Perfection can never be overrated when it comes to Facebook ad creatives and it takes a lot of time and dedication to get it right. Luckily, you can break it down into some easy categories to guide you through the creative process. Those categories are: copy, image, video, and calls to action (CTAs).
This blog post will walk you through these four categories and what you need to do to achieve the perfect creative for your Facebook campaign. By the end of this post, you will:
- Know what great copy looks like
- Understand the difference between low-quality and high-quality images
- Be ready to create effective video
- Know how to use a CTA button in your creative
- Recognize the importance of A/B testing
1. Perfect copy
The perfect Facebook ad has clear, concise, and powerful copy. It’s equally important that it adheres to Facebook’s Advertising Policies, which specify prohibited content. The policies also stipulate that ads must be relevant and accurate, and should direct users to landing pages promoted in the ad. Ads with clickbait are not tolerated.
Your ad copy should focus on the benefits of the product or service you’re advertising. For example, if you’re advertising running shoes think about what benefits your product is offering customers. Great style? Comfort? Support? All of the above? Focus on the key benefits and communicate them clearly and concisely.
Take this ad by Arlington Club, for example. In only three sentences, the copy entices the audience with the prospect of a delicious barbeque after a long week at work. The tone is casual and relaxed - definitely play, not work.
Image Source: Facebook Business
Other tips for great ad copy include the following:
- Write short, succinct copy
- Include price where appropriate
- Include numbers in your headlines (e.g. “7 Ways to Shop Smart This Summer”)
- Use a relatable tone
2. Perfect images
It’s widely known that our brains process visual information faster than text, and retain information with images better and for longer. Facebook audiences are no different.
Facebook audiences respond better to ad images containing fewer words because, as one 22-year-old from Canda put it:
“People don’t really want to read through text all the time...they just want to see it visually. It’s more appealing.”
Source: https://www.facebook.com/iq/articles/growing-up-in-a-visual-world
We're in the age of visuals. If your image contains too much text, the chances are your audience won’t read through it.
If you do include text in the ad image itself, you should keep it short and within Facebook’s 20 per cent text rule. This stipulates that a photo or image should include no more than 20 per cent text. According to Facebook guidelines, “images that consist of more than 20% text may experience reduced delivery.”
It goes without saying that your ad images should be high-quality in terms of both format and content. They should also comply with Facebook’s image requirements.
- File type: jpg or png
- Image ratio: 9:16 to 16:9
- Image resolution: the highest resolution possible (and minimum 1,200 x 628px if it’s with a link)
- Minimum image width in pixels: 600
- Minimum image height in pixels: 600
- Aspect ratio tolerance: 3%
See the Facebook Ads guide for images for full details.
Last but most definitely not least, your ad’s images should be high-quality, beautiful, and creative. Since Facebook advertising is competitive, you need to work extra hard to catch your audience’s eye. Pixelated or low-resolution images look unprofessional, and they will be disregarded by your audience without a second thought.
For example, look at this ad by Shopify. In addition to meeting all of Facebook’s image requirements, the photo contains stunning color and texture. It’s also crisp and high-resolution, making it a sure-fire scroll-stopper.
3. Perfect video
If you choose to use video, which is a highly effective advertising format for the Facebook platform, there are a few factors to keep in mind.
First, your video should be short, to-the-point, and created to work also with sound off. Aim for somewhere between 5 and 30 seconds in total, depending on your ad’s message.
Your video should get right to the main point of your ad within the first few seconds - viewers have short attention spans and will move on if the point of your video isn’t clear right away. So if you’re promoting a sale, for example, you want to communicate that message right from the get-go.
Your video should include captions or titles throughout so people can also watch without sound. Make sure your message gets through whether viewers have the sound on or not.
The future of video is vertical
Most audiences watch video ads on their mobile devices on the go. Rotating your phone to watch horizontally is a disruption, however minor, and typically most people don’t bother.
So, to make the viewing experience as seamless as possible, you should design your video creative for a vertical format.
Facebook asked some filmmakers to experiment with vertical space and some really great short films were produced, with interesting use of the format including split screen. For inspiration, go to Facebook's Get Creative with Vertical Video page which showcases the results.
Image source: Facebook Business
Finally, your video creative must adhere to Facebook’s ad specs. The key video requirements, as specified by Facebook Business, are as follows:
- Video ratio: 9:16 to 16:9
- Recommended resolution: The highest resolution possible within file size and ratio limits.
- Video file size: 4GB max
- Video length minimum: 1 second
- Video length maximum: 240 minutes
- Text: 125 characters
- Video thumbnail images must follow the 20 per cent text rule
- Aspect ratio tolerance: 3%
See the Facebook Ads guide for video for full details.
4. The perfect CTA button
Your Facebook creative should include a clear and prominent CTA which prompts your audience to take the desired action. Facebook has a number of specific CTA buttons you can use, such as “Shop Now” or “Sign Up”.
Your CTA should be in a large clickable space, making it easy for the user to click and be taken through to the next stage, such as your online store where they can browse products.
Image Source: Facebook Business
A/B testing
The process of developing the perfect Facebook ad creative isn’t complete without the final step: testing. Frequent A/B testing is indispensable for finding the ad creative that works best for your business goals. Experiment with different elements and formats - and keep testing. For example, you may learn that ads with photos perform better for you than a video format, or vice versa. You should also refresh your creatives (up to every two weeks) to keep your audience interested.
See Facebook Help for a guide to split testing on the platform.
Perfection is hard to achieve, but a perfect Facebook ad creative is attainable. Use this blog post as a guide, and you’re well on your way.
