How do you create and test different ad formats and placements in Facebook Ads Manager?

To create and test different ad formats and placements in Facebook Ads Manager: - Campaign Creation: Start a new campaign in Facebook Ads Manager. - Ad Set Setup: Define targeting, budget, and schedule in the ad set. - Ad Creation: Make multiple ad variations with diverse formats and placements. - A/B Testing: Use Facebook's A/B testing to compare ad performance. - Monitor Performance: Track metrics like click-through rates and conversions. - Optimization: Adjust targeting, creatives, or placements based on data. - Iterate and Repeat: Continuously test and refine ad strategies.

Test, test, test. Assume nothing. Over the past six months I have considerably revised my core strategy as well as client strategies for advertising on Facebook and Instagram. I am fortunate to be working on a combination of verticals and business challenges/opportunities at the same time and the combined learning has been effective at an individual property level, local/regional audience level as well as deeper interest-based or category interest groups. This lead me to combining ad sets into campaigns with varying objectives and we often max out reach now and attribute content formats directly to "session to contact" conversion rates and detailed sales results.

Testing different creative formats allows you to reach different clusters of users, with different types of ads, giving Meta the possibility to deliver the most relevant type of content to each user. And this consequently to allow you to have a better chance of achieving your marketing goals.

?? Objective Setting: Start by defining your campaign objectives (e.g., awareness, conversions). ?? Ad Creation: Create different ad formats like carousel, video, and single image ads. ?? Targeting: Set up precise targeting based on demographics, interests, and behaviors. ?? A/B Testing: Use A/B testing to compare different ad creatives, headlines, and placements. ?? Placement Selection: Choose various placements such as Feed, Stories, and Right Column. ?? Monitor Performance: Track key metrics like CTR, CPC, and conversion rates. ?? Optimize: Adjust based on performance data to improve results. ?? Documentation: Keep detailed records of what works and what doesn’t for future reference.

I am currently using a combination of generated/predefined formats as well as specific content types for various formats, including choices for subject matter, product details, promotional considerations and different objectives, e.g. drive sales, drive bookings, increase DMs, generate leads.

The two most important placements at the moment are the feed (4:5 ratio) and story/reels (9:16 ratio.) If you create ads in these format and upload it to the Ads Manager you'll able to cover all placements. There are few placements such as Audience network, or Right Column which require some cropping, however you can do that directly in the Ads Manager. Another option is to let Meta automatically crop your creatives. Now, with Meta's Advantage+ Creative feature you can let A.I. help you out with this. Facebook is now testing automatic background generation for ASC (Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns) which means that your product catalogs will no longer look boring with white backgrounds.

Step: Use Facebook Ads Manager to create a variety of ad formats and placements. Tip: Explore different ad formats such as image ads, video ads, carousel ads, and collection ads. Ensure your ads are tailored for various placements like Facebook News Feed, Instagram Stories, Audience Network, and Messenger.

Une alternative est de lancer plusieurs ensembles de publicités en simultané, sur la même campagne et avec le même budget. Dans chacun de ceux-ci, vous allez décocher l'option "placements advantage+" pour sélectionner manuellement vos placements souhaitez vous même. Ensuite, il suffit d'attribuer un ou plusieurs placements spécifiques à chaque ensemble de publicités pour comparer les performances de chacun. Une fa?on de faire qui est un peu plus co?teuse que la fonction test A/B mais qui est bien plus efficace.

I have very good success to date with A/B test, budget optimization tests especially when adding a campaign strategy overlay of content types, conversion types and targeting methods.

The most simple way is to leave the placements automatic with Advantage+, then after a few days of testing you can look at the reports, and see which placements worked best. First of all, look at he best converting placements, usually Facebook Feed but don't ignore placements that have a higher impression share. These placements that have been heavily distributed but did not convert may be winner placements, as well. You can A/B test these placement with format specific ads. However, I don't recommend to do this on low budgets. If you are on low budgets then just let Facebook decide which placements work and leave it there.

Step: Implement A/B testing to compare the performance of different ad formats and placements. Tip: Create multiple ad sets with identical content but different formats and placements. Use Facebook’s split testing feature to run controlled experiments and gather data on performance.

I use combined reporting across Meta Business tools, Instagram Professional Dashboard, Link.Tree, HubSpot, WooCommerce, Google Analytics, Shopify and Etsy reporting. Where possible, I overlay as much anecdotal input as possible to any anomaly and try to balance perspective across customers, sales teams, business owners and other stakeholders.

I would not complicate myself using third party tools. Just use the Ads Breakdown charts in the Ads Manager, as those are the most accurate native tools. Analyze based on your most important metrics, such as conversions & leads. But don't overlook placements that have performed well with secondary metrics such as Impressions, clicks, hook rate and hold rate.

Step: Regularly review the performance metrics of your ad tests. Tip: Focus on key metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, cost per click (CPC), and return on ad spend (ROAS). Use Facebook Ads Manager’s reporting tools to get detailed insights.

Any tool providing AI driven optimization (Facebook Ads, HubSpot, Google Ads, etc) is helpful but I think the human POV and the stakeholder insights/aspects of what optimization should include must be considered in every case.

Try to keep media assets in the dimensions for the placements you plan to use for better visibility and optimizing them for delivery. Deciding to use full vertical vs square will come down to where you've seen most of the campaign activity performing (e.g. seeing vertical for Stories/Reels with people swiping to go to a link, people watching videos longer in the Feed area, etc.), as majority of ads are now being served on mobile.

I suggest you leave the optimization of placements to Facebook. Meta uses machine learning and A.I. to analyze data replacing the old "Automatic Placements" feature. Your job as a marketer is to analyze the data, and if you have the budget for it you can split test placements and ad formats.

Step: Use the insights from your tests to refine and optimize your ad formats and placements. Tip: Allocate more budget to the top-performing formats and placements. Continuously iterate and test new variations to further enhance performance.

I wish everyone all the best keeping with all this. Every single one of my customers and most of my team members struggle with this. I wish our technology knowledge and skillsets had an AutoUpdate function. There is no replacement for research, reading and constant learning. Avoid opinions. Seek facts. I do have one opinion I will share - I am not convinced you will find the answers in a "TikTok expert video" even when the hopeful host is wearing a headset and talking into a professional microphone. I typically share no advice and this article is an exception to that.

Facebook Ads Manager changes on a daily basis, unfortunately. Follow relevant people on Linkedin and X, to keep up with the newest updates.

Step: Stay informed about the latest updates and trends in Facebook ad formats and placements. Tip: Regularly check Facebook’s business blog, participate in webinars, and join industry forums. Keeping up with updates ensures that you can leverage new features and maintain a competitive edge.

Did I say test, test, test already? Just making sure. If I can help you with something, just ask or let me know if there is anything I said that you find confusing. This is confusing stuff and the tools have a long way to go to be perfect. But the good news, it's clearly a work in progress and it's getting better.

The different ad formats should also be interpreted as the different surfaces (e.g. Facebook News Feed, Instagram Home, Messenger Inbox, etc.) as those are placements where your ad would be shown. You may see that certain placements greatly support your campaign objective and may decide to disable the other formats.

Based on experience, ad formats, sizes and placements are dynamic. Meta is continuously testing new formats and placements to serve ads to users. Be on your toes and be ready all the time to test new formats, placements and ad types. The only constant is change, and you as a marketer need to be testing all the time.