Facebook Business Manager makes it really easy to build an ad from scratch. All you have to do is choose a format, then fill it in with information about your business.
The real challenge is to choose the right format for image and text.
There are hundreds of ways you can design your ad with Facebook’s ad options.
Start designing by defining your objective for your ad campaign, then picking the right template for the job.
Let’s get started!
15 Free Facebook Ad Templates
Just like every call-to-action has a different purpose, so does your Facebook ad template.
The following ad templates cover the primary actions that you want your customer to make. Use the menu to jump ahead to the template that you’re interested in, or read the complete guide below:
Facebook Ad Template #1: Increase Mobile App Installs
To increase mobile app installs, you’re going to need to create standout ads for mobile, where it’s easier than on desktop to download an app. The key to a standout mobile ad is to show your app being used in relatable situations. That way, when a mobile user is scrolling through their Feed in their downtime, your app strikes them as the thing they’d rather be using to perform an action they find appealing.
It’s important to deep link to your mobile app or the app store to the right audience. Dynamic ads enable deep linking, a gamechanger for increasing installs.
Facebook Ad Template #2: Establish Brand Awareness
You’ve developed pitch-perfect branding for everything that represents your business, which goes beyond just a logo and a color scheme. That’s where you can turn to video, the perfect medium to hype your business. For video ads, the first thing users see is the thumbnail. The trick to getting people to watch is to feature a main character mid-action. Having a really clear main character in your video thumbnail is a great way to get people to watch the rest of your story. The thumbnail makes people ask “why”.
The copy should tell people where the story takes place, as the text is where people will look to for more context around the thumbnail.
Facebook Ad Template #3: Smash Product Catalog Sales
When people have too many choices, it’s tempting to just have someone else make a decision for them. Curating products is a high-level way of making the decisions that your viewers will appreciate. To curate your products for your ad, group together similar products into a Collection. Collections are different from Carousels in that they link to an immersive in-app experience, including browsing and learning more about the products featured.
Not only will your Collection drive cold traffic through visual appeal, but you can also drive product catalog sales up by targeting people who’ve already expressed interest for a certain kind of product on your site.
Whether it’s shaped, texture, color, or item type, pick out the items that together form a sense of cohesion. You can feature one item per photo or similar items across all photos.
Facebook Ad Template #4: Drive Traffic to Your Site
Facebook carousel ads are the perfect way to drive site traffic. Each carousel lets you use up to 10 pictures in the space of a single ad—meaning more room to show off what your site offers. The best way to use this space is to showcase your product from multiple perspectives.
Variety is a top reason people are compelled to shop at one store over another. Some customers might want to simply purchase the product—include your product against a simple background. Others might be drawn in by a model—feature your product in-use. Others still might just love the lifestyle your brand helps create—put your product within an aesthetic context.
For all the variety, it’s important for people to come away with a sense of your website as a whole. To instill unity in your ad, be sure to include a brand message that unifies the photos, as well as a business logo at the end of your Carousel.
Facebook Ad Template #5: Bring People to Your Event
It’s not enough to feature people in your event photo. To really pique your target audience’s interest, your event has to show that there’s more in store—but only if you attend the event. Your event ad can spark this curiosity by featuring people who are already engaged in your event activity. Instill a little FOMO by describing how your event setting is unique. Make it easy for people to decide at a glance if they are “Interested” in your event by centering the details of time and place.
Facebook Ad Template #6: Get People to Start Shopping
Shopping in person is all about having options: flipping through clothing racks, scanning an aisle of groceries, trying on makeup. With carousel ads, you can simulate that experience online—all within the space of a single-photo Facebook post. The more options people have, the more time they’ll spend with your ad, giving you many more chances to bring them to your online store.
People should be able to tell at a glance what it is you’re selling, so it’s important to keep your photos consistent in color and structure. Foreground your product, and choose a highly contrasting color for the background. Examples below include attention-grabbing red for dishware (Target) and soothing nature for flight tickets (Travelstart South Africa).
Pair this with a promo to really pique your viewer’s interest and to get them thinking about spending on your site. And, of course, finish it off with a “Shop Now” CTA that takes your viewer directly to a landing page with your products.
Facebook Ad Template #7: Collect Leads with Sign Ups
If you want to collect leads, a great way to do so is show people exactly how they’ll feel once they’re using your product. A classic way to show this is before/after ads, which generate leads because they are relatable and show that your product delivers results.
Although you can’t add a before and after photo sequence as per Facebook’s terms, you can still give the same effect with an illustration that represents how great your product is. Whether it’s through color, light, or detail, illustrations grab attention to the positive aspects of your product by standing out amongst all the other faces in the crowd of a Facebook feed.
