The Ultimate Guide: Ad Placements and Formats on Social Media
Post written by
Team Remotion
|
May 24, 2022
Let us guide you through the opportunities available on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube.
The choice of format and placement for your ads can determine your advertising results. The placements you choose depend on the content you want to post and the audience you want to reach. For example, if it's a longer video describing how to use the product you're selling, YouTube might be preferred over Instagram. It requires an analysis of the target audience for channel selection and examining trends through market analysis. Now, let's take a closer look at each platform's available placements and formats tailored for paid social media marketing!
Facebook for Business recommends including advertising on Instagram if you plan to advertise on Facebook. This way, you optimize delivery. If you choose automatic placements in Ads Manager, it's preferable because Facebook will optimize your budget on the placements that work best for maximum results. In the survey "Swedes and the Internet 2020" – Facebook is the most used social channel in all age groups 26 years and above in Sweden. Note: Apple has announced new policy requirements for iOS 14 that may affect where your ad will appear. Read more.
Facebook News Feed: Your ads appear in the desktop news feed when people access Facebook's website on their computers. Your ads appear in the mobile news feed when people use the Facebook app on mobile devices or open Facebook's website in a mobile browser.
Instagram Feed: Your ads appear in the mobile feed when people use the Instagram app on mobile devices. Instagram feed ads appear only to people using the Instagram app.
Facebook Marketplace: Your ads appear on the Marketplace homepage or when someone browses Marketplace in the Facebook app. Learn more about ads on Marketplace.
Facebook Video Feeds: Your video appears between organic videos in video-only environments on Facebook Watch and in Facebook's news feed.
Facebook Right Column: Your ads appear in the right column on Facebook. Right column ads only appear for people connecting to Facebook on their computers. Instagram Explore: Your ads appear when someone clicks on a photo or video. Learn more about ads in Instagram Explore.
Messenger Inbox: Your ads appear on the Home tab in Messenger. Learn more about ads in Messenger.
Messenger Sponsored Messages: Your ads appear as messages to people who have an existing conversation with you in Messenger. Learn more about sponsored messages. Learn more about sponsored messages.
Stories: Stories on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger let you target personal ads to your audience and optimize your reach to maximize the number of people you can reach. Even on the placements below, there are opportunities to reach your audience in a targeted way.
Your vertical full-screen ad appears in people's stories as:
Facebook Stories: Your ads appear in people's stories on Facebook. Learn more about ads in Facebook Stories .
Instagram Stories: Your ads appear in people's stories on Instagram. Learn more about ads in Instagram Stories.
Messenger Stories: Your ads appear in people's stories on Messenger. Learn more about ads in Messenger Stories.
Audience Network: Audience Network extends Facebook's people-based advertising beyond the Facebook platform. With Audience Network, publishers can earn money by showing ads from Facebook advertisers in their apps. This is an effective way to reach more people using other apps and get greater reach at a lower cost than if you had only chosen Instagram and Facebook. The benefit, in other words, is that you can reach more without having to add more to your budget. There are two types of categories that your ads via Audience Network can cover:
Audience Network Native, Banner, and Interstitial: Your ads appear in Audience Network apps. Learn more about banner ads, interstitial ads, and native ads.
Audience Network Rewarded Video: Your ads appear as videos that people can watch in exchange for rewards in an app (like currency or items in the app). Learn more about rewarded video.
Facebook InStream Videos: Your ads appear in Video on Demand and in a selected group of approved live streams from partners on Facebook. Learn more about in-stream video.
Facebook Search Results: Your ads appear next to relevant search results on Facebook and Marketplace.
Facebook Instant Articles: Your ads appear in Instant Articles in Facebook's mobile app. Learn more about Instant Articles.
A conclusion of Facebook's ad placements is that there are enormous opportunities to reach your target audience in the right mood, time, and type of digital behavior. Therefore, it's important to ensure that you customize your content for the different placements and include it in your campaign setup to ensure an optimal customer experience. To ensure maximum exposure in each placement, you'll need to optimize your ad material to the formats 1:1, 4:5, 16:9, and 9:16.
Snapchat
Depending on whether your campaign goal is to drive traffic, increase conversions, or create engagement, there are placements on Snapchat designed to match your goal. According to "Swedes and the Internet 2020", Snapchat continues to be used primarily by Generation Z in Sweden, where 9 out of 10 users are between 16 and 25 years old.
A Snapchat ad can be up to ten seconds long and is available in these formats: Video, GIF, Picture & Cinemagraphs.
Now, let's take a look at the ad formats.
Single Image or Video Ads: A single image or video ad is a full-screen ad that can be used for many purposes. Just add an attachment and let Snapchatters swipe up and take action. Learn more about single image or video ads here.
A collection ad features four tappable tiles to showcase multiple products, giving Snapchatters a frictionless way to browse and purchase. Learn more about collection ads here.
