If you’re reading this post, you’re probably aware of all of the wonderful things infographics can do for you and your brand. How they help people retain information easier. How they look so great.
Unfortunately, full infographics do not look so great on Facebook. Sigh.
Have you ever seen a sad, scaled-out infographic sitting in the newsfeed by its lonesome? Surrounded by blank space, no one able to read the interesting information within it.
For all of you visual learners (we like you), here are some examples of what that looks like (cue the Sarah McLachlan song):
THE TAKEAWAY HERE – DO NOT UPLOAD YOUR FULL INFOGRAPHIC AS A PHOTO TO FACEBOOK. Your audience won’t be able to read a thing
Don’t shed too many tears for these mishandled visuals. We have a few options and alternative ways to promote infographics specifically on Facebook.
As a brand page, there are plenty of options for how your infographic can be uploaded to Facebook. When you go to the Facebook Creator Studio to create a new post, you can upload a single image by clicked the “Share a Photo” option, or you can click into “Multimedia” for more options:
- Create Photo Album
- Create a Photo Carousel
- Create Slideshow
- Create an Instant Experience
One thing to note is that whatever post type you choose, you should be sharing only a portion of your infographic. Its home should not be only on Facebook. Social media posts show pieces of your infographic and direct the viewers to see the rest on your website, your blog, or another page that properly can host your infographic in its beautiful, readable glory.
Facebook should be used as a vehicle to share your infographic, not house it.
Remember that when showcasing a portion of your infographic, try to crop a visually compelling portion, like the header of the infographic or a section with a compelling stat.
Uploading Photo Dimensions
Whether it’s horizontal, vertical, or square, Facebook will determine which dimensions it uses to show your image. When showcasing portions of our infographic, we tend to do
Square
If you upload a square image it will display as a 470-pixel square, the maximum allowable size in a Facebook feed. This will be the case no matter what size square you upload, but note that images smaller than 470 pixels might appear
Horizontal
If you upload a horizontal image, it will be scaled to 470 pixels wide and the height will be adjusted accordingly.
Horizontal images smaller than 470 pixels wide could appear at less than the 470-pixel width, aligned left with whitespace to the right of the image.
Vertical
If you upload a vertical image, it will be scaled to a height of 394 pixels, aligned to the left, with white space to the side. The adjusted width will be relative to the 394 pixels. For instance, if you upload a 500 x 700 image, Facebook will resize it to 281 x 394 pixels.
Posting Links
Now regardless of what photo orientation (vertical, horizontal, square) and whether you choose to upload one photo or an album with a few photos, make sure you post the link back to the full infographic in your post. (Remember, the full infographic should have a home somewhere like your blog, website, etc.)
Within your Facebook post promoting your infographic, signal to people that more content is there so that if they find your image interesting, they know to click the link to learn more.
Photo Carousel Dimensions
Do you have multiple parts of your infographic that you want to preview to your audience at once? A carousel can be a great way to show a few pieces in a fun, interactive way. When any of the images are clicked or tapped, your website with the full infographic will automatically open. You can also customize the copy below each image, too.
Note that carousel images are square, so we suggest creating your images at 600 x 600. Here is an example of how we used a carousel to preview a few parts of our 2015 annual report.
Optimize Your Preview Image
Make sure on the back end of your website, you have a custom thumbnail for your Open Graph Tag. Here’s a great post that goes more in-depth on that, if you’re unsure about how that works. We use the Yoast SEO plugin to do that on our website.
For maximum impact, create your preview image at 1200 x 628. The nice thing about sharing a link with a customized thumbnail is that when the thumbnail is clicked, it will automatically redirect the reader to the full piece on your website.
Here are a couple different examples of customized thumbnails when sharing links.
Instant Experiences
Facebook Instant Experiences, formerly known as Canvas ads, are the latest advertising tool for you to experiment with your infographic and brand messaging. These complex, mobile-only advertisements load instantly. After clicking on an Instant Experience, your audience can watch engaging videos and slideshows, view photos, swipe through carousels, and more—all in a single, seamlessly scrollable ad.
The opportunities to show off your infographic within an Instant Experience are almost limitless. You can link the infographic itself to the full graphic on your website, combine multiple pieces of microcontent, split the full infographic and allow users to scroll or swipe through the entire piece, and embed a CTA button to draw traffic to your website or more information. We’re still experimenting with this tool but are incredibly excited about the opportunities for customization.
Hint: The tilt-to-pan feature allows a user to tilt the phone to the left or right to reveal more of the image or video. To enable this functionality, select the ‘fit-to-height’ option in the photo/image component of the Create Tool. Be sure to add a CTA to encourage viewers to tilt their phone, or they may not realize what a cool feature it is!
Curious about what sizes your images, video, and other pieces should be to make the best use of this feature? Here’s all the details you need.
Final To-Dos
- Remember to share your infographic multiple times. You (or your agency) spent a lot of time creating it, so be sure your audience sees it! Leery about doing that? Read more about sharing content multiple times here.
- Share different portions of your infographic at different times. Try sharing your header in one post one day and a chart within the infographic the next. Sometimes you’ll be surprised by what resonates most with your audience and makes them want to click on to read your full infographic.
- For more tips on sharing your infographic on different social media channels, check out our eBook on Microcontent here.
Need help with how to post your infographic on your website properly? Check this post out.
