With more than 2.91 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most populous social platform. The vast reach of the platform has made it the go-to solution for small and medium businesses to boost their digital visibility.
While you can always create a brand page on Facebook for free, Facebook ads are way more effective when it comes to driving traffic, boosting brand awareness, and improving sales.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, claims that the platform has an advertising reach of 2.11 billion people. In other words, the ads reach more than 72% of its 2.91 billion monthly users.
Thus, it sure makes a lot of sense to leverage Facebook ads for any brand or marketer.
However, creating Facebook ads is easier said than done.
From composition, image, sizing, placement, style, fonts, to colors, there are so many elements to take care of that it can be very challenging for someone new to crack the Facebook ads in the first attempt.
As the overall Facebook ad design has a significant impact on the likelihood of people clicking on them, it’d be wise to consider a reputed digital marketing agency for the best results.
However, if you are more of a DIY enthusiast, you can still make your Facebook ads stand out from the crowd. Here are 14 Facebook ad design ideas that can help.
Table of Contents
1. Start with the Ad Format
Even before you start thinking about the design of your Facebook ad, you should choose the ad format. Currently, Facebook offers eight different ad formats, along with an extensive range of variations. Each ad format is recommended for specific marketing goals. These ad formats are as follows:
- Photo
- Video
- Stories
- Messenger
- Carousel
- Slideshow
- Collection
- Playables
Before finalizing the Facebook ad design ideas, it’d be wise to think about the ad format that best matches your requirements and objectives.
For instance, if you want to let people know how a product or service works, you can consider a story or video ad. On the other hand, if you sell an extensive range of products, collection or carousel ads can be the way to go.
If you do not wish to do it yourself, you can collaborate with a reputable Facebook ad agency, which can significantly simplify the process.
2. Take Design Inspiration from Ad Placement
Most advertisers often overlook ad placement when designing their ads. However, the placement significantly impacts the space your ad will have. Facebook offers various ad placement options that significantly vary in price. Some of the most popular options are:
- Mobile Newsfeed
- Desktop News Feed
- Right Column (Desktop)
- Stories
- In-Stream Videos
- Marketplace
- Audience Network
Facebook has offered detailed information about ad placement in this helpful resource. Consider your objective and budget when browsing through the placement options and choose the best.
3. Use Minimal Text
People don’t want to spend a lot of time reading your ads. Thus, it is advisable to use minimal text in your Facebook ads.
Try to deliver the message as succinctly and quickly as possible, preferably within 280 characters. Users generally skip through the posts when they realize it is an advertisement. So, you need to make maximum impact with whatever little attention you have.
Also, an ad should have a single value point, offer, or message. For instance, the message could be “Site-wide 20% off this weekend,” or “Free shipping on every order.” Save everything unnecessary for your website, product page, or app page, which the users will be redirected to after clicking on your ad.
4. Use Simple Typography
Apart from using minimal text, you also need to ensure that your ads are easy to read. Prefer using simple typography and not something very decorative.
While creative fonts might attract the attention of the viewers, they easily distract them from the central message of your ad. Sans serif, bold fonts are the go-to choice for the majority of the advertisers.
The same is true for the text you’ll add to your visuals, if any. Everything you write should be readable, preferably in a thick font and a color that makes the text stand out from the visuals.
If you find a font that you like, it’d be great to continue using the same for all your Facebook ads, as multiple fonts can be very distracting. So, stick to one or maybe two fonts.
5. Managing the Visuals
It will be the visuals of your ad that will grab the attention of Facebook users. If you want your ads to stand out, the most effective solution is to get the visuals right, as people prefer visuals over written content.
Start with focusing on how to make the ads relevant for your target audience. The ads should resonate with the viewers to attract their attention.
It should be something that should encourage them to read your ad and ultimately lead to clicks. Here are some additional tips for managing ad visuals:
- Use images of people using your product
- Use various images depending on user personas
- Narrow the audience by targeting
- Avoid using a lot of text on the images
- Prefer using high-resolution images
6.Create Beautiful Images
You no longer need a graphic designer or photographer to help you create beautiful images for your Facebook ads. While it is always better to use actual photos of your products/services, it is often not the most practical choice for several brands. In such cases, you can rely on free image resources like Canva and Unsplash.
You can use Canva for editing your photos and Unsplash for high-definition, royalty-free images. In fact, Canva already has a Facebook ad design format.
So, all you need to do is download an image from Unsplash, upload it to Canva, and start editing. You can also purchase the premium version of this editing tool for added features.
7. Get the Image Size Right
When designing your Facebook ad, ensure that the images or the videos you use are of the correct aspect ratio and size. Check if the visuals are correctly formatted for the ads, else they’ll look distorted or grainy.
