Designing Effective Creatives and Copy

\”Good advertising is a happy wedding of words and pictures, not a contest between them.”

These were the words of American advertising executive Leo Burnett. He created slogans and mascots that people loved and continue to love. From his description, one can learn that creating an ad is about forming a new relationship between two elements, like text and images, and making that relationship work.

But Burnett did not also lose sight of something else. He knew that good advertising serves the business. At the end of the day, you don’t want the audience to say “What a great ad!” Instead, you want to hear “What a great product!”

The relationship illustration helps beginners like you understand the role of design in advertising. On the other hand, the “great product” reference shows you the purpose of advertising. This chapter will touch on these two subjects, all within the context of Facebook advertising.

Design Tips

You already encountered the Facebook ad formats in the previous chapter. Photos are high-quality images that convey a message. Videos combine sight, sound, and motion to tell a story. Carousels allow multiple photos and videos to be shown in an ad, ideal for showcasing various products.

For the purpose of this tutorial, the focus will be on image ads. These are useful in driving traffic to landing pages on your website or app.

Here are a few things to consider when designing image ads:

1. Set a goal.

Remember what you selected as a marketing objective when you created your campaign? Start with that. Then think of a way to achieve it. For instance, you can raise brand awareness by telling the story of the people behind your business.

“I founded………”

“I created…..”

Telling people your origin story, your “why” is hugely important in connecting emotionally with your audience. Irrespective of how successful you are people want to know where you came from.

Your beginnings.

Think about all of the biggest brands you know and how many of them you’re aware of at least some part of their story.

Tell people about your life or business as it was, then tell them about when you realised something needed to be changed or done. Your business or where you are now is the resolution. The thing you’ve created to help people deal with their issues, problems or challenges.

2. Humanise

Your image ad will run on Facebook or Instagram feeds of actual people. This means it may show up between photos of their family and friends. So put faces of people benefitting from your product or service in there instead of just displaying an image related to it. Give them part of the experience in a visual format. A picture of a barbell is very hard for someone to connect with.

If you have a local business inclusion of local landmarks or local people can stop someone scrolling in a second. Remember when you glanced at the TV, recognised a place or someone you know. You stop everything and it has your attention.

People relate to people and places more than they do things. You could have the best design in the world, largely only creatives will stop to acknowledge it.

3. Use Text Sparingly

The text in your ad should not account for more than 20% of the frame. Draw a grid over the image and place the text in the boxes (as shown below). If the text goes beyond the prescribed percentage, Facebook will show your ad to fewer people and it will cost more.

Text-based logos – Any logo that is primarily text is counted as text regardless of its size or alignment

Watermark – Watermarks are considered as text, even if they\’re mandatory or as per their brand guidelines

Numbers – All numbers are considered as text

You will find more information about the image text guidelines here.

A standard Facebook Advert size is 1200 x 628 Px

In order to stay with the 20% and optimise the ad text should not be present in more than five boxes. In this case text is in nine. This includes text in logos etc. This is cumulative percentage so although in the example below we’ve adhered to only three boxes we can then move the text around without issue as its size has been established.

There are some exceptions but check out the FB guidelines to see which.

If you’re in doubt, use the Facebook Image Text Check tool to know whether or not you’ve overdone your text overlay. If you utilise a drawing tool such as Canva feel free to download the attached grid guide. Place it on the image prior to the text so you can move the text around and resize it effectively.

This is why point 2 becomes even more important.

4. Have a focus.

Avoid cramming too much information into one ad creative. Focus on one important part of the image. If you have several products to showcase, use carousel instead. If you are running multiple ad sets, make sure to stick to one theme for consistency.

5. Use high-resolution images.

These do not have to be professionally photographed images. But you have to look at their size and quality to ensure they are following the guidelines set by Facebook. For example, these are the image specs for an ad image placed on Facebook feeds:

• File type: jpg or png

• Image ratio: 9:16 to 16:9

• Recommended resolution: Upload the highest-resolution image available.

• Images that consist of more than 20% text may experience reduced delivery.

• Text: 125 characters

• Images cropped to 1.91:1

• Recommended resolution: at least 1200 x 628px

• Headline: 25 characters

• Link description: 30 characters

Each social platform uses different guidelines so ensure you adhere to them before you go spending money on your ads.

6. Experiment.

Don’t let the technicalities intimidate you. It’s best to test different images and formats before committing to a specific ad. Let the Creative Hub be your lab. Preview how your ad will look once it goes live. Look for inspiration from other advertisers. And do not forget to have fun as you go.

The Facebook Creative Hub

In line with tip #6, think of Creative Hub as your lab (or playground, whatever you prefer). Here, you can manage mockups, view your ad in different formats, check your text overlay, and find inspiring stories of advertisers who have gone this route.

To go there, just click here.

Manage Mockups

Click Create Mockup. Then select Single Image for this example.

Methodically work through each requirement.

Give the creative a title. This is just your reference.

Single Image

Page name: Set the name of the Page as it will appear in the ad preview. This is important as it tells the viewer who it’s from.

Page Profile Picture: Set the profile picture of the Page as it will appear in the ad preview. Your logo works well here but remember that the image will be circular in many formats in which case create an outlined image. The recommended size here is 180 x 180 pixels.

Text: Enter the text that will explain clearly what you’re promoting. Make sure that it’s attention-grabbing yet concise.

• Ask a question

• Share a quote

• Cite a fact

• Add Intrigue

Image: Insert the image you’ve created in the previous steps.

Website URL: Enter the website URL that you want to promote. E.g. http://www.example.com/page

Display link: This is the URL that will be shown to people who see your ad. It can be a shortened or reformatted link, but it must direct to the same place as your destination URL. Only one display link can be used in your ad. This won\’t appear in all placements.

Headline: Add a brief headline to let people know what your ad is about. This won\’t appear in all placements. The character limit for headlines is 40. You can add more text and go over the character limit, but it may be cut off when people see your ad in certain placements, for example Mobile News Feed.

News Feed link description: Add additional text to emphasise why people should visit your website. This won\’t appear in all placements.

Call to action: Decide whether you want to include a Call to action button. Take note that the Call to action can take the place of the description in some placements. If you want to emphasise the description, drop the button and insert a call to action in the text instead.

You can preview your image ad three ways:

Mobile News Feed

Desktop News Feed

Desktop Right Column

Do not forget to save your mockup once you’re satisfied with all the elements of your image ad.

You’ll find all your saved mockups under the Manage mockups tab.

Image Text Check

Have your image text checked through the Image text check tool. Facebook will provide feedback with regard to your image text quality

View Formats

Of course, you will be able to explore and read more about each ad format under this tab. Take your time in understanding all of them. Again, start with Single image as this is the easiest to create and master.

Get Inspired

Meanwhile, you can view some examples for each format under the Get inspired tab

If you find something you like, you can send a copy of it to your mobile.

And that’s it for the Creative Hub. We’re now leaving you with the challenge to craft an ad that will not only speak to your target audience but will also make them buy your product.

Make sure to return to this guide to review important details about Facebook advertising. And do not forget that the next chapter is just around the corner. It’s waiting for you.

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