If you’ve been keeping up with your social media marketing strategy, you’re probably pretty familiar with Canvas (AKA Instant Experience) ads. These full-screen Facebook ads are optimized for mobile devices and have pretty much become a staple for businesses looking to get their messages out to mobile users.
Even if you’ve been working with Canvas ads since they rolled out in 2016, this holiday season is going to be a little different.
The season already changes the marketing landscape, but Canvas ads have seen some recent updates that are definitely going to impact your strategy. I’m going to walk you through how to create canvas ads that will resonate with your audience over the holidays.
Set Holiday-Specific Goals
Canvas ads do a few things remarkably well: brand-building, generating leads, and improving conversions. Depending on when you start (preferably yesterday), you’ll want to set one of these areas as a metric for measuring the success of your Canvas ads. If your goal is to get holiday sales and you’re starting in November, it’s probably a good idea to skip branding in favor of generating leads.
What you absolutely shouldn’t do is throw a bunch of products onto your viewer’s screen and hope they like the pictures enough to buy. Think strategically. If your goal is generating leads, how do you get people interested enough in your business to visit your site? If you want to drive conversions, what can you show someone who already follows your page that will help them take the leap to making a purchase?
Use Templates
Facebook recently released a handful of Canvas ad templates to help brands better reach specific goals and customize their content. So make use of them! It’s never going to get easier than plugging your content into a user-optimized template! The different options include:
- Instant Storefront: Pretty much what it sounds like. You highlight your products and give people an easy way to access your site.
- Instant Lookbook: If you want to sell products with more natural, real-life images, this is the format for you.
- Instant Customer Acquisition: Have a sale you want to promote? This one is set up to draw in customers with deals and clear CTAs.
- Instant Storytelling: This is the only item on this list more oriented toward branding than conversions. Here, you use visuals to help new customers get a sense for your brand and start considering how you can meet their needs.
These layouts are going to make sure your customer is discovering your content in a way that feels organic and on-brand for your business. Nobody will scroll through endless pictures of boat engines, but they might be willing to browse through a well-designed catalogue.
Try the New Overlays
Get your viewers into the season! Facebook is offering marketers new ways to present their businesses by using holiday-themed overlays on ads. What’s the appeal? Other than being an aesthetic choice to better match the season, a holiday overlay can help your audience get into a mindset of holiday shopping, which could vastly improve your odds of getting a conversion.
As an example, you might use the Instant Storefront template along with an overlay of ice and snow around the border to better sell your line of winter coats.
Think of these overlays as tools to give your audience a more immersive experience. Get creative! Put your viewer in the mindset of a holiday shopper, and they’ll spend like one!
Get Innovative
This is not the time to rest on your laurels or use the same old strategies that worked for you over the summer. Retail spending goes up substantially during the holidays, and you can’t afford to pass up on those profits! Use these tips to make sure your Canvas ads are connecting with people in the right way to help you accomplish your marketing goals.
Don’t sweat it if you need some extra help with your holiday Canvas ads. Just set up a free consultation with the Go! Agency!
