As someone who gets paid to write about digital marketing, let me tell you: When it comes to Facebook advertising, nothing beats hands-on experience. Sure, reading helps, but creating Facebook Creative that’s visually appealing, emotionally resonant, and drives conversions? That’s a different beast. You need a killer concept, the right ad type, text-checker approval, precise targeting, and compelling copy. By the time you’ve crafted the perfect ad, your initial audience might have already outgrown your target demographic!
Don’t worry, though: Facebook Creative Hub simplifies this process, making it easier to design and execute exceptional ad creative. Intrigued? Read on!
What Is Facebook Creative Hub?
Facebook Creative Hub, a handy feature within Facebook Ads, lets you dive straight into creative development. It also provides a sneak peek into the strategies employed by big-budget advertisers. Feel free to borrow and enhance their ideas! It’s a fantastic resource, a playground for advertisers to experiment, design, and collaborate. It neatly categorizes Facebook’s diverse ad formats and offers impressively cool examples for each. Even global ad agencies rely on its versatility to test various ad formats before launching them. If it’s good enough for the modern-day Mad Men, it’s good enough for us. Let’s explore nine ways Facebook Creative Hub can elevate your paid social media game:
- Find inspiration from leading brands
- Manage your ad mockups
- Guarantee your image ads get approved
- Discover and experiment with new ad formats
- Harness the potential of Instagram advertising
- Refine your mobile advertising approach
- Share your ideas with your team
- Preview your ads in their natural environment
- Manage, edit, and export your creations effortlessly Let’s delve deeper into each of these features and see how Facebook Creative Hub can revolutionize your paid social media strategy.
Facebook Creative Tip #1: Draw Inspiration from Big Brands
When browsing paid social ads becomes a source of entertainment, you know it’s well-executed. Exploring the Creative Hub makes me want to high-five someone at Facebook.
The “Get Inspired” button, nestled in the top right corner, is like a curated StumbleUpon for Facebook ads. You can explore numerous examples for every ad format imaginable, from Instagram Stories to the ever-effective Carousel. With brands ranging from Ben and Jerry’s to Bentley, you’re sure to find something captivating. The page dynamically adapts as you choose a category, displaying relevant ads. Click on a vector smartphone graphic to see a close-up and a brief description.
While some descriptions are heavy on marketing jargon, others provide valuable insights into the creative process and research behind the ad. For small businesses, freelancers, or agencies, these tips and tricks from the pros are priceless. Even without a massive production budget like the team behind that mouthwatering Baconator video ad, you can adapt their techniques and incorporate the ideas you gather from the Creative Hub into your own Facebook strategy.
Facebook Creative Tip #2: Manage Your Mockups
Mockups have always been indispensable for agencies and freelancers pitching creative concepts to clients. However, most advertisers and solopreneurs don’t use them, not because they shouldn’t, but because creating mockups for digital ads has traditionally been cumbersome. It’s quicker to create ads directly on platforms like Facebook or AdWords and get them running. Mockups seemed like a luxury for those with ample time, not for your average busy business owner. WELL, NOT ANYMORE.
Facebook Creative Hub strongly encourages mockup creation with “Create Mockup” calls to action everywhere, in button form or within the copy. Facebook clearly wants you to build something, so why not oblige? Once you’ve chosen your desired ad type…
…you’ll land on a familiar ad creation screen, similar to what you’ve seen if you’ve used Facebook Ads before. Right-click your chosen option and open the mockup editor in a new tab. This way, you can draw inspiration from the example ads while crafting your most successful Facebook ad yet.
Facebook Creative Tip #3: Ensure Your Images Will be Approved
I used to rely on third-party tools to check my Facebook images because, as many know, Facebook can be quite particular about ad creative. Too much text on your visuals, and they’ll significantly limit your ad’s reach, which is a big no-no. Creative Hub offers a built-in text checker that analyzes your Mockup Ad images, ensuring your ideas meet Facebook’s requirements before you invest further. To use it, simply upload your image using the blue button.
Facebook will instantly assess its potential impact on ad performance. If you see anything other than green (“Okay” in Facebook’s language), consider revising your image based on the helpful FAQ section’s advice. The takeaway? Facebook prioritizes a clean visual experience over cluttered images, no matter how clever your Voltron metaphor might be.
