Facebook Advertising comes in various flavors to suit your particular needs.
- What are all the different Facebook ad types
- What are the specifications for each ad type
- What are some great examples of different Facebook ad types
- Why it’s important to use the right ad type
- What’s the best Facebook ad type to use
Traffic and Leads for Your Website
One of the most common purposes of Facebook Advertising is driving traffic to your website. This can be either to increase your site’s overall reach or to send users to a dedicated landing page and have them potentially buy your product, sign up for a newsletter, or participate in some other kind of lead generation. Here’s a breakdown of Facebook ads that help to drive traffic to your website.
Link Click Ads
Supported placements: Right Column, Desktop Newsfeed, Mobile Newsfeed, Audience Network, Instagram
If you think about Facebook ads, you’re probably thinking about the Link Click Ads.
This ad type helps to promote your external website and send people to your landing pages or blog posts. You can use Link Click Ads with several placements; this allows you to deliver the same ad across multiple News Feeds and reach a large audience.
These ads perform really well and have the side benefit of generating Likes for your page. Just remember to check the comments and reply to them for an engagement boost!
Specs:
- Recommended image size: 1,200 x 628 pixels
- Ad copy text: 90 characters
- Headline: 25 characters
- Link Description: 30 characters
Video Ads
Supported placements: Desktop Newsfeed, Mobile Newsfeed, Audience Network, Instagram
Facebook Video Ads are actually another form of the Link Click Ads – just that instead of a still image, your ad’s featuring a video.
Specs:
- Ad copy text: 90 characters
- Aspect ratios supported: 16:9 to 9:16
- File size: up to 4 GB max
- Continuous looping available
- Video can be as long as 120 min., but most top-performing videos are 15-30 seconds
Boosted Page Posts
Supported placements: Desktop Newsfeed, Mobile Newsfeed, Audience Network, Instagram
Every time you post something on your Facebook Page, Facebook offers you the chance to amplify the post’s reach with a Boosted Post.
As you click on “Boost Post,” you can set up the target audience and bidding methods and promote your Page post to more people across Facebook’s advertising network.
Specs:
- Recommended image size: 1,200 x 628 pixels
- Ad copy text: unlimited
- Headline: 25 characters
- Link Description: 30 characters
The Boosted Page Post will look exactly like an ordinary Facebook post, with a “Sponsored” note on top of the ad.
Sales and Leads for Your Product or Service
If you’re running an e-commerce store or have multiple offers you’d like to promote, Facebook allows you to showcase a range of products and services in a single ad.Facebook has also developed ad types that allow users to submit their email or interact with your brand without leaving the Facebook platform. By not leaving the platform, load times are up to 10X faster! This makes for a great user experience and reduces the time (and often, money) required to acquire new leads.
Multi-Product (Carousel Ads)
Supported placements: Desktop Newsfeed, Mobile Newsfeed, Audience Network, Instagram
The carousel ad format lets you show up to 10 images and/or videos, headlines and links, or calls to action in a single ad unit.
It is extremely useful for eCommerce advertisers looking to promote multiple products from their store, or for marketers looking to promote different posts and offers to see what works and attracts leads with their audience.
Specs:
- Recommended image size: 1080 x 1080 or 600 x 600 pixels
- Ad copy text: 90 characters
- Headline: 25 characters
- Link Description: 30 characters
Dynamic Product Ads (DPA)
Supported placements: Desktop Newsfeed, Mobile Newsfeed, Right Column, Audience Networkm, Instagram
Facebook’s dynamic product ads are like re-marketing display ads on steroids. They target users based on past actions (or inactions) on your website or application with a perfectly timed ad.
All you have to do is upload your product catalogue to Facebook and double-check that your Facebook Pixel is installed correctly on your site’s pages. Facebook handles the automation and re-targeting!
Specs:
- Recommended image size: 1,200 x 628 pixels or 600 x 600 pixels
- Ad copy text: 90 characters
- Headline: 25 characters
- Link Description: 30 characters
Facebook Lead Ads
Supported placements: Desktop Newsfeed, Mobile Newsfeed, Audience Network, Instagram
Lead Ads are the perfect way for, you guessed it, getting new leads! This Facebook ad type allows people to download your content or sign up for your offer without leaving Facebook platform.
