Love it or loathe it — Facebook is undoubtedly one of the most significant developments of the modern age. It’s the benchmark social network, for starters, and has been for well over a decade.
Prior to Facebook, options like Friendster and Myspace would emerge and fade within a couple of years. But Facebook has remained constant. Even during the social media revolution marked by the rise of Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok, Facebook found a way to maintain relevance.
As of 2022, Facebook has 2.91 billion monthly active users. A 6.2% jump from 2021’s 2.74 billion users, which was already a year-over-year growth of 12% from 2019. That’s right— It’s actually still growing.
But Facebook serves a purpose beyond keeping in touch with old friends and family members. It’s a valuable advertising tool.
Facebook Advertising
Advertising on Facebook has become a trusted strategy for businesses around the world. In fact, there are around 7 million advertisers active on the platform. Combined, they spend $5.5 billion to reach potential customers.
If you’re considering promoting your company on Facebook, you probably have one question: how much does Facebook advertising cost?
How do Facebook Ads work?
Ad space is a precious and scarce thing. Despite what you see on your personal feed, Facebook exercises a great deal of judgment when deciding how its ads are placed. There are limited advertising placements for businesses to sponsor across Facebook and Instagram.
With many agencies vying for the best ad space, who (or what) assigns the victor?
Facebook’s advertising algorithm helps decide which ad is expected to perform best.
Every advertiser will submit their campaign to compete for specific ad placement in front of their target audience. Brands that are looking to reach the same target audience will compete in an auction together.
What are Facebook’s Ad Auctions?
While bidding is important, it’s only one factor taken into consideration when deciding an auction winner. Facebook’s algorithm awards the ad spot by determining an ad’s total value. The graphic above depicts the formula.
The total value essentially estimates the potential engagement the target audience would have with the advertisement. These are referred to as “action rates” and are measured in likes, shares, and comments on the ad. This process is done to determine the quality of the advertisements and award the ad space to the most effective one.
The campaign that ticks these three boxes the best has the highest value and wins the ad space.
What are the different types of Facebook Ads?
There are 6 types of ads available on Facebook: photo, video, poll, carousel, slideshow, and collection ads.
Photo Ads
Photo ads make use of the news feed feature, allowing you to show off your service or product in the public square of Facebook.
Photo ads are a great choice for those considering their first Facebook advertisements. They can be created rather quickly, often with just a few clicks. One common method for photo advertising is boosting an existing post with an image from your Facebook Page.
While this may seem incredibly simple, image ads can prove quite effective. The key, of course, is in your execution. Avoid boring, lifeless advertisements in favor of more creative approaches that command attention.
Design Recommendations for Photo Ads
File Type: JPG or PNG
Ratio: 1.91:1 to 1:1
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels
Text Recommendations
Primary Text: 125 characters
Headline: 27 characters
Description: 27 characters
Technical Requirements
Maximum File Size: 30MB
Minimum Width: 600 pixels
Minimum Height: 600 pixels
Aspect Ratio Tolerance: 3%
Video Ads
There are three types of video ads available on Facebook. Advertisements can appear in the News Feed, on Stories, and as in-stream ads in longer Facebook videos.
News Feed
The Facebook news feed is an ever-running tap of status updates, photos, videos, and more. You can think of it as a town square. It’s the perfect place for your business to advertise itself. Include movement and sound to capture attention quickly and show unique features of your product or tell your brand story.
Design Recommendations for Facebook News Feed Ads
File Type: MP4, MOV or GIF
Ratio: 1:1 (for desktop or mobile) or 4:5 (for mobile only)
Video Settings: H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan and stereo AAC audio compression at 128kbps+
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels
Video Captions: Optional, but recommended
Video Sound: Optional, but recommended
Videos should not contain edit lists or special boxes in file containers.
Text Recommendations
Primary Text: 125 characters
Headline: 27 characters
Description: 27 characters
Technical Requirements
Video Duration: 1 second to 241 minutes
Maximum File Size: 4GB
Minimum Width: 120 pixels
Minimum Height: 120 pixels
In-Stream
In-stream video ads allow your business to place an advertisement in the middle of video content. This offers advertisers opportunities to drive longer view durations and can help deliver more complex marketing messages. You can use videos from 5 seconds – 10 minutes in length for this ad placement.
