Facebook’s mobile-only Instant Experience ad (previously known as a Canvas ad) is a unique way to creatively tell a visual story, offering an immersive and alluring customer experience.
In an Instant Experience ad, videos, images and call-to-action buttons are deployed through various interactive components like carousels, tilt-to-view panoramas and image-detail zoom, assembled in a way that guides the consumer through the story. And that’s just a shortlist of ways an Instant Experience ad can keep a consumer engaged with your brand.
As with any robust creative ad, there are some key tips to keep in mind.
1) Know your objective. With so many creative ways into crafting an Instant Experience ad, one can be quick to get lost in the weeds of trying to accomplish multiple goals. Are you after impressions? Time spent in the ad? Clicks on your “Learn More” call-to-action? Decide on one objective, not only to make it simple to measure in the end, but also to make it simple to inspire the design and guide the consumer. After all, you can always create another Instant Experience ad down the line optimized for a new objective.
2) Know your storyline. An Instant Experience ad can quickly become too noisy for users when it’s telling multiple stories. Are you wanting to tell the story of your customer care program? Then do just that. Are you focusing on the launch of a new product? Don’t clutter the message by including too many products. Think of an Instant Experience ad like a children’s book with much better graphics; tell a single story in a simple yet elegant way.
3) Know what resources you have. An Instant Experience ad is a better complement to an existing initiative than it is on its own. In other words, don’t tackle an Instant Experience ad just for the sake of doing an Instant Experience ad. You will see greater results when you use it to tell an existing story that you can pull image and video resources from and point others to for learning more.
4) Know that the ad doesn’t last forever. An Instant Experience ad isn’t something that can live on your wall or website. It’s a Facebook product that your target will see as long as you have ad spend behind it. Once the budget runs out, there’s no alternative way for users to engage with it. Many brands are choosing not to create Instant Experience ads because of their impermanence, but this only makes it a better, less-crowded and less-competitive option to get your brand’s story out there.
An Instant Experience ad is a smart tactic to break through clutter and tell a story in a unique way. Take a look at what we created for Colony Brands’ Seventh Avenue, and email Ted Jun at tjun@hiebing.com to discuss what an Instant Experience ad may look like for your brand.
Update: Facebook now allows brands to place their ad on Instagram.