliciting services. I had a client who insisted on adding his Facebook fans as friends on his personal profile. He was running ads for his Facebook fan page so he felt entitled to contact his fans even though it was against terms. Facebook sets a limit on friend requests per day and monitors activity. Facebook blocked his account and warned him about contacting fans. He was forced to discontinue his efforts. Whether you agree or not, Facebook has the upper hand because it can close your account in the blink of an eye.
Facebook is encouraging users to use personal images for the timeline cover image. When you click to add a cover image, Facebook sends this message:
Mari Smith, Facebook expert, found nothing to indicate that the cover image should be void of “business-related” content. She researched Facebook’s terms in length and did not find anything that opposed this notion.
However, you cannot use your cover image for advertising or to sell advertising space. Basically, you cannot earn money for anything related to your cover image.
This line can get fuzzy, though. Is displaying your website against the terms? Is a professional business pic that displays your other social properties against Facebook’s terms?
Mari Smith used her timeline cover photo to share details about her new book. After two months, Facebook had not asked her to take it down.
Now, with the new Subscribe button, which allows people to receive your updates without becoming your friends, I wonder if Facebook is becoming more lenient with its terms…only time will tell.
Here are some nice Facebook cover photos I found. Whether they violate Facebook’s terms is yet to be seen, but as of now they are still displayed.
I liked this one below because it shows Michael Stelzner, social media expert, in a leadership role, on a panel at the Blog World event. It is not promotional in any way but it shows his position in the social media industry.
Tips:
- Your cover image should be at least 720 px wide
- Ideal dimensions for the image is 850px wide x 315px high
- High-res images are recommended
What do you think of the new Facebook cover image? Have you used it to display your business information?
Jenna Scaglione is a content writer, internet marketer, and a lover of family, friends and life. Jenna enjoys learning, growing and discovering the newest and latest trends on the internet. Known as "Lady Content", she lives in sunny Socal where she helps her clients around the world increase brand awareness on the internet through content writing and social media.
