The Ultimate Guide to Designing Facebook Ads

With over 3 billion monthly active users, Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms in the world. With so many people using the site every day, it’s no wonder that businesses are clamoring to get their products and services in front of potential customers on Facebook.

As any experienced marketer knows, designing Facebook ads that work can be a real challenge. Facebook is a vast and complex platform because of its monthly billions of organic traffic. And with so much competition, it’s hard to get your ads seen, let alone clicked on.

From choosing the right image to using the right call-to-action, we’ll cover everything you need to know about designing Facebook Ads that convert. If you want to improve your Facebook Ads game, this article is for you!

Tips and Tricks on Designing Facebook Ads

Source: Shutterstock

So how can you design Facebook ads that will cut through the noise and actually get results? Keep reading for our top tips!

1. Stick to your brand image

The objective of any Facebook ad design is to convey your personal brand message clearly and efficiently. But with elaborate brand copy and unnecessary typography in your graphic design, your creative ideas can get lost in the information flux.

So, make sure to stick to your brand image when thinking of how to design your Facebook ad. Moreover, any ad copy exceeding more than 300 characters will inevitably shadow the attention your Call-to-Action needs. Try including more of your brand links in the captions, and convince people to explore your ideas by themselves!

To make this easier for you, use Brand Kits. Simplified offers unlimited brand kits where you can save your brand logo, fonts, colors, and elements to make editing easier for you (especially if you have to edit multiple posts!).

Bonus: A Beginner’s Complete Guide To Facebook Ads Primary Text

2. Strategize color contrast

Gaining traffic may look like an end goal for any ad campaign. After all, more traffic means further reach, higher numbers of engagements, and lots more shares. However, the key to effectively designing Facebook ads is to ensure that your content stands out and appeals to your target audience.

Here’s a tip from Simplified: Adhere to the fundamental rules of graphic design through contrast! In fact, according to color psychology, using tones that are visually opposite to each other on the color palette can make powerful Facebook advertising design pairs.

Examples Of Contrast Color Pairs To Try Out:

Black (#000000FF) and White (#FFFFFFFF)
Ultra Violet (#5F4B8BFF) and Blooming Dahlia (#E69A8DFF)
Sailor Blue (#00203FFF) and Mint (#ADEFD1FF)
Gray (#606060FF) and Lime Punch (#D6ED17FF)

Plus, take a look at these Facebook ad templates with contrasting colors from Simplified:

Use Template

Use Template

3. Include format-specific brand imagery

For any industry, showcasing your authentic brand personality comes through visual representation in advertisements. Stock photography, videos, GIFs, brand illustrations, etc., are just a few examples of the wide range of options you have in designing Facebook ads.

Additionally, Facebook offers various formats across its platforms customized to your brand needs:

Image Ads

File type: JPG or PNG
Resolution: at least 1080 x 1080 pixels
File size: 30 MB max

Video Ads

File type: MP4, MOV, or GIF
Resolution: at least 1080 x 1080 pixels
File size: 4 GB max

Carousel and Collection ads

File type: JPG or PNG (for images), MP4, MOV, or GIF (for videos)
Resolution: at least 1080 x 1080 pixels
File size: 30 MB max (for images), 4 GB max (for videos)

Bonus: Understanding Facebook Post Dimensions: Types & Usage

4. Facebook Ad Image and Video Design

Relevant and eye-catching brand imagery makes up a significant portion of high-engagement Facebook ad designs. And with your content being displayed right in your target audience’s News Feeds, you can amplify your ideas and generate brand awareness efficiently.

Some examples of places where you can display your high-quality images include:

Facebook Marketplace
Instagram Stories
Messenger Inbox
Facebook search results

Additionally, when it comes to establishing a brand voice, there’s no better medium than videography. Be it a 15-second sponsored story or a full-length ad on the news feed – the way you address your audience matters. Moreover, with the ‘Swipe Up’ feature and Call-to-Action buttons (for example, ‘Shop Now‘), you can easily convert your viewers into potential customers.

