13 big brand Facebook cover photos… and how you can make them work for your business

When companies (or even small businesses) set up a new Facebook page, the first hurdle they hit is usually the design collateral to stand out from the crowd and make their customers want to visit it. Your Facebook cover photo is the ‘billboard’ of your Facebook page and the first thing people will see (even on mobile) when they visit your page.  If you don’t have a designer on staff, your profile pic and cover photo are worth outsourcing to get something that will set your page up to look as schmick as the product you are selling.

But what do you give as a design brief? Don’t worry, here are 13 big brand cover photos and how you can make them work for you.

Facebook

I would expect nothing less from Facebook; they have the most fans on their own platform and they just get what a cover photo is for. For a brand that isn’t actually selling its customers anything (apart from advertising) they have taken a photo of people just ‘hanging out’ which humanises their brand and makes the platform feel like the place you go to chill with your friends.

What can you learn from Facebook? If you aren’t selling a tangible product, think about the benefits your brand brings (connecting people), or how you can turn it from faceless ‘corporation’ to a living breathing person. You can interpret this how you want, I would love Facebook to have used a photo of their staff, to bring their brand down to the consumers level.

Nike and McDonalds

Love or hate McDonalds, they don’t apologise for their brand and shamelessly use its tagline and product on their Facebook page. What Nike and McDonalds have both done well here is used a cover photo that reflects their advertising campaigns and the line that everyone associates with their brand.  What the McDonald’s and Nike pages have both done well here, is looked for a way that the profile pic can meld into their cover photo.  The Nike profile pic looks like an extension of the cover photo and the McDonalds profile pic looks like its sitting on the chips.

What can you learn from Nike and McDonalds? If you don’t have an awesome photo just yet to use as your cover photo, think about your tagline and what you are selling.  Be creative with it, choose your business font, or do something handwritten and take a photo of it. You don’t have to have an awesome photo on your cover pic to stand out.

Tinder and YouTube

Tinder and YouTube a match made in heaven? Although I can’t speculate on their romance, what Tinder and YouTube have done with their cover photos is use symbols that reflect their brand, rather than an image. Tinder’s cover photo wants you to search the hashtag and have made it the hero, where YouTube is showing their versatility and all of the things you might find, if you just visited and searched.

What can you learn from Tinder and YouTube? As above, if you don’t have an awesome hero image, think about using icons to showcase what you do.  If you use other channels like Instagram, using a hashtag will encourage your community to check out more of what you do and get involved. Although you might just be using symbols because you don’t have an awesome photo, no one will notice if you use a sleek, clean, icon design.

Huggies and T-Mobile

For those of you not sure of T-Mobile’s brand, I encourage you to get onto Facebook and give their page a like. An American based tel-co, T-Mobile is a brand who challenge the norms of phone companies and handle everything (even their complaints) a little differently.  In these cover photos, both Huggies and T-Mobile are selling much more than nappies and phone coverage.  Huggies understands that the first few months of a baby’s life can be challenging for mum and dad and it’s the moments like this that make it all worth while (naw!). This cover photo is an extension of their brand, it’s not just holding in onesies and twosies, but creating moments with your children.  T-Mobile is the same. This cover photo takes something that people do at concerts (even if other people hate it) and use it to sell their product.  Both of these cover photos resonate and they have cleverly made their brands an extension of how you use them.

What can you learn from Huggies and T-Mobile? Unlike the examples above, these brands have access to beautiful high-resolution images that capture attention. Think about your brand and product, how can you capture it being used in one beautiful photo? Time to think outside the square of what you’re really selling…

Sharpie and Coca Cola

Who would ever have thought that Sharpie and Coca Cola would ever be mentioned in the same context ever? Well here it is! What Sharpie and Coke just GET is capitalising on user-generated photos and giving back to their online communities. Where Nike and McDonalds are all about their own message, Sharpie and Coke are all about empowering their communities to share photos of them using their products and giving them the kudos.  If you do run a competition or just ask people to send in photos of them receiving, or using your product, this is a great way to acknowledge the people you service.

What can you learn from Sharpie and Coca Cola? For those of you who have ever tried to use photos taken off social media or relied on people to take photos, it’s pot luck as to the resolution of those photos and you never know how you’re going to be able to use them.  What Sharpie and Coke both do well is a ‘collage’ of photos with other elements to bring it all together.  Don’t be afraid to use the ‘polaroid’ look to make photos pop.

SPC

One of my favourite campaigns this year is SPC’s #myfamilycan campaign. They have taken a can of beans/peas/peaches and made it about buying the family who grew them on their own farms #tooclever.  What this cover photo does well is integrates the cover photo and logo so their brand appears to literally be growing off the tree and is completely centred towards their campaign.

What can you learn from SPC? Use your cover photo as a billboard, don’t be afraid to include a strong call to action, like SPC’s ‘show you care’.

Woolworths and Coles

Now that we’re on the subject of food, our supermarkets have huge social media teams and you can definitely learn something from them.  Coles has taken one stat ‘96% of fresh fruit and veg is Australian grown’ and used this to show the farmers who sell their products.  Although most of the food found in these supermarkets is ‘longlife’, they both capitalise on the best parts of their brand to deliver a cover photo that makes you want to shop for ‘fresh food’.

What can you learn from Woolworths and Coles? Coles does a better job of selling the ‘human’ farmer aspect of their brand and as above, it’s always good to showcase the people working behind your brand.  The transparency of seeing the people who work to bring a product puts the consumer at ease.  Woolworths sells the products to put together a Sunday roast and this cover photo screams ‘having the family over to share rich, wholesome food’.  What you can learn from this is thinking beyond what your product does and how you can paint a picture with just one photo.

Libra

Know your market. What Libra has nailed here is that their brand is selling much more than feminine hygiene products. They could easily put a photo of a pack of tampons and be done with it, but they have an opportunity to empower the next generation of young girls to ‘live fearless’.

What can you learn from Libra? Think about the parts of your product that are less tangible. How does your product make your consumers feel?  Then give them a cover photo that empowers them and makes them want to engage with you. Again, polaroids on a line will get you around any low-res images issues you may have.

So there you have it, some Facebook cover photo inspiration to have you competing with the big brands. Think outside the square and if you aren’t sure, in the classic words of Nike ‘Just Do It’.  Your cover photo can be changed as often as you change your underwear, so you can’t really go wrong.  What do you do to stand out from the crowd with your Facebook cover photo? – Bekki xx