Effective Facebook business profile pictures

Monday, 13 September 2010 09:54

Social media for small business often includes a Facebook page - particularly useful if you sell products and services to consumers or small-ticket items to businesses.  So lets say you've created a Facebook page for your business.

Getting your profile image uploaded and looking good is one thing.  But doing it in a way that creates a clear and useful thumbnail as well is not so easy. Here's how:

You can upload an effective image for your business's page profile.  One that has your logo and perhaps a key benefit statement or alternatively a compelling image that conveys your unique selling proposition.

But Facebook uses part of this image as your thumbnail, which appears next to all your posts.  And this is where everything goes pear-shaped - or rather square shaped. 

Regardless of the size of the image you use for your profile, Facebook will re-size it to 200 pixels wide.  Then it will use a portion of this image to use for your thumbnail.

Even prominent social media commentator Mashable has decided to stick to a simple 200 x 200 profile picture that translates easily into a 50 x 50 thumbnail.

Creating your Facebook profile image:

1. Create an image that is 200 pixels wide. 

It can be any height, but much more than 800 pixels will push it off the bottom of the visible portion of your page, on users screens.

2. As part of the image, designate a 200 x 200 area that will be used for your thumbnail. Leave a bit of space around it, as Facebook crops the edges.

Don't try and put to much into it.  By the time it has been shrunk, you won't be able to read your phone number, benefit statement and address!

3. Upload the image by clicking the Change Picture link that appears when you hover over your profile picture in Facebook.

4. When it has uploaded, click on the pencil button till you see a drop down box and pick ' Edit Thumbnail'.

5. Drag the image so you can see the pre-determined area on your profile image that you wanted to use as a thumbnail and click save.

This is easier than it sounds - particularly if your company name and logo is not square or does not fit easily into a square space (like ours!).  

But persevere and play around till you get something useful.

Check out the Air New Zealand page for an excellent example.  They have used the profile picture space to promote their 'Seats to Suit' campaign, but the thumbnail is their very recognisable Koru motif.