Hey — it’s Nico.

This is Behind Tactics 🧠, the Failory newsletter where I share the strategies behind the best startups.

This issue takes 7 mins to read. If you only have one, here’s what you need to know:

• OG images are the preview visuals shown when links are shared on social media, and are often overlooked as a marketing tool.

• Creative OG images grab attention in noisy feeds, boosting clicks and making your content stand out.

• At Failory, unique OG images tailored to each page have proven to increase engagement and CTR.

• Ahrefs automated OG image creation using templates, saving time while maintaining quality and brand consistency.

• Thoughtful OG images act as a silent CTA, reinforcing your message and improving shareability across platforms.

Let’s get into it.

The Strategy

Why Your OG Images Matter

You’ve probably seen OG images before, even if you didn’t know what they were called. They’re those preview images that pop up when you share a link on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Slack. Most of the time, they’re forgettable—a generic company logo, a dull screenshot, or worse, nothing at all. 

But here’s the thing: OG images are often the first impression your content makes on social media. Think of them as a storefront window for your brand. If they’re uninspiring, your audience will scroll right past. But if they’re bold and eye-catching, they can stop someone mid-scroll and get them curious enough to click.

Lets look at some examples:

• Webflow takes a clean and functional approach, typical of SaaS companies. Their OG images showcase key features of the platform while maintaining a professional, minimalist design.

  

• Puck, an employer branding platform, goes in the opposite direction. Instead of focusing on screenshots of their platform, they use bold illustrations with vibrant colors. Their OG image is energetic, full of life, and conveys the idea of people and connection, which aligns perfectly with their mission.

  

• Finally, there’s Equals. Their OG image is strikingly simple: a bold statement in big, black font over a pale lavender background. It’s unconventional, almost minimalist to the extreme, but that’s exactly why it works. The image conveys personality and confidence—qualities that resonate with their audience. It doesn’t try to sell; it simply makes you curious enough to click.

  

Despite these creative examples, many marketers still overlook the potential of OG images. Many default to a single image for all their pages, often recycling something basic like a logo or header. That’s where the opportunity lies: turning this overlooked detail into a powerful tool to make your content stand out.

Let me show you how I’ve experimented with OG images at Failory and what companies like Ahrefs are doing to take this to the next level.

Failory’s OG Images

At Failory, I’ve been playing with this idea for a while now. Instead of using one generic image for the whole site, I started creating unique OG images for specific pages—like the homepage, the “cemetery” of failed startups, and interviews.

For example, the homepage OG image isn’t just a static logo. It’s a visual pitch for what Failory is about: bold text, clean design, and just enough to make you curious.

The “cemetery” OG image, on the other hand, has a somber yet captivating tone, reflecting the gravity of analyzing startup failures. It uses recognizable logos of well-known failed startups to intrigue the audience and highlight the scale of the stories available. Each image is designed to match the content it represents and to make people stop and think, “What’s this about?”

That said, creating unique OG images for every page and post would take things to another level. Imagine if every blog post, interview, or resource had its own tailored OG image, perfectly matched to the content. The challenge? This approach can quickly become expensive and time-consuming if done manually.

That’s where automation could step in.

How Ahrefs Automated OG Image Creation

Ahrefs faced a similar challenge but on a much larger scale. Initially, they hired an in-house illustrator to design custom OG images for every blog post. This approach gave their blog a unique and recognizable style, but as their publishing pace increased, it became clear that this process wasn’t sustainable.

Each new article required a custom illustration, which not only consumed significant design resources but also slowed down their ability to publish content quickly. They tried to solve this by experimenting with AI to generate illustrations, but the results didn’t meet their standards—it was far from the creative quality they wanted to maintain.

Their solution? Automation. By using a tool like Bannerbear, Ahrefs created a system that generates OG images automatically. They designed templates that pull in elements like the author’s photo, the article title, and key details, ensuring that every image remains consistent with their brand while being tailored to the content. Now, when they publish an article, the OG image is ready to go, without any manual effort.

What’s even more interesting is that this shift didn’t hurt their click-through rates. The automated images, which prominently feature the article’s author, perform just as well as the custom illustrations did.

Should I?

Why This Works

• Grabs Attention in Busy Feeds: Social platforms are crowded and fast-paced. A bold, creative OG image stands out, making people pause and click—a crucial first step toward engagement and higher click-through rates.

• Enhances Shareability: A visually striking OG image increases the likelihood of your link being shared. People are more inclined to pass along content that looks polished and interesting, amplifying your reach organically.

• Cost-Effective Strategy: While some effort is required upfront, automating OG image creation can be a low-cost way to keep your content visually fresh and engaging.

• Builds a Recognizable Style: Consistent, tailored OG images create a visual identity that your audience can associate with your brand. Over time, this builds trust and familiarity, even before they engage with your content.

How to Apply It

• Design Templates with Dynamic Elements: Create a few reusable templates that allow you to swap out dynamic elements like article titles, stats, or visuals. Tools like Canva or Figma can help you craft designs that are easy to update.

• Highlight Key Hooks: Use your OG images to emphasize the most compelling part of your content—a surprising stat, a bold claim, or an intriguing question. Make it visually prominent to grab attention.

• Automate Where Possible: If you’re publishing a lot of content, consider tools like Placid to auto-generate OG images using templates. This saves time while maintaining a professional look.

• Optimize for Platforms: Design your OG images at the recommended size of 1200x630 pixels to ensure they display perfectly on social platforms. Compress the file size to under 100KB for faster loading and better performance without sacrificing quality.

• Test Different Styles: Experiment with design approaches—bold colors, clean layouts, or playful elements—and track which ones get the best engagement. This can guide future designs and refine your brand’s visual identity.

Yes, But

• Time-Intensive Setup: Creating templates and customizing images for every page takes effort upfront. For small teams, this might feel overwhelming.

• Risk of Overdesign: Overly complex OG images can backfire, distracting from the main message or making the content feel gimmicky. Striking the right balance between attention-grabbing and clear messaging takes experimentation and design skill.

• Automation Limitations: Automated tools can’t always deliver the creative flexibility of custom designs. They might result in cookie-cutter visuals that fail to stand out or misalign with your brand’s tone..

• CTR Isn’t Everything: Even if your OG images increase click-through rates, they won’t fix weak content. If what’s behind the click doesn’t deliver value, the effort spent on visuals could feel wasted.

Keep Learning

Others Playing It

There hundreds of startups doing cool things with their OG images.

Here are two galleries full with some of the best examples:

• OGImage

• Toolfolio

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That’s all for this edition.

Cheers,

Nico