One of the main components of any social media strategy is to leverage the popularity of Facebook to increase the reach and boost the brand image. Facebook’s vast reach makes it a perfect platform for marketing. Facebook ads are the most sought after marketing means on the platform. There are different types of ads, each of which is best suited for achieving a particular goal. We will take you through some of the most popular ads on the Facebook, giving detailed specs required, benefits and quick tips to make you completely understand these ads.
1. Photo Ads
It is one of the easiest to run. You can either create a post with an image for the purpose or promote the already posted image. A post with an image is what all you need.
The photo ad will have a headline, body text and description, subjected to the following conditions:
- Headline: Cannot exceed 25 characters
- Body Text: Should be less than 125 characters
- Link Description: Not more than 30 characters
- Image size: 1,200 X 628 pixels
- Image ratio: 1.91:1
Limitations:
Promoting a post is allowed for Facebook pages only.
Benefits of Photo Ads:
- For businesses, promoting a post helps to reach a wider audience.
- Reach can be customized by defining your target demographic and geographic locations of your choice.
- It can be used to achieve a variety of goals like increase reach, engagement, lead generation, etc.
- Detailed performance reports of the post covering clicks, reach, reaction and interaction.
- Of course, as said in the beginning, it is easiest to run
Quick Tips for making the most of photo ads
- Be clear about your goals. Whether it is about increasing brand awareness, traffic, or page like. Clear goals help you to tailor your photo ad to gain the most.
- Stay focused on the targeted audience. The more you focused on the targeted audience the more relevant your ad will be. Choose your audience and reach carefully.
- Don’t run the ad for forever. The ideal time to boost a post is 7 days, according to Facebook. Howsoever successful a photo ad must be in the beginning, after the week it tends to be witness decline in results.
Video Ads
Video ads are similar to the photo ads, but in place of the photo there would be a video. Video ads are the most popular content these days on Facebook.
Video ads will have a headline, body and description link. The usual video requirements are mentioned below too.
- Headline: Cannot exceed 25 characters
- Body Text: Should be less than 125 characters
- Link Description: Not more than 30 characters
- Video format: .mov or .mp4 are preferable
- Aspect ratio: 16:9
- Resolution: at least 720p
- File size: 2.3 GB max
- Thumbnail image size: 1,200 x 675 pixels
Diversity
There are different types of video ads which Facebook allows. These range from a short video to 60 minutes’ videos, subjected to the file size of not more than 2.3 GB.
Benefits:
- Video ads hold user attention for longer. Hence, more scope to convey different aspects of product or service to persuade the audience.
- The video can be an explainer or the product features video, has far greater chances to convince the viewer.
- Target could be accurately defined. Reach could be customized based on the demographic as well as geographic parameters.
- Surveys suggest that an average nearly 50% of users spend at least an hour a day watching videos on Facebook, that ensures guaranteed return on the investment.
Quick Tips for making the most of photo ads
- Majority of videos are watched without sound. It’s better to use caption to drive the point home.
- Always keep the video limit and file size in mind to not to get rejected.
- Short videos are more likely to be watched.
- Long videos need to have compelling story to get viewers stay long
3. Carousel Ad
A carousal of images and videos can be displayed in the carousel ads with the easy movement with a set of arrows. A carousel ad allows to showcase up to 10 images or videos with appropriate links and call to actions. Carousel ads are far better and effective compared to photo and video ads.
Carousel Ad will have a headline, text, link description and the following specs.
- Headline: Up to 40 characters
- Text: Up to 125 characters
- Link Description: up to 20 characters
- Image size/Thumbnail image size: 1,080 x 1,080 pixels
- Image ratio/Video aspect ratio: 1:1 (square)
- Video format: .mov or .mp4 are preferable
- Aspect ratio: 16:9
- Resolution: at least 720p
- File size: 2.3 GB max
Note:
The video specs including the format, size and aspect ratio are same as the video ad format.
Benefits:
- Carousel ads improve the time spent by the audience leading to better engagement.
- Best suited for E-commerce sites looking to showcase multiple products in a single advertisement.
- There are about 18 call-to-action buttons available ranging from lead generation to store visit promotion.
- Effective for reaching out to people, boosting post, increasing video views and promoting pages and events.
- The ads appear in the news feed of mobile as well as desktop.
Quick Tips:
- Try to tell a story. Use the multiple images to the best effect by telling a story through them.
- Ensure main image or video is appealing enough to catch the user attention.
- Link the images to imply the continuation so the viewer watches all the images and videos.
- Make sure that the creative consistency runs through all the images and videos for design cohesion.
- Display your brand and use the appropriate CTA.
4. Slideshow Ads
It is one of the underutilized ads of the Facebook platform. It actually groups together individual product photos into a video increasing the effectiveness of the ads by many folds. Create a short video from the images or video grabs. If you don’t have any, you can use text and music as well.
Specs for the Slideshow Ads as follows:
- Headline: 25 characters
- Text: 90 characters
- Link description: 30 characters
- Image size: 1,280 x 720 pixels
- Image ratio: 16:9, 1:1, or 2:3
- Duration Maximum 15 seconds.
Benefits:
- These ads are easier and cost-effective alternatives to video ads.
- Best for product catalogue promotion.
- Works best to catch the attention of the audience with the spellbound images in the slides with limited budget and less time at disposal.
- You can take the stills from your best videos if you don’t have appealing photos.
- You will also have an option to upload low bandwidth images to make it load quickly in low connectivity areas too.
Quick Tips:
- Use existing images on the website or Facebook instead of new photos for message consistency.
- Choose .MOV or .MP4 file types for video uploads.
- Use high resolution images or videos.
- 3-10 images are ideal for slideshow ads to tell a compelling story.
- Use consisting branding for better performance.
5. Canvas Ads
Canvas Ads are full-screen ads intended to bring the products to life in the mobile device. Canvas ads are maimed at mobile and to increase the engagement with the content. The audience can interact with the ad by swiping through a carousel of images, increasing the chances of better engagement.
Specs for the Canvas Ads Photos and Videos as follows:
Photos:
- Image ratio: Images use the full width of the screen by default
- Image size: 1,080 x 1,920 pixels
- File type: .png, .jpg
- Photos: Up to 20 photos can be used
Videos:
- Video: Minimum resolution of 720p
- Orientation: Portrait orientation is recommended.
- Length: Shouldn’t exceed 2 minutes. You can have multiple videos in the same length.
- Format: .mp4 or .mov
- Thumbnail: This will be the first frame of the video
Benefits:
- It is one of the most sophisticated ways to tell your brand story or to promote a product online.
- It loads quickly compared to the other ads.
- Offers immersive mobile experience.
- It supports 6 types of media including the photos, tilt-to-pan images, carousel, text, videos and buttons.
- Best for app installs and mobile web link clicks.
Quick Tips:
- Create a bold header with a log to prominently tell about your brand.
- Capture the user attention with the visually delightful photos.
- Make use of text blocks to give more information about you to the users.
- Strategically use different types of CTA to direct to your website.
