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Facebook probably has the most sophisticated ad system among all social networks. This is more than just an achievement for the platform because, with the highest number of monthly active users, this sophistication is an absolute necessity. Facebook might have lost its glamor over the years - mostly because younger audiences now prefer Instagram and Snapchat. Typically, these users switch from Facebook to other social
media platforms because it seems too establishment-friendly or just has too many parents online.

Still, this doesn’t mean that Facebook has been abandoned by the masses. Facebook’s current stats still qualify it as a great advertising landscape for marketers. These stats include:

• Over 1.73 billion daily active users
• Over 2.6 billion monthly active users
• 2.7 billion users use WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger simultaneously
  every month
• $69.7 billion advertising revenue for the year ended 31st December 2019

Facebook Ad Guide

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Over time, Facebook has plowed a lot of time, resources, and investment to create an advertising system that is both - easy to understand and powerful for business. Still, if you’re planning on advertising on Facebook, you should expect more competition as compared to smaller, niche-focused networks.

For this reason, you need to learn how to make your ads stand out and become more visible than your competitors’. The best place to start is to choose the right ad and make sure that they meet all the Facebook ad guidelines and specifications. Since Facebook offers a wide variety of ad options and specifications to choose from, we're about to introduce you to some of the most common categories. These include:
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1. Facebook Single Image Ads
2. Facebook Video Ads
3. Facebook Carousel Ads
4. Facebook Mobile Ads
5. Facebook Stories Ads

‍1. Facebook Single Image Ad Guide

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There’s no doubt that Facebook’s News Feed is the most popular option for advertisements and, therefore, it is also very heavily contested. While your competitors are also pitching in for this prime advertising real estate, you could opt for both - image or video ads - on the NewsFeed.

Even though video ads are much more popular among consumers, the bulk of Facebook ads are still made up of single images. Single image ads are unlikely to become extinct because it is much easier for businesses to use photographs as opposed to dealing with the whole process of designing videos.

Still, companies have always had trouble creating single ad campaigns since Facebook has set a limit for text in images. More specifically, if your image contains more than 20% text, then Facebook will automatically reduce its delivery and reach.

However, there are some exceptions to this rule, and the following images will not be affected:

• Event posters
• Games
• Product images (where the whole product is displayed and not just a zoomed picture of
  the text on the packaging)
• Album or book covers

Facebook Single Image Ad Dimensions & Guidelines:

• All file types should be either JPG or PNG
• Recommended Aspect ratio: 1.91:1 to 4:5
• Recommended image ad size: 1200 x 628 pixels (1.91:1) or 1080 x 1080 pixels (4:5)
• Recommended resolution: Upload the highest resolution image available.
• Images that consist of more than 20% text may experience reduced delivery. Learn more about text in images.‍
• Primary Text length: 125 characters is recommended, but the maximum length is 2,200

‍2. Facebook Video Ad Guide

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Over the last couple of years, the popularity of Facebook video has grown, and therefore, every user sees a large number of video ads on their feed. It is also important to note that video ads include in-stream video ads and Facebook feed video ads. While the latter just replaces the single image ad with a video, the former plays in-between videos.
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Facebook Video Ad Dimensions & Guidelines:

• Video Ratio: 9:16 to 16:9
• Recommended Resolution: Upload the highest resolution video available that meets file size and ratio limits.
• Video File Size: 4GB Max
• Video Length Maximum: 240 Minutes
• Video Captions: Optional but recommended
• Video Sound: Optional but recommended
• Primary Text: 125 characters
• Video thumbnail images that consist of more than 20% text may experience reduced delivery. Learn more about text in images.‍
• Vertical videos (with aspect ratio taller than 4:5) may be masked to 4:5

3. Facebook Carousel Ad Guide

Carousel ads allow brands to display images or videos of multiple products in a single ad. They allow users to swipe through a number of slides to see the different items each company is offering via still images or playable videos. Carousel ads are known to be quite versatile because companies can choose where to display them. Their options include:

• The News Feed
• Right column
• Facebook Instant Articles
• Facebook Audience Network, Interstitial, and Banners.
• Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Carousel Ad Dimensions & Guidelines:

• Number of Cards: Minimum 2, Maximum 10
• Image file types should be either JPG or PNG
• Video file types should be either MP4 or MOV (recommended).
• Video maximum file Size: 4GB
• Video length: up to 240 minutes
  
• Recommended resolution: at least 1080 x 1080 px
• Recommended image/video ratio: 1:1

4. Facebook Mobile Ad Guide

While most ad content is recommended to be mobile-friendly, Facebook Collection ads seem to be the easiest way for mobile users to browse through a product catalog. Each Collection ad is made up of one main image or video and is accompanied by four smaller images to form a grid. When a viewer clicks on a Collection ad, they are rerouted to a post-click experience that is powered by Facebook’s Instant Experience. In simpler terms, viewers will be able to view the features of the ad without exiting the Facebook application.
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Depending on what you aim to achieve from your Facebook ad, you can choose from a range of
templates that include:

• Instant Storytelling
• Instant Customer Acquisition
• Instant Lookbook
• Instant Storefront

In addition, the best practices for creating Facebook mobile ads include:

1. Keeping video length at 15 seconds or less (so viewers watch it till the end)
2. Place the most attention-grabbing or compelling parts of the ad in the beginning of the
   video
3. Use square or vertical images or videos
4. Showcase your brand or your call-to-action early in the ad
5. Design your videos for sound-off (with more graphics and text) so they can be viewed in
   public places.

5. Facebook Stories Ad Guide

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Snapchat was the first company to start offering users the opportunity to add a collection of images or videos to their ‘story’ before they disappear within 24 hours. Similarly, Instagram found great success with their ‘Instagram Stories,’ and Facebook didn’t want to be left behind. Since Facebook also has a story feature for users, businesses can use it to display a vertical, full-screen ad that would appear in-between stories. Single image stories stay visible for up to 5seconds unless the viewer chooses to swipe out of the ad. On the other hand, videos can last longer for up to 15 seconds.
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👉🏼 Facebook Stories Pro tips: Remember to leave around 250 pixels (roughly 14%) on the top and bottom of each of these slides since this needs to be reserved for a logo or call-to-action.

Facebook Stories Ad Dimensions Include:

• Image ratios: 1.91 to 9:16

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