If you’ve been running ads on social media for a while now, you’re probably familiar with Facebook’s unique “less than 20% text” rule. This has been a slight hiccup for many marketing campaigns, adding yet another requirement that must be met before ads can be published. Recently, Facebook decided to abandon this rule, making it a suggestion rather than a requirement. Read below for the full update on Facebook’s ad changes.
Facebook’s Classic 20% Text Rule
Each social media platform has its own set of guidelines and requirements when it comes to advertising. In some cases, campaigns are designed with the channel in mind, however, in other cases, campaigns are created in advance and later tweaked to fit appropriate platforms. In this case, different rules for ad publications can be challenging to keep track of and can cause creative limitations.
One rule that has always stood out has been Facebook’s 20% text rule. While Facebook framed this as a suggestion to optimize performance, in reality, this was a requirement, as the ads manager would not allow ads to be published that included images with over 20% text. Considering that this requirement is not necessary for ads on other social media platforms, it has caused many marketing campaigns to shift and tweak their ads specifically to Facebook’s requirements.
Facebook’s Recent Changes to Ad Requirements
Recently, Facebook has updated its ad requirements, abandoning its classic 20% text rule. Instead of being a hard-set requirement to post ads, this is now merely a recommendation for optimized results. This change comes as a relief to many marketers who previously struggled with that rule. While it’s true that images are often more eye-catching than text, in certain cases, text can be very effective for ads.
One example of a successful ad that would likely utilize over 20% text would be a customer testimonial that speaks to the quality of a product or service offering. Testimonials can make for excellent advertisements, however, Facebook’s previous requirements had prevented these ads from being published until now. While it appears the Facebook algorithm will still favor image-based ads, this change gives more creative liberties to marketers and business owners moving forward.
74% of high-income earners are Facebook users, making it an excellent platform for many advertisers.
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