When stepping into the Facebook Ads arena to help promote your business, it can be overwhelming to learn that there are ten categories of Facebook ads. Yes, TEN! And on top of that, there are different ad formats to choose from. So which category and format is the best for your needs? It depends.
Here is a quick rundown of each ad type and what their objectives are:
Facebook Ad Types
- App installs: Promote downloads and installations of your desktop or mobile app
- Brand awareness: Help get your brand noticed by a new audience
- Conversions: Get people to perform specific actions on your website, such as purchase a product or subscribe to your email list.
- Engagement: Drive people to your page or a post on your page to increase the number of likes, comments, shares, video views, or photo views. Also used for event promotion.
- Lead generation: Get people to sign up for your email list and add them to your sales funnel.
- Reach: Get your ad noticed by as many people as possible.
- Product sales catalog: Show people ads for products that they are most likely to purchase.
- Store visits: Get people to visit your brick and mortar store.
- Traffic: Drive traffic to a website.
- Video views: Get your video out in front of as many people as possible to promote brand awareness.
And within those objectives, there are six Facebook ad formats to choose from:
Photo Ads
This is just what it sounds like. Just know that images can have no more than 20% of it be text if you want it to be seen by as many people as possible. Use this Facebook ad image tool to see if your image meets the requirements.
- Campaign types: All except video views
- Facebook ad image sizes: 1200 x 628 pixels
Video Ads
Video is where it’s at when it comes to engagement on Facebook. Here are the specs to keep in mind when making your video (but for the most impact, the shorter the video, the better):
- Campaign types: All
- Facebook ad image sizes (thumbnail): Minimum width 600 pixels; match length to video aspect ratio
- Facebook ad dimensions: Video aspect ratio of 16:9 (full landscape) or 1:1 (square) for all objectives; other aspect ratios available for specific campaign types
- Maximum video length: 120 minutes
Slideshow Video Ads
Don’t have the time or ability to make a video? Why not create one from still images (up to 10). Just add captions, and voila! You have a video ad with very little effort.
- Campaign types: All except post engagement and product catalog sales
- Facebook ad image sizes: 1280 x 720 pixels
Carousel Ads
While this may seem similar to a slideshow video ad, it’s not. You can display up to 10 photos OR videos in your ad, but they will be presented in one post that displays the images separately.
- Campaign types: All except post engagement and product catalog sales
- Facebook ad image sizes: 600 x 600 pixels
- Maximum video length: 2 minutes combined
Collection Ads
This is a mobile-only ad that shows off multiple products or features.
- Campaign types: Conversions, traffic
- Facebook ad image sizes: 1200 x 628 pixels
Canvas Ads
One of Facebook’s newer formats, it’s almost like a sales page incorporating text, up to 20 photos, and video.
- Campaign types: Brand awareness, conversions, engagement
- Facebook ad size: Full screen
- Facebook ad image sizes: 66 x 882 pixels (header); 1080 x 1920 pixels (full-screen image)
Still confused about Facebook ads? Why not contact us at Smart to Finish. We will work with you on determining which ad category best suits your needs and get your Facebook ad campaign underway.
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