How To Design Facebook and Instagram Covers That Resonate With Regional Audiences
Today’s social media landscape is increasingly getting globalized. If you want to stand out, you need to do more than look good. You need to be locally relevant. This rings even more true for platforms like Facebook and Instagram that thrive on community, culture, and connection.
So how do you get started on this local branding? The first step is your social media covers. As they are the first thing that your audience sees when visiting your profile (aside from your logo design), they are the prime real estate to show your audience that you understand and respect their culture, thus boosting brand engagement and affinity.
If your social media strategy is focused on Facebook and Instagram, then this article is for you. We’ll break down how to design culturally relevant and visually compelling Facebook covers and Instagram covers below, so keep on reading!
Why Localized Social Covers Matter in 2025
5.24 billion people are on social media.
It’s impossible that one cover design will appeal to every single one of them, as they come from different cultures and backgrounds (and thus will have different preferences).
An example is Japan. They prefer cute aesthetics, which is why mascots or soft pastel colors are commonly used in their marketing. Meanwhile, Brazil prefers bold and dynamic visuals, which is why funky fonts and vibrant colors are always present in their designs.
See? What works for one country won’t work for another. It only makes sense to create localized covers to appeal to a specific group of audience rather than using a one-size-fits-all generic visual.
Studies also prove that people prefer brands that personalize content to their region or culture. Multicultural marketing campaigns get 70% higher engagement rates than general ones. Fifty-eight percent of people also say that culturally relevant ads get their attention more, while 52% say that culturally relevant ads have a higher chance of being purchased from them.
Facebook Cover Photo Dimensions and Guidelines
According to Facebook, cover photos are best designed at 851 x 315 pixels on desktop and 640 x 360 pixels on mobile.
However, different screen sizes can affect which part of your cover photo is visible. This is even more crucial on mobile, as Facebook automatically crops your cover on the sides.
Your profile picture will also cover a part of the left-hand side of your cover.
To ensure that your cover design will look great no matter what, we suggest having all important elements in the “safe zone,” which is the area that is visible across all devices and screen sizes. The safe zone area is 820 x 360 pixels.
Instagram Cover Photo Dimensions and Guidelines
Instagram doesn’t have a traditional cover or banner like the ones that Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn have.
You can, however, change the cover of your Highlights or Reels. Your Highlights cover, in particular, is highly visible on your profile since it is pinned to the top of your page, so you need to make sure it looks good.
Your Highlights cover should be in 1080 x 1920 pixels with a 9:16 aspect ratio. Keep in mind that Instagram will automatically display your cover in a circular crop with a 1:1 ratio, so make sure all important elements are centered in your design.
Next is your Reels cover.
The cover is displayed differently when you view it on your profile and on your Reels tab. On your profile, the cover is smaller and more square, with a 3:4 aspect ratio. But on your Reels tab, it’s displayed at a full 9:16 ratio.
Profile tab vs Reels tab
For more optimal display across different tabs, we recommend sticking to 1080 x 1920 pixels with a 9:16 aspect ratio. However, keep all your important elements in the safe zone of 1080 x 1350 to ensure that nothing will get awkwardly cut off.
How To Localize Your Facebook and Instagram Covers
Let’s now move to the important part: localizing your covers.
Some best practices to keep in mind are:
1. Use cultural symbols or local imagery
Use visuals that your audience can instantly relate to. These can be local landmarks, cultural symbols, national flowers, or traditional cuisine in their country.
For example:
- Japan – cherry blossoms or Mt. Fuji
- UAE – desert or falcon
- Mexico – papel picado patterns or Calaveras
- Switzerland – the Alps or cheese fondue
National Cheese Day by BrandCrowd
2. Design around regional events or holidays
Another is to align your Facebook and Instagram covers with events that matter locally.
These events also have their own visual language, such as colors, motifs, or symbols. Make sure you note these so you are culturally respectful.
