What Types of Facebook Ad Formats Should You Use to Grow Your Business?

More than 2.9 billion people use Facebook every month. With that much reach, it’s no surprise that many businesses rely on Facebook ads to promote their products, services, and offers. But with so many Facebook ad formats and campaign objective options available, it can get overwhelming to figure out which ones you should use. In this post, we’ll break down the most effective Facebook ad formats and campaign objective recommendations to help you choose the right ones to meet your marketing goals and grow your business on Facebook.

Facebook Ad Format Recommendations Based on Campaign Objective

The first thing you need to decide is what the objective of your Facebook ad campaigns will be. Common objectives include:

• Drive traffic to your website
• Increase conversions like sales or lead gen
• Build engagement and your audience
• Increase brand awareness

Once you select your campaign objective, you can narrow down ad formats that align with that goal.

Driving Website Traffic

If you want to drive traffic from Facebook to your website, I recommend using these ad formats:
Single Image/Video: Image and video ads stand out in the Facebook news feed. They’re effective for storytelling or demonstrating your product/service.

Carousel: Carousel ads allow you to use multiple images/videos and optimize different creatives. Great for showcasing products, services, content, etc.

Slideshow: Similar to carousel ads, but slides automatically. Helps focus attention on one visual/message at a time.

Instant Experience: Directs clicks to an immersive, full-screen mobile experience right on Facebook. Highlights key brand/product messages.

Dynamic: Automatically tests different combinations of creative like images, text, and calls-to-action so you can see what resonates best with your audience.

Driving Conversions

If your goal is direct conversions like sales or lead generation, these tend to perform well:
Lead Ad: Users enter their name, email, phone, etc right in the Facebook ad to convert instantly. Great for building your contact lists.
Catalog Sales: Showcase product catalogs and enable purchases directly on Facebook/Instagram. Works for e-commerce sites.

App Install: Drive downloads of your iOS/Android app with video/image ads focused specifically on install conversions.

Building Engagement

If you want more comments, shares, event sign-ups, or increased follower growth try these engaging formats:

• Instant Article: Article content directly in the Facebook news feed. Can add links, call buttons, lead gen forms, and more.
• Offer Claim: Users claim an offer directly within the ad itself via a call-to-action button. Increase clicks.
• Page Like Campaign: Focused specifically on getting more people to follow/like your Page and its content.
• Event Response: Drive sign-ups and engagement for specific events you’re hosting either online or in person.

Raising Brand Awareness

These tend to work well when your primary goal is increasing overall brand visibility:
Collection: Combine multiple visually rich ads with carousels, videos, and images in one larger ad unit. Highly visible.

Canvas: Full-screen immersive experience similar to Instant Experience ads. Very eye-catching.
Instant Article: As mentioned above in the engagement section, the article content can generate significant visibility for your brand.

Video: Video content garners high attention on Facebook. Use videos to showcase your brand story and value prop.

Most Effective Facebook Ad Placement Options

In addition to choosing the ad format, you also want to consider ad placement. Where your ads appear on a Facebook ad and Instagram impacts performance.

Here are top-performing placements to leverage:

Facebook News Feed

Desktop and mobile news feeds provide the best visibility and response rates for most objectives. Mid-funnel traffic and conversion goals do well here.

Facebook Right Column

The right-hand column ads stand out in the desktop feed. Useful for lower funnel conversion objectives focused on website visitors already engaging with content.

Instagram Feed

For visual formats like photo/video ads. Drive brand awareness and interest from Instagram’s photo-centric audience.

Instagram Stories

Vertical, full-screen ads in Instagram stories. Story ads tend to have higher attention and recall compared to feed placements.

Facebook Messenger

Highly targeted messaging ads via Facebook conversations. Strong returns for conversion-focused objectives.

Facebook Marketplace

Ad listings get visibility in Facebook’s community buy & sell platform. Perfect for e-commerce product/catalog sales goals.

Instagram Reels

Video ads in the newest Instagram content format Reels. Capitalize on trending short-form vertical video content styles.

Facebook Audience Network

Reach targeted audiences off Facebook on sites/apps in the Audience Network. Expands reach beyond just FB/IG feeds for lower funnel conversions.

Top Facebook Ad Formats, Sizes, and Specs

Here’s an overview of key Facebook ad formats and technical requirements/specs to keep in mind:

• Single image: 1200 x 628 pixels; under 20% text overlay; PNG or JPEG under 5MB
• Single video: Under 240 minutes; sound on by default; Facebook video specs
• Carousel: 2-10 images/videos; square 1:1 and horizontal 16:9 aspect ratios recommended
• Slideshow: 2-10 images; up to 15 seconds per slide
• Collection: 2-10 square/horizontal images or videos; the last asset is a call-to-action image
• Canvas: 800 x 720 pixels up to 8000 x 8000 pixels; under 200MB; external hosting required
• Dynamic: 1200 x 628 pixels up to 6000 x 600 pixels; multiple variations created automatically
• Lead ad: Can customize form fields displayed e.g. name, email, phone number, etc
• Catalog sales: Connect Facebook pixel; upload product catalogs; enable checkout
• Instant Article: Images and/or video alongside 2000-8000 words of article body text
  Make sure to reference Facebook’s latest advertising policies and format specs for up-to-date technical requirements.

Check the Facebook Ad Library for Inspiration

Wondering what Facebook ad formats work well for other businesses in your industry? Check out the Facebook Ad Library database for examples! The library has millions of ads from across Facebook and Instagram in an easy-to-browse format dating back to May 2018 in the US.

You can filter ads by region, category, advertiser name, format type, and paid/organic status to analyze high-quality creatives related to your niche. Identify trends in ad objectives, design preferences, and specific products/offers different businesses promote via Facebook campaigns. Reviewing relevant Facebook ad examples that generate engagement and conversions provides excellent inspiration you can model for your video ads, image ads, carousels, and other formats.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most important things to include in Facebook ads?

Great visuals, clear messaging focused on your offer, strong calls to action, short text, and video if budget allows. Design ads specifically for mobile as well since 85% of Facebook usage comes from mobile devices.

What image sizes should I use?

1200 x 628 pixels for single image ads. Square 1:1 and horizontal 16:9 ratios are recommended for carousel images. Photos should be high resolution 72 dpi PNG or JPEG files under 5MB in size.

Can I create different ads for mobile vs desktop feeds?

Yes! You can opt to show separate mobile and desktop ads when setting up the campaign so you can tailor image dimensions, text, and design specifically for those screens.

How often should I create new ad creative?

We recommend testing at least 3 new ad images/videos per campaign every 2 weeks at minimum. The Facebook algorithm favors new creatives, so updating frequently improves reach and performance.

What call-to-action button text works best?

“Shop Now” for e-commerce, “Sign Up” for lead gen, “Learn More” for awareness, etc. Test a few top-performing base options. Dynamic ads will automatically test variations of CTA text too.

In Summary…

With so many Facebook ad formats and placements to choose from, it can get overwhelming to decide what’s best for driving results for your business depending on your campaign goals and budgets.

Hopefully, this breakdown of objective-based recommendations, technical requirements, and best practices gives you clarity on which Facebook ad formats you should prioritize in your marketing campaigns.

Remember to analyze competitor examples in the Facebook Ad Library, frequently refresh creatives, and leverage different placements beyond just the news feed to maximize visibility and engagement.

Now that you know what types of Facebook ads to invest in, it’s time to put that knowledge into action driving website traffic, leads, and sales growth for your business!

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