Story Ads: Story Ads are branded tiles located in Snapchat's Discover section. Create excitement around your brand or latest collection with a series of 3-20 single image or video ads. Learn more about Story Ads here.
Lenses AR Experience: Lenses are a powerful and memorable way to connect with consumers using augmented reality. Create memorable, interactive moments that Snapchatters can play with and send to friends. Learn more about Lenses AR Experience here.
Commercials: These are non-skippable for six seconds, but can be up to three minutes long. These ads appear in Snap's curated content. Learn more about commercials here.
Filters: Filters are artistic overlays that appear after you've taken a snap and swipe left or right. Join Snapchatters' conversations when they visit neighborhoods, parks, restaurants, shops, and during major holidays. Learn more about filters here.
To summarize the Snapchat chapter – Snapchat ads are for all businesses, large or small. Now go ahead and use Snapchat ads to reach your audience in a more creative, intimate, and impactful way!
If you are a B2B company, LinkedIn is a great channel for advertising because you can be extremely detailed with your target audience and reach companies and decision-makers who matter to you.
LinkedIn has over 740 million members and 55 million companies listed in 200 countries. They also have more than 260 million monthly active users, and of those LinkedIn users who engage with the platform every month, 40% access it daily. However, LinkedIn is used sparingly, so you have only a few minutes to make an impact. Users spend only about 17 minutes on LinkedIn per month.
Let's take a look at how to do it.
Sponsored Content: Reach a highly engaged audience in LinkedIn's news feed.
Single Image Ads: Include an image and appear directly in the LinkedIn feed for members in your campaign's target audience. Learn more about single image ads here.
Video Ads: Sponsored Content ad formats appearing in the LinkedIn feed. Learn more about video ads here.
Carousel Ads: Display multiple images in sequence in a single, carousel-like ad. They appear in the LinkedIn feed for the members you want to reach. Learn more about carousel ads here.
Sponsored Messaging: Engage your audience in LinkedIn Messaging, where professional conversations occur. There are two types of sponsored messages on LinkedIn:
Conversion Ads: Engage your potential customers in LinkedIn Messaging. Learn more about Conversion Ads here.
Message Ads: Send direct messages to your potential customers to prompt immediate actions. Learn more about Message Ads here.
Lead Gen Forms: Collect even more quality leads from your ads on LinkedIn with seamless pre-filled forms. Learn more about Lead Gen Forms here.
Text and Dynamic Ads: Run ads in LinkedIn's right rail. There are three types of text and dynamic ads on LinkedIn:
Text Ads: Lead new customers to your business – with a budget that works for you through LinkedIn's self-service pay-per-click (PPC) platform. Learn more about Text Ads here.
Spotlight Ads: For driving conversions, use spotlight ads to showcase your product, service, event, and more to increase traffic to your website or landing page. Learn more about Spotlight Ads here.
Follower Ads: To build brand awareness, use follower ads to promote your LinkedIn Page to seamlessly acquire followers. Learn more about Follower Ads here.
Ads on Pinterest are called "promoted pins" and look just like regular pins, but they say sponsored at the bottom. The advantage of advertising on Pinterest is that it's a low-competition ad opportunity that became available in 2019 in Sweden. The channel has a shopping-focused audience, so there are good opportunities to drive conversion when people are in the perfect mood!
Users with a Pinterest Business account can choose to promote existing high-performance pins, create a new image or video, or even promote an image that has been pinned from a website.
Once an ad is set up in Pinterest Ads Manager, it will appear in users' feeds and relevant search results. Let's dive into the different formats.
Static Pins and Ads: Static Pins and Ads have only one image. These specifications apply to both organic pins and ads.
Max. Width Video Ads: Max. width video ads are videos that expand across people's entire feed on mobile. Max. width video ads are only available as a paid format. These specifications apply only to max. width video ads.
Standard Width Video Pins and Ads: Standard width video pins and ads are videos that have the same size as a regular pin. These specifications apply to both organic standard width video pins and ads.
App Install Ads: App install ads have an image and allow people to download apps without leaving Pinterest. They are only available as a paid format. App install ads follow the same specifications as static pins and ads.
Shopping Ads: Shopping ads contain one image or video at a time and let people purchase products they find on Pinterest. Shopping ads follow the same specifications as static pins and ads.
Collection Pins and Ads: Collection Pins and ads appear as a main image above three smaller images, in feeds on mobile devices. These specifications apply to both organic collection pins and collection ads.
Story Pins: Story Pins appear as a set of multiple videos, images, lists, and custom text in a single Pin. Story Pins are only available as an organic format.
Explore Pinterest's creative specifications and requirements, from file types to character limits here.