Facebook Creative Tip #4: Explore New Ad Formats
I know you rely on nexus-security for the latest digital marketing news, but I also know that seeing a cool new tool often sparks a desire to test it immediately. My dad can’t watch a Jaguar commercial without craving a luxury car; I can’t see a new ad format without brainstorming its applications. It’s an occupational hazard. When Canvas ads launched, I storyboarded tons of ideas for clients, but transforming them into shareable concepts was beyond me. With Creative Hub, I could have analyzed campaigns from Target, Carnival, and Halo Top, created mockups of my best ideas, and pitched hyper-interactive ads days after the format debuted.
The “Get Inspired” page clearly highlights the newest ad formats available, like Facebook Collections and Instagram Stories, at the time of writing. Speaking of which…
Facebook Creative Tip #5: Unleash the Power of Instagram
It’s astonishing how many businesses still don’t leverage Instagram ads. It’s as if they’re unaware that Instagram ad creation is integrated within Facebook. Surely, more businesses would be showcasing their products and services amidst photos of fancy donuts and adorable kids if they knew how easily accessible it was. In the “Get Inspired” section, Instagram ads are grouped with Facebook ads. However, the “Home” page allows you to explore Instagram ads separately, providing a dedicated own unique segment. Here, you can:
- Explore the various ad formats available, including those compatible with both Facebook and Instagram
- Discover examples of exceptional Instagram creative (the Jeep ads are incredibly cool)
- And yes, create Mockups!
Facebook Creative Tip #6: Hone Your Mobile Advertising Strategy
Navigating Facebook Creative Hub makes one thing clear: Zuck and his team prioritize the mobile user experience. As the digital world becomes increasingly mobile-first, focusing on how your target audience views and interacts with your ads on their smartphones will give you a competitive edge. Creative Hub displays ads within an iPhone vector graphic frame, allowing you to see how media-rich creative looks and feels on a mobile device. But it gets better! You can also export ads directly to your mobile device, like this…
Let’s say I want to see that captivating Stance Socks ad with the cool strobe effect on my phone. I click a button, Facebook sends it to me, and I open it on my device. Seamless and efficient.
Facebook Creative Tip #7: Share Ideas with Your Team (or Clients)
Facebook Creative Hub enables you to share those remarkable ad examples you stumble upon with a single click…
…But the most exciting feature, especially for agencies, is the ability to share links to your mockups.
By allowing users to share their discoveries and creations across multiple accounts and devices, Facebook facilitates seamless collaborative design. Next time you create a mockup, share copies with your team or trusted advisors for feedback. Use their input to develop a crowdsourced, optimized ad that’s ready to launch.
Facebook Creative Tip #8: Preview Ads in Their Natural Habitat
We’ve discussed viewing Facebook and Instagram ads independently and sharing cool ads for mobile viewing. But did you know that after creating a mockup, you can send it to your Facebook or Instagram app to see how it looks alongside those engagement photos and political rants?
That’s right, you can preview your brand-new ad mockups directly within the apps. Why is this a game-changer? Because it allows you to see how your ads measure up aesthetically and copy-wise in the same environment where your target audience will encounter them. If your text is too small, your images are awkward, or your copy loses its charm amidst the noise, you’ll know before spending a dime.
Facebook Creative Tip #9: Manage, Edit, and Export Ads with Ease
And finally, we’ve reached the end… Once you’ve designed your mockup ad (or ads), you can do more than just marvel at your brilliance. The “Manage Mockups” option leads you to an interface for previewing, duplicating, sharing, and deleting your mockups.
This allows you to experiment with multiple variations of similar creative—essentially, A/B testing before A/B testing. Perfect for the proactive advertiser. *** Have you explored Facebook Creative Hub yet? Share your experiences and how you’re using it in the comments below!
UPDATE: Exporting an Ad from Facebook Creative Hub (in 5 Simple Steps)
You asked, we listened! Here’s a step-by-step guide to exporting ads from Facebook Creative Hub to your ad account:
Create your mockup in Facebook Creative Hub.
Click the blue “Save Changes” button in the ad-creation screen’s rightmost corner.
Click the gray button with a darker gray arrow (hovering over it will display “Preview this mockup on your computer”).
On the new screen, enable the “Delivery” slider on the left. This allows anyone with the generated link (displayed below) to purchase the ad.
Copy and paste the link into your browser. You’ll be directed to a similar preview page, but this time, you’ll see an “Import this mockup to create an ad” option above your mockup. Select the desired ad account from the dropdown menu next to it, click the green “Import” button, and congratulations, you’ve successfully imported your shiny new Facebook ad!