Continuing our discussion of branding various social networking and video sharing sites, I’d like to return to Facebook for a moment and touch upon a topic I briefly mentioned a few posts ago when I was discussing the new Facebook Page design and its new “branding graphic” specifications along the left-hand side:
In addition to the graphic along the left, I mentioned that the five image slots along the top also provide a branding opportunity if you manage the photographs correctly. This section of a Facebook page randomly presents the 5 most recent images uploaded into the main folder. In the case of Outskirts Press, this is ideal because we have five different publishing packages that are represented by five different gemstones. They add a splash of color and “interest” to what might otherwise be a normal, standard Facebook page.
The downside to this is that you have to prevent other users from uploading images. Another downside is that when you, as the page administrator, upload an image, it may disturb the “branding” efforts you have put forth. This is what happened with Outskirts Press on St. Patrick’s day when we offered a one-day “Search for the pot o’ gold” Internet search opportunity for a Facebook community, the prize being a book teaser video worth $99. We uploaded the image of the pot of gold that was within one of our YouTube Videos, and of course, as a result, that image also appeared as one of our top five images:
But that’s okay. If anything, the temporary “difference” to the Image Section brought even more attention to the one-day only St. Patrick’s Day event.
Interestingly, no one “won.” I don’t know if it was because the search was “too hard” or “too boring” but that’s always one of the fun things about running social networking events — you never know what is going to happen…
President of Outskirts Press 