TikTok
In recent years, TikTok has grown enormously since its launch in 2016. The app merged with Musical.ly in 2018 and has topped the charts as one of the most downloaded apps in both the App Store and Play Store. Today, the app has over 500 million monthly users.
Advertising on TikTok has just begun, as competition is lower among your target audience, and there are great chances for your business to gain ground on the platform this way. By catching on to trends, you can, therefore, easily grow and take a place with the audience.
Let's look at the formats and placements TikTok has to offer.
Brand Takeover: A format tailored for brand-building advertising – effective against the target audience. Immediately capture users' attention with static or dynamic full-screen visuals, providing a strong visual impact for your brand through a visual full-screen experience.
TopView Ads: A premier video format that presents your brand in the best and unbeatable position on TikTok, capturing users' full attention with sight, sound, and storytelling. Up to 60 seconds of full-screen and long-form video, with autoplay and sound.
In-Feed Ads: Short video ads that can be up to 60 seconds long. Tell your brand story like a TikTok creator by integrating video content into users’ “For You” feed where users can “like,” “comment,” “share,” “follow,” and “shoot videos with the same music,” etc.
Branded Hashtag Challenge: A unique engagement format leveraging users' passion for creation and expression. Delivers strong brand awareness with a level of engagement far surpassing a simple click. This format has an average engagement of 8.5% through likes, comments, and shares.
Branded Effects: Encourage fun with custom sharable stickers, filters, and special effects. Unleash the potential of your creativity and watch its popularity grow.
Explore TikTok's ad formats here and specifications here.
On Twitter, you can easily reach a relevant audience in such a way that you can identify it by using specific keywords, hashtags, interests, engagement in trending topics, and following specific accounts. Some formats and placements may be perceived as more flexible
than Facebook's. So, what ad formats do we have here?
Promoted Tweets: Two variants. The first option is to further increase engagement for a tweet you posted that received high engagement. The second option is to boost a post so that only the target audience you are aiming appears. Run a poll, add a GIF, or promote your account. These formats work best with engagement, reach, and follower campaigns. A great way to get potential followers to discover you. Learn more here.
Carousel Ads: Tell a story, showcase different products, or highlight more features – all in a single ad. Carousels can host up to six images or videos that run directly and seamlessly to your website or app. Learn more here.
Videos: Videos are some of the fastest-growing and most engaging media formats. Start a Twitter video view or amplify pre-roll campaign to make a memorable impact and maximize performance. Learn more here.
Want to stand out from the crowd on Twitter? Preparing for a big launch day?
Twitter also has some takeover ad products to go a step beyond traditional Twitter ad campaigns by giving you exclusive ownership of Twitter's premium properties on desktops and mobiles, allowing you to maximize your reach and increase lift across the funnel. Let's take a look at their premium offerings:
First View: First View is an exclusive, one-day, "mass awareness" ad package with Twitter's most valuable impressions. You can reach a massive reach to our receptive audience over a 24-hour period using immersive, autoplaying videos at the top of the timeline. Explore First View here.
Promoted Trend: A Promoted Trend is an exclusive, 24-hour takeover of the top trend list on Twitter and the Explore tab on mobile – where people go to see what's happening in real time. Explore Promoted Trend here.
Promoted Trend Spotlight: Promoted Trend Spotlight is a takeover ad placement that pairs the unmistakable stopping power of video with the premium properties on Twitter's Explore tab over 24 hours. Explore Promoted Trend Spotlight here.
YouTube
YouTube has over 2 billion logged-in monthly users and is the second largest search engine after Google. With YouTube ads, you can reach potential customers and prompt them to take action while watching or searching for videos on YouTube. The best part? You only pay when they show interest.
Even though your ad will appear on YouTube, you'll manage your campaign with Google Ads, an advertising platform used by businesses showing ads on Google and its ad network – which includes YouTube.
Let's dive into YouTube's ad formats.
Display Ads: Appears to the right of the feature video and above the video suggestions list. For larger players, this ad may appear below the player.
Overlay Ads: Semi-transparent overlay ads that appear on the lower 20% portion of your video.
Skippable Video Ads: Allow viewers to skip ads after 5 seconds. Inserted before, during, or after the main video.
Non-Skippable Video Ads: Must be watched before your video can be viewed. These ads can appear before, during, or after the main video.
Bumper Ads: Non-skippable video ads of up to 6 seconds that must be watched before your video can be viewed.
Sponsored Cards: Display content that may be relevant to your video, such as products featured in the video.
Viewers will see a teaser for the card for a few seconds. They can also click the icon in the upper right corner of the video to browse the cards.
Explore YouTube's ad formats further here.
That's "all" for today! We hope you enjoyed the read and gathered some valuable insights on how to maximize your marketing mix and social media marketing strategy by leveraging all these amazing opportunities out there. Good luck, and as we like to say: Try, learn, and above all, evolve to achieve the best results.
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