The Facebook Diet: When Your Paid Ads Get Smaller

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but words are powerful, and changes that hit the Facebook platform may be painful.

So say analysts reviewing new policies freshly implemented by the behemoth of all social media, and it could be a gigantic headache for those who write ad copy.

This shift in ad sizes was announced at a recent F8 conference, but the company has been somewhat stealth with respect to public information. Ad revenue is their bread and butter, naturally. And with more than 2 billion worldwide users, they are sharply focused on building a venue for paid advertisers, often at the expense of user experience. Nonetheless, the company continues to tweak its advertising options.

Here’s what’s happening: Facebook feed ads viewed in mobile mode (and let’s face it, few are using full-size computers these days) are shrinking. These “creative restrictions” make the image size and the amount of text smaller, with images reduced to a 4:5 aspect ratio from the current 2:3. Along with that is a text reduction from seven sentences to three – a tremendous drop by any measure.

Prioritizing ad copy words
Though users will be able to access more lines by clicking a “see more” link, the game is now changed. As anyone who has written for limited space platforms knows, the visible text is critical for engagement, and if that text is cut in less than half, it will be more important than ever to employ an economy of words with the most benefit.

With mobile devices already small in scale, that means even a typical one-liner with an inducement – the bread and butter of marketing lead-ins – won’t fit. And that hurts.
Beyond the written word, you’ll be dealing with a shrinking graphical allotment. This will require image redesigns, along with the judgment call on how small to make your overlay text.
​
The good news is that Facebook prepped for this sea change, perhaps to quell the tide of resistance. Their Video Creation Kit tool allows for a semi-automated process to make it easier through scaled image resizing. The kit also offers more templates that ostensibly provide flexibility to accommodate this curtailed space issue.

Now the challenge is to take a closer look at whether Facebook is performing adequately as an advertising vehicle for your ecommerce business. Its benefits are rather obvious; few platforms are as visible and cost-effective. But if your return on investment isn’t cutting it now, what will happen when the ad sizes shrink?

Overall, businesses are not fully on board the Facebook ad train. According to social media guru Neil Patel, it’s a conundrum for the hopefuls aiming to cash in on Facebook’s massive reach. More than 60 percent of them aren’t happy with their results. Is this evidence of an organic weakness in the platform? Probably not, Patel says. There are ways to maximize ROI on Facebook ads, even in the face of these new rules.
​
Tune in next week for smart strategies to make Facebook work for you.