Facebook ad design: creative that earns the scroll stop

Good Facebook ad design comes down to four things: one message in the image, said in a few words; a look people recognise as yours before they read the logo; a clear layout that does not fight the headline Meta prints under it; and a version made for each placement, so the feed gets a square or portrait image and stories get a full vertical one. The rest is testing, which is covered in ad creative testing.

Facebook ad sizes by placement

Meta's tools can crop one image into every placement, but the results are rarely what you would choose. Design these three versions and you cover nearly every place an image ad appears.

What goes in the image and what goes in the copy

A feed ad is more than its image. Meta shows your page name and primary text above it, and a headline and button below. The image should not repeat those words; it should do what words beside it cannot, which is stop the scroll and make the offer feel real.

How much text a Facebook ad image should have

Meta used to limit text to a fifth of the image and dropped that rule in 2020. Its guidance still favours images with little text, and so does common sense: an ad is read in motion, on a phone, beside a headline that already exists. Aim for a single short line and, at most, one smaller detail.

Whatever text there is must read on every part of the background. A gradient or photo that is light in one corner and dark in another can swallow a word that sits across the boundary. Keep a calm, even area behind the line, and check contrast at phone size.

Making ads recognisable as yours

People scroll past ads they think they have already judged. An ad that looks like your organic posts borrows the trust those posts earned; one that looks like a stock template borrows nothing. The quickest route to recognition is a consistent background and colour, used everywhere. Distinctive brand assets explains why a look can work harder than a logo.

• Use the same background family on every ad, varying the message and the product rather than the look.
• Keep the logo small and in the same corner each time; the background does the heavy lifting.
• Use your real fonts, not whichever font the ad tool suggests.
• Show the real product or a real outcome where you can; people trust what looks like the thing they will receive.

Producing a set of Facebook ads

1. 1

   Write three messages

   Three different reasons someone might buy: the product, the result, the occasion. Each becomes one ad.

2. 2

   Design the portrait feed version first

   1080×1350 gives the most room on phones and forces you to keep the message short.

3. 3

   Make the square and vertical versions

   Lay out each message again at 1200×1200 and 1080×1920 rather than cropping, so words never sit under the interface.

4. 4

   Write copy that complements the image

   Primary text adds the why; the headline names the offer. Neither repeats the image line word for word.

5. 5

   Preview in every placement

   Meta's ads manager shows each placement. Look at all of them on a phone before you publish.

Gradiently makes the size step quick: design the ad once, then with Pro resize it to every placement in one go, and the Mark renders fresh at each shape with its calm area moving behind the words. You can also ask the Designer for three messages in your brand kit's voice and have them laid out in your Mark. The same set adapts to Instagram ad design, since both run through Meta's ads manager.