Some popular holidays to consider are:
- Lunar New Year (East and Southeast Asia) – red and gold, zodiac animals
- Diwali (India) – lotus, diya, fireworks
- Eid al-Fitr (Muslim majority countries) – crescent moon, stars, prayer rug
- Mardi Gras (countries with large Roman Catholic populations) – purple, green, and gold, fleur de lis, masks
Eid Al Fitr Prayer by BrandCrowd
Diwali Festival Celebration by Design.com
Even local happenings can come into play with your design. For instance, Coachella is a big thing in the US while the SEA games are more relevant for your Southeast Asian audience.
3. Check your color palette
Designing your covers according to color psychology is great if you want to resonate emotionally with your audience.
However, color doesn’t mean the same thing everywhere.
An example is red. It means prosperity in China, but symbolizes death and sacrifices in South Africa.
Another is yellow. It’s a lucky color in Thailand, but it symbolizes jealousy and betrayal in France and Germany.
To avoid cultural design faux pas, research your colors and their meanings first.
4. Translate your message
Localized language is key to making your designs resonate more with your audience. However, translating doesn’t mean just doing it literally.
Use native expressions and local slang. For example, Americans call it “sweater,” but Brits call it “jumper.”
Each country also has its own preferred tone or formality level. For instance, Japan and Korea have a strong emphasis on polite language, while the US is more used to casual and light-hearted style.
If you’re looking to translate your texts, you can get started with tools like DeepL, Lokalise, or Google Translate. However, it is still recommended that you get human translators as they can capture the nuance between the languages.
5. Use regional font styles and typography
Speaking of your text, the typography you use for it matters as well. What looks friendly in one country can look too casual or inappropriate in another.
If you are designing for cultures where tradition and formality is valued, go for serif fonts.
These fonts are also favored in France or Italy, where classic serif typography aligns well with their abundance of fashion or luxury brands.
On the other hand, SEA audiences and the US prefer rounded sans-serif fonts as they are more modern and approachable. You can see them in use in tech logos or lifestyle brand logos.
Some countries also have their own alphabet, such as Arabic, Hangul, Kanji, or Cyrillic. If you’re planning to use these alphabets in your cover design, make sure you use fonts that can support their characters so that they will be displayed properly.
Industry-Specific Local Cover Examples
Need some ideas for some industry-specific covers for your local business marketing? Here are some examples:
Food and beverage
Use local dishes, spices, or utensils in your designs. For instance, chopsticks can be used in Chinese covers while pizza is for Italy. Meanwhile, banderitas and other native patterns can be used for Filipino covers.
Italian Food Pizza by BrandCrowd
Let’s Eat Street Food by Design.com
Beauty and wellness
It’s best to incorporate regional skincare trends or rituals.
An example is Korea. Glass skin is really popular there, as well as pastel tones since that is typically used in their cosmetic packaging.
Meanwhile, India is more into Ayurveda, which leans to a more holistic approach. Cover designs there would feature earthy tones, symbols like lotus and Doshas, and Sanskrit typography.
Skincare Tips Bingo by BrandCrowd
Skincare Customer Engagement by Design.com
Travel and hospitality
If you’re in this industry, we recommend using cityscapes, flags, or local landmarks as your main cover visual.
You can also use symbols related to an event in that country, as mentioned above!
Chiang Mai Tour Package by BrandCrowd
Fashion and retail
Seasons are especially important in the world of fashion, so you need to make sure your cover design is seasonally appropriate.
Take note of regional season differences. For example, summer in Australia happens in December unlike other countries. Countries near the equator only experience two seasons. And so on.
Tropical Summer Sale Reel by Design.com
Elegant Winter Sale Reel by BrandCrowd
How To Use Brandcrowd for Localized Cover Design
Don’t have the time or design skills to create your covers?
Use our cover design templates! These templates come in various designs fit for any industry or event. As they are pre-made, you don’t have to design from scratch. You can just choose a design you like then use as is or further customize to fit your needs.
Whether you’re creating materials for recruitment campaigns using AI recruiting tools, marketing presentations, or corporate events, these versatile templates work across different sectors.
BrandCrowd Facebook Banner Maker
BrandCrowd Instagram Reel Maker
BrandCrowd’s social media templates support 60+ languages. They also have the correct sizing already, so you don’t have to worry about resizing!
Templates like these can also streamline your local branding strategy. You can now quickly make A/B variations per city or language and easily determine which social media ad designs will work best for your business.
