5 Must-Use Features on the Facebook Ads Platform
As Facebook continues to shift its focus to supporting paid advertisers, it continues to improve its ads platform as well. This benefits users by giving them access to helpful, intuitive tools and features.
If you haven’t reviewed the latest updates, you may be in for a pleasant surprise. There are several new or recently added features that can change the way you advertise. The five listed here offer exciting new options for showcasing your products and services.
1. Optimize Text Per Person
Optimize text per person can be turned on during ad setup. If you choose to use this feature, Facebook algorithms will decide whether to highlight your ad’s headline, description, or caption. To do this, the algorithm relies on an understanding of how people in specific customer groups respond to advertisements.
Suppose that you create an ad with the headline “Season Ending Close Out!” and a description of “Up to 75% off clothing and accessories.” If the optimize text per person feature is turned on, Facebook could opt to use “Up to 75% off clothing” description as the main text, depending on the demographic of the person currently viewing your ad. Changes like this are the result of data collected on customer browsing behavior and previous interactions with ads.
2. Facebook Shop Ads
Facebook Shops launched in 2020 and were absolutely foundational to helping small businesses that had to quickly shift to an online business model. Shops are available to businesses for free, and this platform allows brands to showcase products to more than a billion Facebook users.
Now, Meta is adding a new feature to enhance Facebook Shops even more by gradually rolling out Facebook Shop Ads. This may be available to you now. If not, full availability across the board is expected to happen very soon.
Facebook Shop Ads, as the name implies, allow you to create ads for selected products in your shop. You simply select the products you want to include, choose a link to send users to after they click, and then customize your target audience. There’s even an “Ads Creative” area where you can design your ads.
In many ways, this is an upgrade to Dynamic Ads For Page Shops. The difference is that this feature leads customers to specific products instead of an entire catalog.
3. Advertising Reels
Short-form video continues to be immensely popular with online audiences. Brands and influencers are using this format to create exceptional amounts of engagement. While this trend may have started on TikTok, Facebook was fast to jump on the bandwagon with Instagram Reels. In 2021, the company began testing Advertising Reels.
While any brand can use advertising reels, this feature is especially useful to brands that target a younger demographic. It’s also a great tool for companies that work with younger influencers.
If you are interested in using this feature, go for it! Just keep in mind that you have a limited time to make an impression. The ideal videos will be fun and natural, not overly produced. At the same time, you still want to use the appropriate Facebook video ad specs for the best results.
4. Improved Augmented Reality Features
Augmented reality has been available on Facebook for some time now. However, with recent updates, this feature allows advertisers to create even more exciting, interactive brand experiences.
Facebook first introduced “Try On” in 2019. This AR technology allows customers to try on clothing, accessories, beauty products, etc. It also works with products such as home furnishings and decor. These are exciting features, but there have always been significant barriers to most advertisers. Very few brands could create or have access to the three-dimensional visual assets needed to use augmented reality.
To address this, Facebook has created APIs that allow businesses to integrate 3D objects into their business catalogs as well as import these visual assets directly into Facebook. This allows more brands to integrate AR into their Facebook Ads.
5. Lead Ads
Lead ads are a great advertising option for engaging shoppers who don’t want to click away from Facebook to one of your landing pages. It also helps that this is an extremely budget-friendly option that’s easy to set up.
Here’s how it works: Lead ads are directed to mobile users, allowing brands to collect email addresses and other contact information via a pop-up form that appears when a consumer taps your ad. This form can even be pre-populated with information taken from their profile, reducing friction even further.
Going Forward
It pays to stay up to date on the latest features that Facebook has added for advertisers. You are almost guaranteed to find at least one new option that will allow you to better engage your target audience and feature your products in fresh and exciting ways.
