How to create a dynamic Open Graph (OG) image for your website

And how it changes your content sharing

As digital marketers, we care a lot about content. After all, content is king. For content to reach its desired effect of attracting more awareness from our target readers or customers, it need to be disseminated or, in other words, it needs to be shared. One of the ways to optimize the potential outreach lies in the creative use of the dynamic Open Graphic image (aka OG images).

What are Open Graphic Meta Tags?

For starters, Open Graph meta tags allow you to control what content shows up when a webpage is shared across major social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Aside from social media, hundreds of other content sharing tools (e.g., messenger such as Slack) use these tag. You can control how the title, site name, image, and descriptions are displayed. Think of it as a short intro to your content. It needs to be captivating enough for a viewer to like it or click into it.

So, what is a dynamic Open Graphic image?

Unlike a static image, dynamic OG image changes over time. The changing visuals also add variables to how your content is perceived as they are being shared across the channels. For example, PickaPic’s website uses dynamic OG image that plays on the concept of 7 Days of Creation from the biblical tales.

PickaPic’s OG image changes daily based on the day of the week.

And this is how it looks in a Facebook post.

When shared in Facebook, the post content changes on a daily basis. Check back this post tomorrow to see it change.

When shared on social media (Facebook) the post will display different images to readers. Check back tomorrow to see the content change.

Why should you use a dynamic Open Graphic image?

Well, first and foremost, they are fun! 😊

But here are several other reasons why marketers will find it useful:

• Reduces brand fatigue, which occurs when consumers become stops responding to a brand after being over-exposed to its marketing. Displaying content with varied visual creatives is a great way to appeal to consumers without bombarding them with high-frequency marketing.
• Keep content fresh & up-to-date. Every impression counts. So if you’re sharing a post that is time sensitive (say countdown to an event), using dynamic OG image is a great way to convey the sense of urgency.
• The novelty factor. Humans are curious creatures and are suckers for novel things. Presenting visual elements that change unpredictably over time increases the chances of being noticed.

Enough said, how do I create a dynamic OG image?

Steps are pretty straightforward.

Step 1: Plan out the images you want to display and the duration for which it will be displayed. In the example above, we used 7 images in total — one for each weekday. You can also consider a daily countdown, monthly themes, etc.

Step 2: Create your dynamic image with PickaPic. Upload the images in sequential order that you want to be displayed. Designate the timeline for the images — either specific timelines or repeat each day (used in our 7 days of creation). See help for detailed steps.

Step 3. Get the link to the dynamic image. PickaPic will send you the URL to the final dynamic image, along with an option to edit it anytime in the future.

Step 4. Embed it into your web pages or post as OG image. Reference the meta tag to the image link generated. See our example below.

Step 5. That’s all. Just share it!

Here is an example of how our OG image looks as the website is shared via slack messaging app.

OG image shared via Slack Messenger app (and any other messengers).

Give it a try!