By Lauren Reed, Intern

Facebook is a great place to spread awareness. According to Pew Research Center, 69% of Americans have a Facebook account and 49% of those users log on multiple times a day. Ads on Facebook are easy to make via Facebook’s ad program and can be cheaper than more traditional media advertising such as television or print. Through Facebook’s algorithm, ads can receive a specific targeted audience. This can be tailored through Facebook’s audience selection tools to get the best results.

Facebook ads have six formats: photo, video, stories, messenger, carousel, slideshow, collection and playables. One of the most important aspects of all of these formats is the images used in the ads. People are drawn to appealing visuals, so selecting the perfect one for an ad is essential.

Before planning an ad on Facebook, the guidelines that Facebook provides for advertisements should be reviewed. Facebook does not allow ads that violate its community standards, infringe upon a third party, have poor grammar or have attributes such as buttons that do not function for the said purpose in the ad. Ads must be a relevant and accurate representation of the company, product, service, or brand that is being portrayed. Facebook requires that images for ads must be uploaded in a JPG or PNG format and have higher quality. The exact quality of these photos depends on the specific ad format, but generally, Facebook recommends that the image resolution be 1080 x 1080 pixels.

Though the image resolution is important, one must also consider other aspects that make a Facebook ad great. One essential aspect of an ad is a call to action. This could be pulling someone to take a survey or raising awareness of the brand. The Facebook ad, including the image used, should give the audience a good idea of the next step to be taken. Additionally, the ad’s audience must be established and taken into consideration when choosing an image. This post from hotmart.com gives a good example of how keeping the target audience in mind in the ad image that humanizes and appeals to the target audience can be successful.

Additionally, the specific colors in an ad image must be considered. Bright colors attract the eye, but these colors must also be consistent with the brand. Facebook ads easily allow the audience to view the brand’s page from the initial ad, so these must be consistent. This also includes executable mandatories, such as company logos. Above all, the audience should not confuse the ad for a rival company’s ad.

Finally, one must make the decision whether to take a photo or use a stock image. A stock image can be professional, clean, easy and cheap. There are many places to look for these images that do not have a copyright such as Pixabay.com, stockfreeimages.com, and istockphoto. Before using one of these, one should make sure that these images have not been used multiple times through an image search. Having a duplicate image can be avoided by taking a photo through hiring a professional or with a personal camera. The blog from CXL discusses the benefits of not using stock photos and how to take professional-looking photos using good equipment. When posting ad photos for a specific, unique product, having unique photos can establish the qualities that set this thing apart.