Design Recommendations for Facebook In-Stream Ads
File Type: MP4, MOV or GIF
Ratio: 16:9 or 1:1
Video Settings: H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan and stereo AAC audio compression at 128kbps+
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels
Video Captions: Optional, but recommended
Video Sound: Optional, but strongly recommended
Videos should not contain edit lists or special boxes in file containers.
Text Recommendations
Primary Text: 125 characters
Headline: 40 characters
Technical Requirements
Video Duration: 5 seconds to 10 minutes. Video duration limit may vary by objective.
Maximum File Size: 4GB
Stories
Facebook Stories can help bring your brand to life, with immersive features such as emojis, stickers, and other creative options. Facebook Stories Ads are vertical ads placed between the organic stories of Facebook users. Facebook Stories will play video ads that are 15 seconds or less for the full duration of the video. Video ads that are longer than 15 seconds will be split into separate Stories cards.
Design Recommendations for Facebook Ad Stories
File Type: MP4, MOV or GIF
Ratio: 9:16
Video Settings: H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan and stereo AAC audio compression at 128kbps+
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels
Video Captions: Optional, but recommended
Video Sound: Optional, but recommended
Videos should not contain edit lists or special boxes in file containers.
Consider leaving roughly 14% (250 pixels) of the top and bottom of the video free from text and logos to avoid covering these key elements with the call-to-action.
Text Recommendations
Primary Text: 125 characters
Headline: 40 characters
Technical Requirements
Video Duration: 1 second to 2 minutes
Maximum File Size: 4GB
Minimum Width: 500 pixels
Aspect Ratio Tolerance: 1%
Poll Ads
Poll ads are mobile-only ads that incorporate an interactive component. This is done through the use of a two-option poll embedded into a photo or video. In this advertisement style, you can add a separate link for each poll choice.
Both you and those who answer will see the tally of responses to each poll option.
Design Recommendations for Poll Ads
File type: Most file types are supported, however, H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan, and stereo AAC audio compression at 128kbps+ are recommended.
Video ratio: 9:16 to 16:9
Recommended resolution: Upload the highest resolution video available that meets file size and ratio limits, without letter or pillar boxing (no black bars)
Video file size: 4GB Max
Captions: Optional but recommended
Sound: Optional but recommended
Text: 125 characters
Video thumbnail images that consist of more than 20% text may experience reduced delivery
Vertical videos (with aspect ratio taller than 4:5) may be masked to 4:5
Link headline: 25 characters
Link description: 30 characters
Technical Requirements
Video duration: 1 second to 241 minutes
Video dimension: At least 120 pixels by 120 pixels
Video size: 1MB to 26GB
Video aspect ratio: 100×400 to 400×100
Carousel Ads
Carousel ads allow you to use up to 10 images or videos to showcase your product or service. You’re able to implement a link for each featured image, allowing ample opportunities to catch your audience and link them to your website.
Design Recommendations for Facebook Carousel Ads
Image File Type: JPG or PNG
Video File Type: MP4, MOV or GIF
Ratio: 1:1
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels
Text Recommendations
Primary Text: 125 characters
Headline: 32 characters
Description: 18 characters
Landing Page URL: Required
Technical Requirements
Number of Carousel Cards: 2 to 10
Image Maximum File Size: 30MB
Video Maximum File Size: 4GB
Video Duration: 1 second to 240 minutes
Aspect Ratio Tolerance: 3%
Slideshow Ads
Slideshow ads are a great, simple way to create an immersive experience. They have low production costs and are easy to make, but offer most of the experiential benefits of video.
Design Recommendations for Facebook Slideshow Ads
Dimensions: 1,289 x 720 pixels. Ratio: 16:9, 1:1 or 2:3. Text: 90 characters. Title: 25 characters. Link description: 30 characters.
Collection Ads
The collection ad features a primary video or image with three smaller accompanying images below in a grid-like layout. When someone taps on a collection ad, they see an Instant Experience—a full-screen landing page that drives engagement and nurtures interest and intent.
Design Recommendations for Facebook Collection Ads
The cover image or video that displays in your collection ad uses the first media asset from your Instant Experience.
Image Type: JPG or PNG
Video File Type: MP4, MOV or GIF
Ratio: 1:1
Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels
Text Recommendations
Primary Text: 125 characters
Headline: 40 characters
Landing Page URL: Required
Technical Requirements
Instant Experience: Required
Image Maximum File Size: 30MB
Video Maximum File Size: 4GB
