The new Twitter header photo has arrived, ladies and gents, and it is
an awesome branding and potential website traffic generation
opportunity for your small business.
The most important thing to note about the Twitter header photo, is
that there currently are no mentioned restrictions, like the laundry
list of no-nos Facebook subjected us to when it launched its fan page cover photos.
Twitter: 1. Facebook: 0.
How many small business owners do you think will be hopping on
Twitter’s jock to get their new Twitter header photo set up in a hurry?
It’s called freedom of speech for a reason. I mean, get a clue.
The following are tips to help you get started:
1. Use it to Direct Traffic to Important Pages.
Without overly-limiting restrictions in play (at least for now),
you’re free to adorn your new Twitter header photo as you choose, thank
you very much. So why not use some screen real estate to bring attention
to a second URL?
Keep it short. Users will have to type in your link by hand because,
of course, it will not be clickable when you build it into your header.
Hint: “short,” but “word-based” – nothing silly like: bit.ly/Jk59UuIkl.
It should be a domain URL and something attractive that users can
easily remember and type in without revisiting your Twitter header photo
every three seconds.
Holding a contest for Twitter users? Want all Twitter users to
subscribe to your blog? Put a URL in your photo to get visitors to go
where you want.
Critical Tip: It’s best to make any Web address span
the width of your new Twitter header photo, lest mobile users be unable
to read it when it gets squashed into their little viewing area.
2. Get Twitter Header Photo Dimensions Right for a Professional Look
To avoid pixelation, graininess and other unsightly oopsies, have your Twitter header photo sized to 1252 (width, clearly) by 626 (height, obviously) pixels.
3. Use it to Solidify Your Brand
First, think of those “Got Milk?” commercials. How many businesses do
you know with the money to fund such ambiguous and widespread
campaigns? Not small business owners, that’s for sure. Funny, then, how
small businesses are forced to pay for them…but that’s another story
entirely.
Tip: Branding-only actions are generally reserved
for those with bigger budgets – meaning most small business owners can’t
afford to use branding-only marketing. Instead, we must combine
branding actions with marketing calls-to-action.
Use your Twitter header photo to solidify your brand by incorporating
your logo, using your business’ color scheme and using the same look
and feel you’ve used in the rest of your profile (and the rest of your
Web presence in general). Remember, your brand embodies your company’s
personality. Does your Twitter header photo (and profile) help convey
personality consistency?
4. Branding Tip: Make Sure the Colors are Harmonious
Yes, color usage is one of the primary ways you can solidify your brand across media channels.
I’m finding it kind of awesome how @TodayShow
has totally meshed all their colors to create one beautiful, orangey
experience. The background rainbow, the logo colors and the link colors
all match the logo within its Twitter header photo. Delicious. If your
avatar doesn’t match your header, it will be a huge fail.
5. Ensure that Header, Bio Text and Avatar All Cohesively Portray Your Brand
More about branding. Notice how the Today Show logo, bio, location,
etc. are all in the middle of the header? Twitter did that. So if you
decide to implement this new profile change, note that Twitter moves
your introductory text and avatar from the left of your profile, changes
the text color to white, and plops it all smack dab in the center of
your new Twitter header photo.
As a result, cohesiveness in brand message is even more important to
avoid portraying a disjointed, disorganized company image to your
audience.
The Reveal: The Twitter header photo can be good news for your overall marketing and branding strategies.
This simple new profile feature is a great opportunity to help
further brand your business, potentially strengthen your Twitter
call-to-action and, hopefully, get a little website traffic boost out of
the mix. So go on, put your Twitter header photo into play before your competitors.
Now if I could only find enough hours in the day to do mine. Oh well, clients come first.