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A Quick Guide to Facebook Video Ad Placements & Specs in 2022

According to a report by Cisco, by 2022, more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic will be in the form of online videos. Video advertising is a powerful way to deliver your brand’s message to the audience.

There are many video advertising platforms like:

  • Facebook videos
  • YouTube videos
  • Snapchat videos
  • Twitter videos
  • Instagram videos
  • TikTok videos
  • Pinterest videos
  • LinkedIn videos

Facebook Video Ad Placements & Specs in 2022

Facebook is one of the best platforms for video ads. After all, Facebook has an active monthly user base of 2.89 billion across the globe.

In this blog, we learn why Facebook video advertising is one of the most powerful ways for businesses to advertise their products and services. We then know about the different Facebook video advertising placements and their specifications.

So let’s start with some interesting stats about Facebook and Instagram video advertising.

According to Facebook IQ Source, combining story ads to feed ad campaigns can offer even better campaign results. Their May 2019 study saw:

Stats on Combining Story Ads to Facebook Feed Ad-1
Stats on Combining Story Ads to Facebook Feed Ad-2
Stats on Combining Story Ads to Facebook Feed Ad-3

Source: Facebook internal data, June 2021

The above studies inform us about the growth potential in Facebook video ads.

As we see, Facebook video advertising offers businesses a great avenue to grow themselves better.

Now let’s learn about the different types of Facebook and Instagram video advertising placements.

Facebook Instream Video Ad Example

1. In-stream video ads

Show ads inside videos people watch on Facebook - delivered as mid-roll ads within video content. Ads may appear before, during or after a video.

Each month on Facebook, 2 billion people watch in-stream eligible videos.

Facebook in-stream videos:

Show ads to people watching videos from publishers and video creators. Ads can also get displayed on Facebook Live Streams of Facebook approved selected partners.

The ad targeting lets you reach your audience within the content that is relevant to them.

Facebook has also launched in-stream video topics targeting. Now you can show contextually relevant ads in publisher video content. There are hundreds of categories and subcategories of publisher videos:

Facebook Video for Publishers-1
Facebook Video for Publishers-2

Facebook in-stream videos ads can help lift:

  • Brand Ad recall by 12.3 points
  • Awareness by 7.1 points
  • Intent by 3.8 points

Source: Internal US Facebook Brand Lift data for in-stream videos, Oct 2019-March 2021.

Instagram in-stream videos:

Similar to Facebook in-stream videos, show ads in Instagram videos.

Instagram Reels:

Show ads in the Reels section of Instagram.

For ads on Reels, MQi informs:

  • The video advert can be up to 60 seconds and should be in the full-screen, vertical format.
  • Include music or sound

Length: 5 sec-10 min long. We recommend a 15-sec maximum for both skippable and non-skippable options.

Adding an in-stream video advert to your existing feed or stories ad campaigns brings higher positive brand outcome:

  • 1.5x higher ad recall
  • 20% lower cost per ad recaller

Source: Based on median results from 10 internal Facebook Brand Lift studies

Instagram Reel Ad Example

2. Feeds

Show ads to people as they scroll through their feed.

Facebook News Feed:

Show ads as people scroll through their News Feed. Facebook News Feed is where we see a constant update of status, videos, photos and more.

Facebook News Feed Ad Example

Facebook Video Feeds:

Show ads between organic videos on Facebook Watch (video-only environment) and Facebook News Feed.

Facebook Video Feeds Ad Example

Facebook Marketplace:

Display your product/services ad in Facebook Marketplace. Facebook Marketplace lets people discover, buy, sell and deliver products from across the globe.

 Facebook Marketplace Ad Example

Instagram Explore:

Show video ads in Explore on Instagram. We go to Explore by clicking the magnifying glass icon on the Instagram home page.

When someone clicks a photo or video in Explore, they may see an Instagram video ad as they browse.

These ads appear similar to Instagram Feed and not in grid boxes of Explore.

Instagram Explore Video Ad Example

According to Ipsos (Facebook commissioned online survey, Oct-Nov 2020), Facebook and Instagram are the most popular video platforms for brands to connect with their audience.

3. Stories

Create ads in Facebook’s, Instagram’s and Messenger’s Stories.

According to a Facebook IQ source, a 12-nation survey on people who use stories saw 1 in 2 people witnessing more online sales as a direct result of it.

Stories format help people express themselves creatively. Shoppers can discover new products or tips on doing something, improving brand awareness.

62% of people surveyed said they have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in stories.
Source: Facebook Stories survey by Ipsos, Aug 2018

Facebook Stories Video Ad Example

4. Facebook Search Results

Show ads across Facebook and Facebook Marketplace search results.

Facebook stresses that ‘Relevance’ is the #1 factor for video viewers to complete a video ad. Production quality, content source and other factors are secondary in importance.

Facebook Search Results Video Ad Example

5. Facebook Instant Articles

Display ads in interactive articles on Facebook App. Your audience can see the ad when they view these articles.

Facebook Instant Articles Video Ad Example

6. Apps

Facebook Audience Network lets you target ads on external websites and apps.

Facebook Audience Network Advertising Example

Audience Network native, banner and interstitial:

Reach customers outside Facebook with native, banner and interstitial ads.

Audience Network rewarded videos:

Show ads to people in exchange for rewards in apps.

From a survey of people who use stories across the Facebook family of apps, 53% said they are making more online purchases.

Source: Facebook Stories survey by Ipsos, Aug 2018

These are the support placements for Facebook and Instagram Video advertising. We now learn about the specifications for these different Facebook and Instagram video ad placements.

One of the prerequisites for the designer and video editor before creating the video ad is to know its placement, size, specification. It will help them plan the pre-production better and create standout videos. So, let us get them straight here.

The following are the optimal sizes and specifications for various Facebook video advertising placements:

Facebook & Instagram Video Ad Specs - 2022

Businesses that follow Facebook’s creative guidelines can drive an additional 6.5 point brand lift.

Following are some recommendations for the Facebook video advertising content. Keep your ad text within the character limit stated in the table. So your ad appears with full ad text on the viewer's device.

Facebook Video Ad Text Recommendations - 2022

Note: Text exceeding the above characters is allowed, but may get truncated in the viewer’s screen.

Thus we touched down on the importance of Facebook video advertising, their different placements and specifications.

Our next part will bring you tips and insights on using Facebook video ads. We will reveal data from our years of campaign management experiences. Please share your opinion and what you want to learn in the comments. Stay tuned!