Facebook Instant Experience – what is it and how to create it?

We all know that the key to advertising success is, among other things, an attractive creative. Of course, this is not the only determinant – appropriate targeting or choice of placement also counts – but here, we will focus on appearance. Facebook allows you to create ads based on a single photo or video, carousel and instant experience (collection). The latter, the most interactive type of ad, usually achieves a higher CTR than its static counterparts, so it is worth considering when creating an ad campaign. What is instant experience, how to create it and what should you keep in mind? We’ll talk about it later in the article.

What is flash material?

When browsing Facebook or Instagram on a smartphone, there are times when an ad will appear in our feed that we wouldn’t see in a browser on a computer. When we click on it, it will enlarge its format and fill the entire screen of our device. The main element of it will usually be a video or an image, and after scrolling through, we will see… Well, that’s right – it already depends on what the person creating the ad has added there. I’ll describe all the elements that can be there further on. From this passage, it is worth remembering that Instant Experience is an interactive ad designed for mobile devices, the appearance and elements of which can be adjusted depending on the goal we want to achieve. You may also come across the name „Collection” or „Canva” (Canva), which all refer to the same ad format.

What is worth knowing?

When planning a campaign based on this ad format, you must consider its limitations. 

Mobile devices

First of all, this is a format that displays only on mobile devices. It has been optimized for intuitiveness and loading speed on smartphones. When creating a campaign, in addition to the „collection”, it is a good idea to create other ad formats to display only on the browser (we will set this when targeting the campaign at the stage of creating an ad set).

Campaign objectives

In theory, Facebook allows us to use instant content for every campaign objective except application promotion and contact acquisition. You can use canvassing to focus on sales, activity, traffic, or recognition. The limitation is the number and design of the templates that Facebook assigns based on the campaign’s purpose. For example, the „Digital Flyers” template, which is used for campaigns with a recognition goal, will not be available for the traffic goal (more on templates later).

Locations

We’re used to being able to point almost freely to locations for our ads. We will have to do it without a taste, as the collection format severely restricts this configuration. We will only have the choice of:

• Facebook news
• Marketplace on Facebook
• News on Instagram
• Explore tab on Instagram

Additionally, using product tags or store location search in the instant experience will not be able to use it at all on Instagram.

How to create an instant experience ad?

As is usual with Facebook, there are two paths: manual and automatic (template-based). The former allows us to create any ad layout from among predefined components, while the latter „arranges” these components in a specific way (which we can’t change) to be most attractive to users. In both cases, we have to fill the components ourselves with content: images, videos, texts, headlines, and, in some cases, other content.

Flash content components

As I mentioned earlier, instant experiences consist of elements that Facebook calls „ingredients.” Arranging them in the right way is crucial if you want to get the user interested in the ad’s content. 

The components that use canvases are:

• Button: a clickable field that we can customize by choosing its shape, color, label and destination. Usually used at the end of an ad with a call to action in the content.
• Carousel: a set of images that will be displayed in a carousel format. We can add up to 10 images at most, and clicking on each image can lead to a different destination.
• Picture: a single graphic whose width will adjust to the device’s screen on which the ad is displayed. Often used as the first element in an ad to catch the viewer’s attention.
• Text block: a field that allows you to use longer text in the body of your ad. Basic formatting options are available here, such as the choice of font, size, colour or interline height. 
• Film: an option for those who want to use a movie instead of a single photo. The uploaded file should be in .mp4 or .mov format and less than two minutes long. The video should include sound and subtitles, allowing full content reception without sound.
• Header: an element that will always be at the very top of the ad. We can supplement it with text or a company logo of 882 x 66 pixels.
• Product set: Instant Experience can use products as long as we have previously configured the catalog. By selecting this element, we indicate the set (or several) products to be used in the material. If more products are in the set than the maximum number we set for display, they will appear alternately. We can customize the displayed information by selecting a photo overlay (presenting, for example, the price or the discount percentage) and setting the headline and product description (we indicate the product attribute here or fill in the text ourselves).

Instant results with Instant Experience!

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Create custom-flash-material

The path to creating a campaign that uses an instant experience differs from those that use a carousel or a single graphic. The only element here is to select the „Collection” format during configuration at the ad level. This will allow us to select the instant experience two segments lower.

After clicking the „+ Create New” option, a window will display the templates available for the selected target. We will be interested in the templates later, so we will indicate the option „Custom instant experience.” 

When we do this, we will be redirected to the instant experience wizard, where we can create our own creation using the abovementioned components. The preview option will allow us to upload the saved material to our smartphone so that we can preview the creation as users will see it.

The preview will be sent to the user.

Which elements and how we put in the material is up to us. However, do not create ads that are too long. Limiting the number of elements used is one of the good practices for instant experience 

Using-a-template-to-create-a-flashmaterial

The method that allows you to use a template looks similar to that of a custom material. The differences start at the stage after selecting the „+ Create New” option. Depending on the purpose we chose at the beginning, we will select one of the templates:

• Store (for goals: activity, recognition, traffic, sales);
• Lookbook (for purposes of: activity, recognition, traffic, and sales);
• Customer acquisition (for purposes of: activity, recognition, traffic, sales);
• Digital flyers (for purposes: recognition, sales);

Store

A format focusing on the catalog and products, aimed at increasing sales Depending on the configuration, we can present a graphic, an uploaded video or a dynamically created slideshow based on the product catalog in the first place. 

To complete we have fields:

• Product catalog;
• Set of products (including the ability to manually set the display order);
• Video / image;
• Content and destination of the button;

Lookbook

A more elaborate template, often used to promote a small number of products. A new type of component appears here: „Lifestyle image„, literally translated as „Lifestyle image„. On it, we should present the product or brand not as a product photo on a white background, but as its use or arrangement starring it.

Choosing Lookbook will complement:

• A picture or video on top of the creation;
• The header;
• Content under the headline;
• Product catalog (we can display prices or not);
• Lifestyle image (with an indication of the products that are displayed);
• Button and destination when clicked on;

Customer acquisition

A template focused on building brand recognition and customer acquisition. It features elements that we know from creating custom material, thus:

• Image or video;
• Text 1 (used as a header);
• Text 2;
• Button;
• Carousel;
• Text 3;
• Button 2;

I myself rarely use this template, it seems over-saturated with elements, and the required three texts are often too much for the average viewer (especially if they are too long). 

Digital flyers

Another template that uses a product catalog. Similar to Store, it is used to showcase the products we have in stock. Often used to advertise current promotions (by creating and then indicating the appropriate set of discounted products). 

The template allows us to choose the layout of the products, from four predefined options: a grid with two or three columns, a carousel and a horizontal scrolling list. As with the Store template, we can choose the information that will appear below the product images. When choosing this template, complete:

• Optional header;
• Film, image or slideshow;
• Catalog and product kit(s);
• Button and destination;

Summary

People who interact with paid Facebook campaigns on a daily basis confirm the high effectiveness of the Collection format. Users are more likely to stop at an ad in which more work has been put into it than a simple banner or text ad. Its attractive format attracts attention with different types of message (image, sound, text), and with the option to create custom materials, we can customize it to our needs. However, this does not mean that we should give up on other formats, such as a carousel, a single banner or an advertising video. Using instant experience will not always bring the expected results, and in many cases we simply won’t be able to use it.