How to choose good images for Facebook

If you are in the digital market, you have probably noticed how social networks can be great allies to promote your business. This is because they can be used as online displays for your products, as well as being great for creating a relationship between the brand and your customers.

For example, Facebook conducted a survey that showed that, as far as the entire world is concerned, there are 3 million active advertisers on this network. This means that small, medium and even major entrepreneurs are increasingly realizing the importance of connecting with their audience through Facebook.

But with such a large number of advertisers, you are right to think that it must be difficult to stand out; after all, users receive dozens of brand publications on a daily basis; and with big business coming into this fight, the scenario may seem even more complicated.

But you should know that even with competition that looks scary right now, you can create strategies to stand out and one of them is about choosing images for Facebook.

Despite being a social network that allows sharing of videos and texts, visuals still attract people mainly because they are easy to assimilate.

So, in today’s post we’ll show you a few tips to help you choose good images for Facebook and get the attention of users on this network.

Profile picture

First of all, you need to know that your personal profile cannot be the same as your professional profile. Even if your product uses your face as a brand, do not mix the two Facebook accounts.

For example:

Amelia has an online course about hairdryer maintenance Amelia Hairdryers. She uses her first name and is the host of all the videos she posts on her YouTube channel and course.  

Despite this, Amelia has 2 Facebook accounts:

• Her personal account is only used to connect with her friends and family;
• Her professional account, which despite having a photo of her in the profile, has the name Amelia Hairdryers and only deals with subjects related to her product.

Of course, if you have a logo, it will be even better to identify your business so people won’t confuse you with your brand.

Once you have made that difference clear, you can start thinking about the profile photo. This will be the image that will appear in the small square to the left of your Facebook page.

The ideal size for this Facebook photo is 320×320 pixels or its equivalents: 180×180, 360×360 and 900×900, for example.

Whenever you add or update your profile photo, Facebook will offer 3 options if you are using a computer and 4 options when access is mobile:

1.  Upload a photo from your computer or mobile device;
2. Add theme or frame;
3. Select a photo or video for the profile from suggested photos/videos;
4. Take a photo or create a video from your mobile device.

When choosing the image for your profile, Facebook will also provide the option to crop your photo. If you don’t want to, just click Skip Cropping in the lower left corner and then Save.

Profile picture tips

Here are a few tips so you can choose a good photo for your Facebook profile:

• Choose a clear image with strong colors, i.e., something that doesn’t have too many details and texts. This is especially important when you post comments, since the image will be reduced to 36×36 pixels;
• Think about your business’ visual identity and choose a photo that represents your brand or product;
• If your logo is already known to your customers, use it as your profile picture;
• Try the frames offered by Facebook, especially during holidays such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter and Christmas. This is a form of interaction with your followers, but be careful not to lose your business’ identity.   

Cover page photo

The cover page image is the largest photo that appears on your Facebook profile, located at the top of your main page.

As with the profile photo, the image chosen for your Facebook cover page needs to be linked to your business; after all, it will be the visitor’s first contact with your social network.

To load a cover page photo, you need to:

1. Log on to your Facebook profile;
2. Click Update cover page photo in the upper left corner on desktop computers or the lower right corner on mobile devices;
3. Upload/select a photo from your computer/mobile device or choose from photos suggested by Facebook;
4. Drag and position the image to your liking. Be aware that cover page photos have a different size, so they do not appear fully.

Cover page photo tips

• The image chosen for your Facebook profile’s cover page needs to be at least 720 pixels wide;
• The best format for this photo is 828 pixels wide by 315 pixels high;
• Take advantage of the cover page to include contact information for your business such as phone number, email, website or another communication channel that you find important;
• During holidays, take advantage of this space to leave creative messages or communications, as in the following example:

Image for timeline posts

Facebook’s timeline is the place where posts are shown. It is where the latest updates made by the people you follow on this communication channel are displayed in chronological order.

The timeline will appear on your homepage as soon as you sign in to your Facebook account.

It has recently been confirmed that this network does not deliver all content posted to all users. So, you’ll only see posts that Facebook itself, with its algorithm, find more relevant to your liking; in other words, you will view posts according to your information and interactions made on this social network.

