Whether developing your e-commerce site or trying to break into a new market, creating Facebook and Instagram ads is a necessary step toward promoting your products online.
With all the information out there, we know it can be difficult to get started. Let us guide you through the process, and you’ll be creating awesome Facebook and Instagram ads in no time.
Facebook Ads
Facebook has a range of ad options available for showcasing your products.
With over 1.6 billion people connected to businesses on Facebook, running ads on the platform can be an excellent strategy for broadening your reach.
All the tools are built right into Facebook. To get started, you just need to set up a Business Manager account.
Once established, you are only a click away from driving increased traffic and online sales!
Below, we’ll outline all of the different ad types available for you when marketing on Facebook, as well as some tips for getting the most out of your ads.
Photo
Using product photos on your site? Consider integrating them in your ad strategy. Photo ads pair high-quality images or illustrations with engaging copy to convey a particular message or offer more product information.
Our take: Show people using your products, rather than just photos of the products themselves.
Video
Want to show off more than just your static product? Make a video ad to captivate your audience.
In fact, many companies report increased engagement, conversions, and clicks on video ads—compared to photo ads.
Our take: Shorter videos tend to have higher completion rates, so make your message as brief as possible.
Stories
Similar to video ads, stories use text, images, and video to entice customers to take action on your brand’s creative.
With stories, you can generate and showcase content—in the exact format that your customers engage with their friends and followers.
Our take: Use the 24 hour limit on story ads for exclusive offers, discounts, and deals!
Carousel
Including a lot of content in your Facebook ad? Carousel ads let you include up to 10 photos, as well as their own links, across users’ feeds.
Carousel ads work well to showcase different features of a product, or to explain a step-by-step process.
Our take: Use the carousel format to present multiple products in one ad.
Slideshow
Don’t have the budget for video? Slideshow ads create a video from several static images—your own or stock images that Facebook provides.
Slideshows offer the compelling motion of video, but require no video-specific resources to create.
Our take: If you’re not ready to try video ads but want to move beyond static photos, slideshow ads are a great option.
Collection
Want your customers to view a broad range of products from your ad? Collection ads include cover photos and videos so people can learn more about your product without leaving Facebook.
Our take: Because of their curated format, these ads are great for retail or ecommerce brands.
Instagram Ads
Like Facebook, Instagram boasts an abundance of monthly active users (over 1 billion).
At least two-thirds of those users, however, are aged 18-29. When creating your ad, remember that you are designing for a historically younger audience.
You can make your Instagram ads on the platform or, if your company does not have an Instagram account, you can run Instagram ads through Facebook Business Manager.
Take a look at the Instagram ads available to you below, as well as some useful best practices.
Photo
Want to share your newest products? Tell your story through a clean, simple and beautiful creative canvas. Instagram’s Photos can be in square or landscape format.
Our take: Photo ads are a stand-by for Instagram. Just make sure to use high-quality photos.
Video
Sight, sound, and motion come together to bring visually immersive qualities to your Instagram ads—up to 60 seconds long in, and in landscape or square format.
Our take: Start a video ad today! Since 2017, time spent watching videos on Instagram has increased more than 80% year-over-year.
Stories
Complement your feed content with ads on Instagram Stories. Stories make full use of the mobile screen, offering businesses a beautiful, distraction-less ad experience.
Our take: Share authentic content (like sneak peeks of products) to drive brand loyalty.
Collections
Collection ads combine the power of photos, videos, and direct-response marketing all in one powerful advertisement. When users see your ad and engage with it, they will have the option to purchase right in the app!
Our take: Alternate photos and videos to give users a different in-ad experience.
Carousel
Want your audience to see more? Bring another layer of depth to campaigns where people can swipe to view additional photos or videos in a single ad.
Our take: Use carousel ads to show different parts of the product, or contribute to an overall brand story.
Explore
Engage with people organically by extending your feed ads to audiences who are looking to expand their interests beyond the accounts they follow.
Our take: Save your best content for this feature. Nearly 200M+ users turn to the explore page every day.
Which Ad Works Best for My Business?
When designing your ad experiences for Facebook and Instagram, opt for something that is easy-to-understand, compelling, and simple.
The calls-to-actions should be clear and actionable, and the media you use should be high-resolution and reflective of your brand.
When considering budget and segment for your Facebook and Instagram ads, make sure you understand your market.
For example, the alluring simplicity and cost-effectiveness of a photo ad could be a great match for your CMO and design team, but would your customers prefer videos of your product in action?
At every step during the initial phase of your ad development, consider what information your customers need to convert.
After creating the necessary ads for your e-commerce store, test out multiple variables to see how to optimize it.
In both Instagram and Facebook Ad Managers, you can set a limited budget, and gain invaluable analytics to see how to target your customers.
No matter the product, your first step to converting more customers and spreading the word is getting started. Get to advertising!