What’s important is that your image features the “after” results of sign up, and your copy makes an exclusive value proposition. By asking “Does Your Car Qualify”, Uber makes people hope their car qualifies so that they can achieve the “after” state of a car full of cash. By headlining with “the top 5%”, Hired reveals the “after” state as smiling, vibrant people in a new workplace exclusive to that qualifying 5%. For both ads, you can only know more if you sign up, which drives your lead collection.
Facebook Ad Template #8: Generate Leads with the Power of Free
People love free things, but they’re more and more skeptical of them because they think there must be a catch. Valuable products come at a price, so to lead with the power of free, you have to make that “catch”— like a time limit on a trail — clear to people within your ad. This will build trust and people will feel more comfortable signing up. Keep the “free” part of your offer subtle and specific.
At the same time, the ad should communicate your product’s value — how it makes users’ lives better. To do that, use the image space to grab your viewer’s attention with a solution to their problem, paired with a crisp, simple graphics. Notice how our example ads directly invoke a problem that a customer faces, both in their image and their copy? This is a great way to both grab attention and intrigue viewers.
Facebook Ad Template #9: Increase Post Engagement
The more suspenseful you can make your post, the more people will interact with it. It all boils down to conveying a single idea. An image with a lone, anonymous figure, generates intrigue and mystery. A divisive headline gets people to think about where they stand on a topic–––and click through to see where other people stand. Ad text that makes an argument gets people intrigued about how a post (and all its commenters) will back it up. Sandwich your image with this dramatic copy, and your entire ad will get people clicking to satiate their curiosity.
Facebook Ad Template #10: Advertise Your Chatbot
Nothing ups your customer service game like personalized, immediate support—your chatbot is the way to go on this front. Messenger chatbots allow you to engage directly with customers, which means more loyal customers. To get the word out about your new chatbot, you can center your ad on showing the bot in action. People can be wary of robots of any kind, so be sure to humanize your bot by giving it a name, or including copy about how it’s friendly and helpful.
Facebook Ad Template #11: Drive Traffic to Your Store Location
When you’re brick and mortar, it’s all about geotargeted ads that entice people with your products and then seal the deal. The key to making a successful ad that drives store location traffic is to make your viewer’s navigation seamless. Each picture is an opportunity to hammer home your “Get Directions” CTA, making navigation a one-step process for mobile users. In your copy, emphasize a great reward for little effort. Timing is also important—in the two food ads below, dinner versus late-night yields different audiences and intentions.
Facebook Ad Template #12: Learn More About Your Customer’s Preferences
Every conversation with a customer is an opportunity to build a better profile of their preferences, and Messenger is the perfect platform to ask customers directly about their needs. Not only do these conversations help people shop better, but they also help you retarget people to the products they are actually interested in.
Messenger ads help you learn more about your customer’s preferences by narrowing people’s desire for a general product (like a drink) down to something more specific. To get people to use your Messenger function, make a product offer and pair it with a Send Message CTA. The offer should be general enough that it leaves room for people to express their preferences within the app.
Facebook Ad Template #13: Boost Conversions
The best way to boost conversions is to tailor your ad to an audience that has shown interest in your product before—whether it’s a prior sale or click. Your ad copy should show what’s new about your business, to keep your customer’s impression of your business as up-to-date and evolving alongside them. You can do this by featuring a product that’s in-season (different from what your customer was looking at in their last visit) or new on the site. Play up your prior connection by addressing the customer directly. A single-image ad that features your product will do the trick; just be sure to find the right color contrast to bring out whatever item you’re featuring.
Facebook Ad Template #14: Garner Local Awareness
Whether you’re the new business in town or you just want to reach out to the new folks around your establishment, Facebook ads can help you raise local awareness. Local pride is on your side, so make the most of your knowledge of the neighborhood or city you’re in by making an event or location-specific offer. For the Subway around Mizzou, that’s food for their upcoming tailgate. For Pauly Presley Realty, it’s dog-friendly businesses in Austin. By including your business’ knowledge of the local scene, as well as providing valuable promotions and content, your ad is on track to building a long-term relationship with local (loyal) customers.
Facebook Ad Template #15: Boost Brand Engagement
Brand engagement is all about getting people emotionally invested in your brand. People get emotionally invested in something when they feel they have something to lose. When it comes to forging a bond between customers and your business, find a political/personal motivation that your customers can relate to your product. For Planned Parenthood, it’s women’s reproductive rights. For Grammarly, it took a creative leap—dating and attraction (to good grammar).
Here’s the BIG takeaway.
“The secret sauce and key to marketing online successfully and creating ads that connects, attracts and brings a return on your investments is to connect with people who might already be interested in what you have to offer – based on their pains and desires and using language and words they understand”
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