Tweet

Getting Creative with the New Facebook Page Image Ribbon

Guest post by: John Jantsch

Article Overview: Since last week’s sweeping changes to Facebook Pages people have been scrambling to unearth all the little tricks that the new format affords.

Getting Creative with the New Facebook Page Image Ribbon

Since last week's sweeping changes to Facebook Pages people have been scrambling to unearth all the little tricks that the new format affords. One of the bigger changes from a look a feel standpoint involves the placement of five recently updated images along the top of the Wall page. The images are now one of the most prominent features of the page and marketers are analyzing ways to take advantage of this new placement. (Personal profiles have had this look for a while now.)

New 5 shot image ribbon on top of Facebook Page Wall

A couple factors come into play when considering a marketing use of this real estate.

1) The images that make the top 5 are the last 5 by default, although if you remove one by hovering over it and click the X the next one in line jumps in. The images are displayed randomly with each refresh of the browser page. (Personal profiles show the images in a static order so some profile owners have gotten very creative with this space.) My guess is that the random display is being used on pages to inhibit the use of this space like a banner ad.

2) When clicked, images now expand into an ajax photo viewer right there on the page, complete with image description and any corresponding conversation about the image from fans. This is a much better user experience, but it also opens the door for some marketing plays.

This is an image expanced in the new image viewer for Facebook Pages

For the moment (all things with Facebook can change instantly) marketers are starting to use this space as a place to sprinkle in images with marketing calls to action. They then create offers or links to other pages and sites in the image description. You could certainly abuse this, but business pages have a little more leeway in terms of promotional messages and you can expect coupons, infographics, and free report offers to crop up in this space pretty quickly.

Here are a couple examples: (If you're not a fan of the page you may land on a page other than the wall - click the wall link in left sidebar to see the images.)

•LuckyandCo (reader suggestion update)

•HyperArts (reader suggestion update)

•Social Fresh

•Social Media Examiner

•Hubspot

•Taco Bell

The technical aspects of this are pretty simple.

•Create an image that is 970 px x 680 px (or some variation of this 1.42:1 ratio - any other size ratio will cause the image to get cut off in the thumbnail creation - although you might be able to play with this from an artistic standpoint)

•Upload the image through you photo tab

•Facebook automatically creates a thumbnail for the wall.

•After you upload the image you get a chance to describe it with a post. Use this space to make your call to action clickable by adding commentary and a link. (make sure to use http:// so it's live.)

Your image and associated commentary will go into your news feed so it's probably wise to go cautiously here and keep the promotion as low key as would be expected by your fans. This is great place to create awareness about content that may reside in other places. I also think you'll want to keep this area fresh and rotate in new images and events and don't always use it to sell!

Related Articles
  Social Media Marketers: How to Prepare for the New Facebook Changes
  3 Simple Facebook Marketing Tips to Keep in Mind
  Legal Marketing: Protect your Facebook from unwanted intruders
  10 Reasons Why Your Small Business Needs A Facebook Fan Page
  Ways to Promote Your Business on Facebook
  Facebook Business Page- A New Approach through SEO in the Social World
  Utilizing Facebook for Ecommerce Sales
  Using Social Networking to Boost Your Business
  How To Use Facebook For Business | 6 Powerful Tips!
  Offering Free Samples On Facebook For Retail
  How to Create Facebook fan pages
  Facebook Fan Page Or Website
  Papa Murphy's Building Their Brand
  Five Tips for Marketing Your Book on Facebook
  Promote Your Home Business On Facebook To Get Tons Of Free Traffic
  Facebook Marketing: 7 Must-Have Components of an Effective Facebook Page
  "Get Facebook Ads Free" What 2,710 people are saying.
  Ten Things You Didn't Know About Facebook
  5 Creative Ways to Increase Engagement With Your Facebook Fans
  Useful Tips to Pump Up Your Facebook Page

Article Tags: facebook, page image, ribbon, sweeping changes



Related Forum Posts
Re: Are you going to use Facebook Timeline? - Hi apu, I Recently used Facebook Timelines, actually it seems like a Facebook blog which makes profile page more attractive but i don't think it will help in internet marketing because it also slow the speed of Facebook Page. Share your Experience!
Facebook Fan Pages - I have a Facebook Fan Page for my business, Solo-E.com. But my efforts at really getting it going (getting new fans, promoting discussion/interaction, etc.) have been, I'll admit, half-hearted. The biggest reason? I hardly ever visit the fan pages of other solo entrepreneurs, even those that I hugely admire. How about you? Do you regularly visit fan pages? What draws you to them, if you do visit? If you do have a Fan Page, what has your experience been with making it successful? How do you even measure that success??
Re: Facebook -- personal vs. business? - [quote="DaveGilbert":p04ea6ji]Facebook use to be a good resource however they have clouded the sites usefulness by allowing too many games on there, these days it is more of a gamers forum than a social site or a business venue[/quote:p04ea6ji] Dave, I think it may depend on who your Facebook Friends are. I have plenty of friends who seem to game...but they don't post it on their profile (or at least it doesn't appear in my newsfeed). However they do generate useful business discussions on Facebook that I participate in. Not advertising or even as formal as a blog (which are already quite informal, in my opinion, compared to articles for instance), but business mixed with the personal discussion that I, as a solopreneur, find useful. [quote="Mal Tindle":p04ea6ji]If I could go back to Facebook and register separately I would do it but as you say I don't think that is possible.[/quote:p04ea6ji] Mal, You *can* create a fan page for your business, separately from your personal profile. I know many folks who have both and direct business folks to their page, myself included. They also have had success driving traffic to their fan page with Facebook Page Ads; and from there driving fans to their blog, etc. No formal study, just my anecdotal observations...
Page Rank Changes - Hi Kevin - there is a lot of speculation as to why so many websites lost Page Rank. A few new sites that I've been following also got Page Rank for the first time. Every time Google does a Page Rank update there are websites that get caught in the crossfire and have to work to get their rankings back up!
Re: Facebook Advertising? - [quote="Mal Tindle":25hdpg8a] One slight query I have is that when I want to place an ad or update the site etc I get a pop up that I am not allowed to do it on this page, I have to switch to "myself" to do this then come back. Is this right as it seems a bit counter productive to have to keep switching to 'Mal Tindle' then back to the business site, hmmmm, [/quote:25hdpg8a] Hi Mal - when you're on your Page, go to Edit Page (top right), click on Your Settings, and check off the first box - mine says "Always comment and post on your page as EvanCarmichael.com, even when using Facebook as Evan Carmichael." This way you don't have to keep switching back. Good luck! I'm glad you were able to get set up so quickly!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

What is Discretionary Cash Flow

Qualities of Leadership Part 1

Listen to Your Inner Melody

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.