You can post pictures, gifs and even videos on your own timeline to deliver content to your followers. So let’s show you the best practices for these three types of posts:

Photos

Creating content with interesting images on Facebook is a great way to get users’ attention. To do this, you have to pay attention to certain details:

• Always think about your persona and the type of content that interests them the most;
• Align the image with your brand’s visual identity so that people recognize that the post is yours as soon as they find it on their timelines;
• The maximum width for an image on the timeline is 504 pixels, without being selected;
• Consider the goals of your post: send users to a post on your blog, show data from a survey, tell an interesting story, show a promotion, etc.

GIF animation

Animated GIFs are a widely used image format on the internet nowadays. Its main feature is that they draw more attention because they are animated.

In order to post this type of image on Facebook, the network recommends that you use the GIFs that Facebook itself provides. However, you can also upload images that are already saved on your computer or mobile device.

GIFs, just like video posts, are produced in a continuous loop (automatically and repeatedly).

There are a few best practices recommended by Facebook, such as:

• Maximum GIF size must be 8 GB;
• Search keywords and use GIFs that are related to the topic you want to talk about;
• Images need to be high quality;
• Use a GIF that has the .gif extension;
• Images should not contain more than 20% of text so it doesn’t become confusing;
• Choose GIFs with subtle movement so as not to interfere with users’ experience.

Videos

You can also add videos to your timeline, which is a very interesting feature since this format attracts many people.

The process for videos is very similar to Facebook images. You only need the following:

1. Click on Photo/Video, which is located at the top of your news feed;
2.  Choose a video that has already been saved on your computer or mobile device;
3. Click on Publish.

As with all content posted, videos also need to be reviewed before posting. We recommend the following tips:

• Write a text with a maximum of 90 characters (after all, the video should be the main feature in this type of publication). The larger the text, the smaller the video will be;
• The maximum size for videos on the timeline is 1280×720 pixels;
• Very long videos are not recommended because the timeline tends to be a place where users quickly view recent posts;
• Always consider the purpose of your video post.

Images for ads

Have you thought about how important it is to choose the best images for your ads?

This should be considered carefully because images influence your persona’s decision-making process. That’s why choosing an image for an ad is much more than merely aesthetic criteria.

Of course you need to take into consideration your brand’s visual identity and whether or not the image is pleasing to your audience. But in addition, it needs to communicate and persuade the person who is viewing your ad.

Tips for ad images

When you create a campaign, you always need to consider images with which you can use aesthetics in your favor, searching for factors that your audience likes and align them so that they do not interfere with your ad.

The guidelines recommended by Facebook are:

• Include as little text as possible in the image area;
• Images should be 1,200×628 pixels;
• Create an offer title with a maximum of 25 characters;
• Describe your offer with up to 90 characters.

In addition, it’s also important to consider 4 factors so that your campaigns have a good conversion rate:

1. Humanize your images

By doing this, you will be able to place your product closer to the consumer.

For example, choose photos with people using your product and try to show the sensations they might have while using it.

The big mistake certain entrepreneurs make is choosing images for Facebook that only show the product or the brand. By focusing only on your business, you end up forgetting about your customer, which is the most important.

2. Combine images with texts and buttons

In some ads, it is difficult to identify where the button is to click and purchase the offer, since there is no color contrast. This makes it difficult to read what is written.

In addition, it is very common to also find images that are not related to the actual purpose of the ad, which is getting clicks.

Remember that the button to click on your ad cannot be discreet. Users have to identify you as soon as they view your campaign.

So, always let make it stand out without creating confusion with your photo. In addition, Facebook recommends that text not occupy more than 20% of the image area.

Try to create harmony between text, image and the button so that all elements can contribute to make people click on the ad.

3.  Adjust the saturation of the image

If you’ve applied the two tips above and your ads are still not performing well, try changing the saturation of your images.     

Saturation refers to our perception of colors and it is ideal for making the colors of an image more vivid. This can make your image draw more attention in comparison to other images with which your ad will compete.

4. Use stock photos

It’s very important to know that you cannot create ads with copyrighted images. So don’t run campaigns with photos from Google Images, for example.

You can invest and buy images or even take your own photos. But if you still can’t do this, there are several free stock photo websites, such as Shutterstock, where you can find great images for your campaigns.

Conclusion

As you may have already noticed, knowing how to choose images for Facebook is a very important task for those who use social networks as a promotional strategy; and as you’ve seen, this importance is largely due to the fact that posts with visual stimuli attract the attention of users.

Always remember to follow all the guidelines recommended by Facebook and especially, choose clear images that are pleasing to your persona and are related to the visual identity of your brand.

Also check out our post on how to sell via Facebook and learn even more about using this social network in your favor.