Facebook is  making changes to its policy on Cover Photos and News Feed ads in regards to text overlays. Effective January 15th, text will be limited to no more than 20% of an image’s area. Logos with text will count toward this limit.

According to Facebook’s updated guidelines under Section III.D, “Ads and sponsored stories for News Feed that originate from Pages may not include images with more than 20% text.”

Since the launch of Timeline, Facebook has always deterred the use of calls to action and price/purchase information in photos to prevent brands from sharing images that looked like traditional banner ads. However, the policy was vague and not always followed or enforced.

This time, to ensure advertisers are compliant with the new policy, the company is developing a grid-based text overlay detection tool to identify non-compliant images. A version of this tool will be available within Power Editor to help advertisers know in advance whether images will be approved.

Since this new image policy impacts community managers, creative directors, and individuals that specialize in Facebook advertising, now is the best time to get everyone on board and discuss how to prepare.

Below is a short checklist to get started. Remember to allow yourself enough time to audit, edit, and update images.

Facebook Checklist

• Audit all Timeline cover photos and alert the Creative team if any images need to be updated.
• Check images in current and upcoming Facebook ad campaigns to ensure ads get through the approval process.
• Review editorial calendars to ensure images in posts that may be supported later with a Promoted Post abide with the new ad policy and replace images as needed.

If you have any other suggestions on how to prepare for Facebook’s updated ad policy, please leave a comment below.