Here are our top video design tips for designing Facebook ads:

Limit your primary text to 125 characters
Keep your headline under 40 characters
Avoid using GIFs to prevent quality loss
Be mindful of aspect ratios and orientation for each format (for example, 9:16 + Vertical)
Use copyright-free images and music only to avoid infringements

Source: iStock

Another essential point to remember while designing Facebook ads is the availability of other formats for image and video posts. These include Carousels (a slideshow of your featured images, especially products) and a Collection (consists of a cover video/image along with smaller featured graphics). So, explore your options and pick one that complements your creativity.

Furthermore, gather user analytics and audience surveys to understand where your customers usually get their daily dose of content.

5. Use a strong Call To Action

A strong call to action is essential in any effective Facebook ad. After all, the whole point of advertising on Facebook is to get people to take some kind of action, whether it’s clicking through to your website, downloading your app, or making a purchase.

So how do you create a strong call to action that will get people to take the action you want? Here are a few tips:

Keep it short and sweet.
Use powerful words that evoke emotion.
Use first-person pronouns (e.g., “Get your free ebook now”).
Offer something valuable that’s hard to resist (e.g., a discount, free shipping, etc.).
Include a sense of urgency (e.g., “Hurry, this offer won’t last!”).

Make sure your call to action is clear and concise and that it tells people what they need to do to take the next step. Your call to action should be relevant to the ad’s content, and it should be placed in a location that is easy to see and click on.

Check out these Facebook ad templates from Simplified with an effective call to action:

Use Template

Use Template

Use Template

Test different calls to action to see which ones get the most clicks and conversions. You may also want to experiment with different placements, colors, and styles to see what works best for your audience and your business.

Your Checklist For Designing Effective Facebook Ads

Now that you have your Facebook ad design ingredients in place, let’s quickly recap your Simplified recipe before you get started:

Be crisp and concise with your brand copy.
Include eye-catching Facebook ad descriptions.
Strategize your design focus with contrasting color palettes.
Adhere to format and aspect ratio guidelines of Facebook ads headlines.
Ensure your images are authentic to your brand aesthetic.
Explore other platforms based on your user trends.
And never forget… have fun when designing!

How to Design a Facebook Ad with Simplified: 3 Easy Steps

With all the tips, tricks, and even a checklist, designing Facebook ads should be a breeze for you. But to make everything much easier, Simplified can help you design Facebook ads in just three easy steps.

Step 1: Log in to your Simplified account and go to the AI ad generator.

Step 2: Select the size, and input the topic and the target audience of your ad.

Step 3: Click ‘Generate’ and Simplified will work its magic to create your Facebook ad for you.

And that’s it, you have your Facebook ad ready for posting! Once you have your ad, you can immediately automate your post to be posted on a schedule with Simplified’s content calendar. You can add a caption, a headline, and primary text with the help of the AI writer too.

Facebook Ads Design: Time to Get Started!

With recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), it’s now possible to create high-quality Facebook ad designs without any prior design experience. Now, designing Facebook ads doesn’t have to be complicated with Simplified.

With this AI-powered tool, you can easily create professional-looking ads that grab attention and get results. Simply choose a template from the workspace, customize it to your liking, and you’re ready to go. Simplified offers you plenty of templates, including social media, marketing, special occasions and events, fashion and style, real estate, memes & quotes, and much more.

Source: Simplified

If you’re looking for an easy way to create stunning Facebook Ads, use Simplified’s AI ad generator. The tool can generate Facebook ads for you in seconds, plus have them posted right away complete with a caption and a set time for posting.

Aside from this, Simplified also has pre-built templates and simple drag-and-drop tools to get your marketing up and running fast. From design to publishing, Simplified makes it easy. Yes, now everyone can create a professional ad in minutes with this magical tool without any design experience. So, why are you waiting…give it a try!