Since these are also templates, you can just swap out visuals or text without changing the core design. So quick and simple!
Case Studies: Brands Doing Local Branding Right
Need more examples? We got you. Below are brands that have marketing visuals and covers that truly highlight the culture of their target audience.
Lush Cosmetics
You can see how Lush cleverly handles their local branding when you compare their UK vs Japan pages.
Lush Japan features cute imagery that highlights local elements like sakura and peach blossom. They also use tons of mascots and illustrations to lean into their kawaii aesthetics.
Lush Japan
Meanwhile, their UK page is all sleek and minimalist. They use elegant typefaces and rely on simple but eye-catching imagery.
Lush UK
This adaptive branding shows they understand their audience preferences well.
Airbnb
Airbnb, the travel and lodging giant, is a master at local marketing.
Their visuals and covers always fit the aesthetic of the location that they are highlighting. For instance, they use tons of cityscapes for their US and UK covers, while they feature colorful and cozy homes for their Brazil or Spain posts.
They also highlight local festivals, cuisines, or landmarks in their marketing campaigns making their promotions more emotionally resonant compared to a simple, straightforward ad.
Grab
Grab is a ride-hailing and food-delivery app that operates in Southeast Asian countries.
While they localized properly for the eight countries they are available in (which are Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), we want to highlight their Grab Philippines page.
They frequently make posts for Philippine festivals and events. These posts use patterns, symbols, and colors fit for the festivals.
They also incorporate Filipino humor and local slang in their marketing visuals, making them more relevant for their audience. For instance, in the following post, they make a joke about how some Filipinos have to stretch their income between the days they get their salary and how their promos can help.
Measuring the Success of Your Localized Covers
How do you know if your localized covers are effective compared to your general ones?
The key is tracking your metrics. Start by tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as:
- Engagement rates (likes, comments, shares)
- Click-through rates (CTR) on region-specific calls to action
- Follower growth by country or location
These metrics show how well your covers are connecting with each audience and help you spot which regions are responding best to your localized efforts.
You can also run A/B tests by region in your Meta Ads manager. Use this to compare how different visuals, imagery, font styles, and other elements perform across local markets. You can also test CTA phrasing in local dialects to see if it’s more effective compared to the usual English ones.
Last is to check overall social media sentiment using tools like Brandwatch and Talkwater. These tools can help you monitor comments, mentions, or discussions about your brand, and see if audiences are reacting positively or negatively to your efforts.
Conclusion
Successful brands don’t just mindlessly market globally. Instead, they design with their local audience in mind.
By crafting Facebook and Instagram covers that reflect local languages, symbols, and values, you make your brand more relevant, trustworthy, and memorable.
Sounds difficult? It doesn’t have to be! Even small businesses can get into the game with a well thought out strategy and the right tools.
Ready to embark on your localization journey? Feel free to check out our tools mentioned above, or explore our other tools like logo maker, Twitter cover maker, or YouTube banner maker.
FAQs on Localizing Social Media
Q1: What’s the difference between a global and a localized Facebook or Instagram cover?
Localized covers feature region-specific language, visuals, and cultural symbols tailored to a target market. Global covers, on the other hand, tend to be simpler and generic to appeal to a broader audience.
Q2: How many regional versions should I create?
Start with your business’s top-performing regions. If you see that localizing to smaller regions would benefit you, expand further.
Q3: Do localized covers require multiple brand assets?
No, not really. You can use editable templates with a core layout related to your brand. Then, you can swap out some details, like an icon or color palette, to suit your needs.
Q4: Can I create multilingual social covers without hiring a designer?
Yes! Tools like BrandCrowd offer templates where you can edit copy, fonts, and visuals in multiple languages.
Q5: How do I ensure cultural sensitivity in design?
Make sure to research local culture, language, trends, or norms. You can also consult with regional marketers. Also, avoid stereotyping or falling back to typical “jokes,” as this can be disrespectful to your audience.
Faviola Publico is an SEO Content Writer specializing in branding and digital marketing strategies. Outside of work, she enjoys reading slice-of-life novels and watching any mystery thriller-themed series.
Original Artwork by Khim John Blazo