This makes the Lead Ads a perfect method for quickly getting a potential customers email address!
Specs:
- Recommended image size: 1,200 x 628 pixels
- Ad copy text: 90 characters
- Headline: 25 characters
- Link Description: 30 characters
- Context card can be in paragraph format, which has no character limit, or 5-bulletpoint format, which allows for 80 characters per bullet
- Context card headline: 60 characters
- Context card button: 30 characters
- Privacy Policy and website URL links are required
Once a person has filled in the form, their email addresses will be stored on your Facebook ads account.
The easiest way to move the new leads from Facebook to your CRM system is to automate the entire process. That’s one more thing you can do when setting up your ad campaigns.
Canvas Ads
Supported placements: Mobile Newsfeed
Canvas is an interactive ad that lets users engage with your content on Facebook and is currently only available on mobile due to how we interact with mobile devices.
With Canvas, your target audience members can swipe through a carousel of images, tilt the image in different directions, and/or zoom in or zoom out by moving their fingertips. Canvas also loads 10 times faster than standard mobile web applications!
Specs:
- Recommended image size: 1,200 x 628 pixels
- Ad copy text: 90 characters
- Headline: 45 characters
- Canvas has the following possible components:
- Header with logo
- Full-screen image
- Text block
- Button for offsite links
- Image carousel
- Auto-play video
- Full-screen tilt-to-pan image
- Product set
Collection Ads
Supported placements: Mobile Newsfeed
Facebook Collection Ads let you showcase multiple products that are being sold on your website.
This new format makes it easier for people to discover, browse and purchase products in a visual and immersive way!
Specs:
- Image Size: 1,200 x 628 pixels recommended
- Image Ratio: 1.9:1
- Your image may not include more than 20% text. Check how much text is on your image.
- Headline: 25 characters recommended
Likes & Engagement for Your Page
Your choice of Facebook ad type should depend on your campaign objective – what you want to get out of the ad campaign. Two campaign objectives in particular help to increase the number of Likes on your Facebook Page and/or to increase the reach of the content you post on Facebook.Due to recent Facebook updates, the usual post on your page will only organically reach an average of 2-3% of your fan base. Promoting your posts is a great way to be sure that all your fans see your message.
Page Like Ads
Supported placements: Right Column, Desktop Newsfeed, Mobile Newsfeed
Page Like Ads are the go-to ads for increasing your page Likes. They can be displayed on all placements and include a visible call to action for users to immediately Like your page.
When advertising for Likes, remember that it’s not about getting the cheapest Likes, it’s about picking the right audience that’s interested in your page!
Bonus Tip: It’s very important to pick the right image to achieve great performances.
Page Post Photo Ads
Supported placements: Right Column, Desktop Newsfeed, Mobile Newsfeed
Want to engage your page fans? This Facebook Ad Type has the most space to show your beautiful pictures!
Pick the right image and you’ll be flooded with comments and Likes.
You could also insert a link in the text description of the post, but don’t expect too much traffic from it.
Page Post Video Ads
Supported placements: Right Column, Desktop Newsfeed, Mobile Newsfeed
Video Advertising drives high audience engagement. It builds a strong connection, and even smaller companies can make simple videos to entertain and connect with their audience.
With the ability to re-target subsets of visitors based on how much of your video they watched, this ad type is perfect for creating stellar custom audiences to re-target with other ad types!
Specs:
- Ad copy text: 90 characters
- Aspect Ratios Supported: 16:9 (full landscape) to 9:16 (full portrait)
- File size: up to 4 GB max
- Video can be as long as 120 min, but most top-performing videos are 15-30 seconds
- Audio: Stereo AAC audio compression, 128kbps + preferred
Page Post Text
Supported placements:Right Column, Desktop Newsfeed, Mobile Newsfeed
This ad format is focused on page engagement. However, there is very little reason to use it instead of the Page Post Photo ad – pictures simply perform better.
If you can, avoid this type of format as it’ll likely deliver lower engagement.
Mobile and Desktop Apps Install
Since the launch of its mobile application, Facebook has become one of the biggest players in the mobile advertising space. Mobile App Install ads present a unique opportunity to bring in new mobile app users on both Android and iOS.
