Twitter launches header photos. Time to add yours.

This week Twitter launched an important new feature: the ability to add a header photo to your profile.

As usual, HubSpot was on top of the news in real-time and quickly wrote this "how to" post: Twitter Rolls Out Cover Photos: How to Add Yours Today.

I conferred with my go-to designer Doug Eymer on what I could do with mine and updated my @dmscott Twitter profile page in just a few minutes.

Facebook has had a feature like this for some time, so the concept is not new. But I'm surprised at how few people use it.

A header photo is a great way to show your personal brand.

Don't try to sell

I suspect many sales & marketing types will add an advertising message to this real estate. I'd recommend resisting this tendency. Adding your messages or heavy-handed branding to the header, in my opinion, detracts. Sure, I could have used an image of, say, all my book covers for my cover. Instead I chose an image I really like of me speaking at the NAMM conference earlier this year shot by Jay Blakesberg earlier this year.

Your header photo will show up on your Twitter web page as well as on mobile devices. On my iPhone, it looks fantastic, greatly adding to my personal branding.

Time to add your header photo, don't you think?

If you're inclined, please leave a comment with a link to yours so we can see some examples.

Comments

[ArtilleryMarket]

I decided to have some fun with mine: https://twitter.com/ArtilleryMarket

[Mark Bower (CubeSocial)]

We decided to create an atmosphere of blissful serenity: http://twitter.com/cubesocial

[David Meerman Scott]

Artillery and Mark - Thanks for sharing - two excellent headers!

[Grantcrowell]

Thanks for sharing this feature along with your own helpful tips, David! I also recommend darkening the area around your picture where the text will appear so that it stands out better. You can see an example of this on my own profile at http://twitter.com/grantcrowell

[David Meerman Scott]

Looking good Grant

[JosephDKelly]

Thanks for this post David... There has been as much hype about this. https://twitter.com/JosephDKelly

It was quite hard to choose a header. However, I think I have been able to highlight an active brand and personality in one.

[Dat]

awesome. i've seen a couple of twitter header providers pop up. like http://www.twitter-header-photo.com

[Trevor Young]

Hi David - here are a few Aussie examples I gathered: http://bit.ly/ODXffr

I must admit, I had a bit of fun playing around with it, although it would be nice to be able to move the avatar to either side of the header image.

[David Meerman Scott]

Joseph - interesting one. The two people are conversing but in their own kayaks. Sort of a metaphor for social media.

Hey Trevor - You are so right that the avatar being in the middle like that limits options. I had to find an image of me speaking where I am to the side. It would be cool if you could move it.

Additionally, it would be good to have the text colors within the photo (for the bio) be changeable so you could use an image with a white background.

[Lyndie Blevins]

Thanks for the information and nudge. I wondered about them. Here is mine https://twitter.com/lyndieb

[Miguel]

Awesome, really nice info.

[Rusty Cawley, APR]

Sorry, but Twitter is beginning to resemble Asimov's Bicentennial Man. At what point is Twitter no longer Twitter, but just another web site?

[David Meerman Scott]

Rusty - My sense is that the various social platforms are spending too much time worried about the "competition" and not enough time worrying about their users. Twitter cares about Facebook and wants to match them.

We see this behavior with Apple dropping Google maps for their own crappy platform.

[Paul Stallard]

Thanks for the heads up David. Now I just need to find a half decent picture to use.

[Julie Musial]

What's your thought on adding a background design directing tweeters to your freemium on the web?
www.twitter.com/musialmarketing

[David Meerman Scott]

Julie - I am personally not a fan of such backgrounds. I know many people do it and that's fine. But to me (just a personal opinion) it seems too much like advertising before you get to know someone. Either way, keep tweeting

[Eric]

Hi David, always great to read and learn from you! Over the past few years I have read many a marketing book, but nothing caught the essence of what really needs to be happening like "The New Rules"! So, anyway, we have several examples at http://BloomMobile.net - but here's a landing page for a little "Ski Life" platform project we're rolling out. http://m.theskilife.com hope you and the readers enjoy the variety of mobile sites! All the best, Eric

[Chris]

It's probably a sad truth that, as much as we dislike blatant advertising - it always wins in the long run. Perhaps something to be said about human psychology - we often dont want something until its placed in front of us. You can slap an "i" in front of any electronic device today and people will buy it over a competitor simply because it runs on an iOS platform. No matter how many commercials Apple makes claiming to care about its users, their dropping of Google Maps and other competitive actions make sit ring hollow - but people will buy anyway.