Similarly, with the aspect ratio, ensure that you choose one which allows you to add all the information you want to without wasting any space. You can check out this Facebook Ads Guide to know more about how to get the image size right.
You can always create a few different versions of your Facebook ads with different visuals to see what looks best. Throughout the ad creation process, Facebook also offers plenty of helpful tips to help you make maximum impact.
Interesting Read: 15+ Amazing Tips to Get an Instagram Aesthetic Feed and More!
8. Location-Specific Images Can Help
One of the biggest advantages of using Facebook ads is targeting. Each ad you create doesn’t have to attract everyone. You can easily target the users based on their regions or demographics.
So, you can use images in your ad to attract particular audiences. For instance, you can use images of local landmarks when targeting the audience of a particular region.
Similarly, you can also use other images that specifically speak to the locals. Such geo-targeting strategies can help make the ad design unique and attractive.
9. Use Contrast to Stand Out
The Facebook feed of an average user is filled with several updates from their friends, favorite brands, artists, news, videos, and whatnot. Your ads will be competing against all of this to try and grab the attention of the users.
So, how will you make your ads stand out? Creative use of contrast can help.
A simple way to use contrast is through a color wheel where you choose two colors opposite each other. Red/green, blue/yellow, and black/white are some examples of such opposing colors.
Contrast helps boost the visibility of your ads and improve the chances of people noticing them while scrolling through their feed. But note that contrast works best when the images and text can be read easily.
10. Clear CTA
A relevant and beautiful ad is a great thing, but without proper CTA (Call-To-Action), it can be complicated for the viewers to understand what they should do next.
CTAs such as “Buy now to avail 25% discount” or “Offer ending soon” that give the viewers clear instructions and add a bit of urgency work best.
The CTAs should always encourage people to take action. Also, rather than promoting your product/service, the CTA should promote a benefit that the viewers can avail of by clicking on your ad. Several advertisers also ask a question in their CTAs to grab the viewers’ attention.
11. Consistent Ad and Landing Page
Through your ads, you promise the readers that they will get what is displayed in the ad if they click. People will mostly leave if they can’t instantly see what was promised in the ad after being redirected.
As a result, it is essential to ensure that your ads and landing pages are in sync at all times. And it is not just about the content of the ad. Even the design elements should be similar.
For instance, the fonts, image arrangements, and colors used in the ads and landing pages should be similar. The landing pages should feel like a continuation of your ads. Never break the link between the two by displaying something unexpected on the landing pages, as it will increase the bounce rate and impact your ROI.
12. Add the Branding Basics
Every form of marketing, including Facebook ads, should represent your brand personality. To begin with, the ads should feature the brand basics, like logo, key product/service, color scheme, mascots, and branded typography and fonts.
If it is a new brand and you have yet to work on the visual identity, do it before you start marketing. All the visual assets you choose should feature the branding basics to ensure that they effectively represent your brand and boost its recall value.
For instance, if you’re using video ads, the product or brand logo should be on the screen within the first 2 to 3 seconds to instantly build a brand association with the audience. Maintain the brand identity throughout the video to establish a strong and compelling brand association.
Interesting Read: 5 Affordable Content Marketing Tools That Every Marketer Must Have
13. A Mobile-First Ad Approach
When creating Facebook ads, you should consider where the audience is more likely to view your ads. As Facebook mobile is used more than the desktop version of the platform, a mobile-first advertising approach can help.
So, you’ll be creating vertical, full-screen ads that can be seamlessly displayed on handheld devices.
Similarly, you can also leverage story ads due to the rising popularity of such short video content. Facebook stories also come with a host of features, like polling, swipe up to get redirected, etc., making the whole experience of watching them more interactive.
14. Test Various Ads
If you are not working with a trusted digital marketing agency and managing Facebook ads on your own, a lot of time initially will be spent on trying and testing what works and what doesn’t.
While you can find a plethora of user data to make informed decisions, there is no guarantee of how things will perform once the ads are live. So, the ideal solution is to keep learning.
You can refine the ad strategy regularly based on the performance of previous ad campaigns to try and achieve better results. It’d also be helpful to test various ads simultaneously initially as it will offer excellent insights into things you should ignore and ones you should focus upon in the future.
To do this, you can export your campaign data from Facebook ads to BigQuery or Google Sheets to store it and be able to analyze it at any time.
Making It Big with Facebook Ads
With billions of users worldwide, Facebook sure is an unavoidable platform for every brand and marketer. Use these tips to design your Facebook ads to grab the attention of your target audience and achieve your marketing objectives.
In case of any queries or if the ads are not delivering the expected results, you can always consult expert digital marketers that can customize your ad strategy and help you design amazing Facebook ads to take your marketing to the next level.
Hope this blog gives you some stellar ideas for your next Facebook ad campaign. If you have some more to spare, comment or write to us.