If you’re trying to promote your mobile app, pay attention to these ad units, they are designed for that specific purpose.
Mobile App
Supported placements: Mobile Newsfeed
Mobile App Ads are the perfect choice to drive more installs to your mobile app. This ad is displayed only on the Mobile Newsfeed. When users click the “Install” call to action, the App Store will immediately pop up. This delivers a great conversion rate.
When using this Facebook ad format, you’ll have many additional targeting options to fine-tune your audience. For example, you’ll be able to choose which iOS/Android version you want the user to have, or if you only want to target mobile devices or also tablets, and if you want to target only users connected to a WiFi network.
Specs:
- Recommended image size: 1,200 x 628 pixels
- Image ratio: 1.9:1
- Ad copy text: Up to 90 characters
- Your image may not include more than 20% text. See how much text is on your image
Desktop App
Supported placements: Right Column, Desktop Newsfeed
This ad unit allows you to drive users to your Facebook app and make people engage with it.
Since Facebook apps are not supported on mobile, you can only target either the Desktop Newsfeed or the right column.
Specs:
- Recommended image size: 1,200 x 628 pixels
- Image ratio: 1.9:1
- Ad copy text: Up to 90 characters
Instagram Mobile App Ads
Supported placements: Instagram
Last but not least (not at all!), you can also advertise your mobile app on Instagram. This makes perfect sense as Instagram users are using the app on mobile, meaning that they might be more interested in downloading additional mobile apps.
You can select both photo and video ads for your Instagram Mobile App Ads.
Specs:
- Image ratio: 1:1
- Image size: 1080 x 1080 pixels
- Minimum resolution: 600 x 315 pixels (1.91:1 landscape) / 600 x 600 pixels (1:1 square) / 600 x 750 pixels (4:5 vertical)
- Maximum resolution: 1936 x 1936 pixels
- Caption: Text only, 125 characters recommended
Visitors for Your Store or Event
Let’s close our roundup of Facebook Ad Types with two units well suited to drive visitors to your physical event or store. It’s always more complex to measure results for offline promotions, but if used correctly and targeted well, these ads can perform really well.
Event Ads
Supported placements: Right Column, Desktop Newsfeed, Mobile Newsfeed
Facebook Events are a great way for event organizers to attract more visitors. If you want to boost the reach of your event, use this ad unit with the right targeting options.
According to the size and relevance of the event you’re promoting, you may want to limit the geographical reach of the ad to people living in the same city or region as the event.
Specs:
- Recommended image size: 1920×1080 pixels
- Image ratio: 1.9:1
- Ad copy text: Up to 90 characters
- Headline: 25 characters
- Link Description: 30 characters
Offer Claims
Supported placements: Right Column, Desktop Newsfeed, Mobile Newsfeed
This ad type is perfect for brick-&-mortar store owners who want to attract more people to their stores.
Once your offer ad is live, any user who clicks on your ad and redeems the offer will receive an email containing the details and terms of use.
Specs:
- Recommended image size: 1,200 x 628 pixels
- Image ratio: 1.9:1
- Offer title: Up to 25 characters
- Ad copy text: Up to 90 characters
In order for you to be able to create an offer, your Facebook Page needs to have at least 50 Likes.
Local Awareness Ads
Supported placements: Right Column, Desktop Newsfeed, Mobile Newsfeed
Another way to draw people’s attention to your store is by using the Local Awareness Ads. This ad type works best with Facebook’s location-based targeting, helping you to reach people who are currently near your store.
You can include different call to actions like “Call Now” and “Send Message” to allow people to contact you more easily.
Specs:
- Recommended image size: 1,200 x 628 pixels
- Image ratio: 1.9:1
- Text: 90 characters
- Headline: 25 characters
- News Feed description: 30 characters
And Now Let’s Get To Work
As you’ve seen, Facebook has a very broad offering of ad types that meet every need of your business. Whenever possible, we suggest you test different ad formats and see which ones perform better for you. This will deliver the best results at the lowest cost.For a complete overview of all Facebook ad types and specs, see this guide by Facebook.
All information correct at time of going public but facebook might change promotions, dis continue some or add new ones.You can verify the latest info on Facebook.
You’ve probably heard it time and time again: You need to get on Facebook.