BrandBastion8/31/17 10:29 AM5 min read

8 Types of Facebook Ads for Different Marketing Objectives

Let’s be honest... Facebook advertising is a little bit mind-boggling. With 13 different objective types and 46+ variations of placement possibilities (and more being added daily), it’s sometimes difficult to decide how and where to display your ads on the social media platform.

To clear things up, here are 8 of the most popular Facebook ad types available today...

Domain Ads

Goals: Clicks to Site, Website Conversions, Testing Creative

Supported placements: Right Column

Domain Ads.png

Let’s start with the basics. You might understand domain ads as right-hand-rail (RHR) or ride-hand-side (RHS) ads, as they can only be displayed in the right column. This also means that they’re only compatible on desktop, not mobile. Here you can choose a title, short description, and the vanity URL. Nowadays, domain ads typically underperform with click-through rate (CTR), but they’re quite inexpensive placements.

Here are Facebook’s creative guidelines for Domain Ads:

Text: 90 characters
Domain link: 1 line
Image aspect ratio: 1.39:1
Image specs in ad: 600 pixels x 315 pixels

Newsfeed Ads

Goals: Clicks to Site, Website Conversions, Testing Creative, Page Likes

Supported placements: Right Column, Newsfeed, Mobile

Newsfeed Ads.png

Newsfeed ads are the most common of all the Facebook Ads types. Page Post Link Ads, also known as Newsfeed Ads, feature a large eye catching image, body text, headline, vanity URL, and link description - allowing for optimal explanation. These ads typically perform very well and have the added benefit of generating Likes for your page. Though, remember to always check the comments these ads are receiving, or implement a solution to do it for you, as they can make or break performance on an ad.

Here are Facebook’s creative guidelines for Newsfeed Ads:

Recommended image size: 1,200 x 628 pixels
Image ratio: 1.9:1
Text: 90 characters
Headline: 25 characters
Link description: 30 characters

Carousel Ads

Goals: Clicks to Website, Brand Awareness

Supported placements: Newsfeed, Mobile

Here are Facebook’s creative guidelines for Carousel Ads:

Recommended image size: 1080 x 1080 pixels
Image ratio: 1:1
Text: 90 characters
Headline: 40 characters
Link description: 20 characters

Dynamic Product Ads

Goals: Website Conversions

Supported placements: Newsfeed, Right Column, Mobile

Dynamic Product Ads are Facebook’s version of retargeting or remarketing. As long as you have your Facebook Pixel installed correctly, you’re able to retarget viewers to your Website directly within their Facebook newsfeed. You can target users based on the content they viewed on your site, items they added to their shopping cart, products they purchased and more.

Click here for more information on Dynamic Product Ads.

Lead Ads

Goal: Lead Generation

Supported placements: Newsfeed Mobile

Lead Ads 2.png

Facebook Lead Ads are meant to make the mobile sign-up process simpler by automatically populating information directly from Facebook, such as names and email addresses. They’re great for opting into a newsletter or submitting a request for more information. However, keep in mind when using links and new Facebook features that mistakes may happen if you run ads at a high scale. Utilize a tool that is able to escalate these kinds of issues to your team via text or email 24/7.

Here are Facebook’s creative guidelines for Lead Ads:

Recommended image size: 1,200 x 628 pixels
Image ratio: 1.9:1
Text: 90 characters
Headline: 25 characters
News Feed description: 30 characters

Canvas Ads

Goal: Clicks to Website, Website Conversions, Brand Awareness

Supported placements: Newsfeed Mobile Only

Canvas Ad.png

Facebook Canvas Ads allow viewers to heavily interact with an image - tilting, zooming and moving in different directions all with the swipe of a finger. These ads are available only on mobile due to the touch screen factor, but they can also contain a video not just an image.

Here are Facebook’s creative guidelines for Canvas Ads:

Image Ratio: 1.9:1
Image Size: 1,200 x 628 pixels recommended
Your image may not include more than 20% text. See how much text is on your image.
Text: 90 characters recommended
Headline: 45 characters recommended
Note that the feed unit may have either an image or video.

Video Ads

Goal: Video Views, Brand Awareness

Supported placements: Right Column, Newsfeed

Video Views.png

Facebook videos get more than 8 billion views every single day - 65% of which are on mobile. So needless to say, video advertising drives very high engagement. With video ads you have the ability to retarget viewers based on what percentage of the video they watched, gauging their level of interest. Be sure to utilize a tool that monitors and escalates comments on your videos, so that if viewers become offended by the content you have someone listening 24/7 and reacting quickly to avoid brand damage.

Here are Facebook’s creative guidelines for Video Ads:

Text: 90 characters
Aspect Ratios Supported: 16:9 (full landscape) to 9:16 (full portrait)
Mobile in feed: Videos will be rendered as is up to 2:3, with masking to 2:3 for aspect ratios between 2:3 to 9:16
Desktop in feed and desktop player: For desktop in feed, vertical video will continue to be letter-boxed to 1:1. For desktop player, vertical video will be 9:16 with no black bar letter-boxing
Recommended Aspect Ratio for Vertical Video: 9:16 (full portrait), ensuring core content falls in the 2:3 mask for mobile News Feed
Video: H.264 video compression, high profile preferred, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan
Format: .mp4 container ideally with leading moov atom, no edit lists
Audio: Stereo AAC audio compression, 128kbps + preferred

Collection Ads

Goal: Clicks to Website, Website Conversions