Facebook has often been a company that is working on the bleeding edge of technology advances, especially when it comes to advancements in advertising and marketing. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Facebook has once again pushed the envelope with new
Facebook Canvas Ads
In the simplest terms, Facebook Canvas Ads are effectively an interactive advertisement, designed specifically for viewing on mobile devices. This new type of advertisement is designed to appeal to the audience by giving the audience more control over what they see and when they see it. A well crafted Facebook Canvas Ad will allow a person to walk their own unique path from the beginning of the ad to the end, and never be bored while doing so.
How Facebook Canvas Ads Work
Facebook Canvas Ads are designed much like an animated movie. Creators of these ads start with a storyboard of images and video that are designed to tell a story. Unlike a traditional video advertisement, though, the story doesn’t simply unfold without audience participation. Instead, the person watching the ad has the ability to control the speed at which information is revealed and even to further explore parts of the advertisement that they find compelling. In many ways it is like owning a DVR for your digital advertisements.
Facebook Canvas Ads are specifically designed for mobile devices, taking advantage of the touch screen controls, motion detection, and screen size of standard mobile devices. This new type of advertisement is not available for traditional laptop or desktop computers.
Facebook Canvas Ad Features
Facebook Canvas Ad features are incredibly captivating, and even that may be understating how impressive and cool some of these new features are. See for yourself:
Scrolling: Facebook Canvas Ads are designed to allow the viewer to scroll through them at their own pace. This means that this type of ad respects the time constraints of the viewer and allows the viewer to focus on specific details. It even allows the viewer to “rewind” easily if they missed something important. Furthermore, sections of the ad can allow both vertical and horizontal scrolling, giving individual sections breadth and depth.
Video and Still Images: Facebook Canvas Ads seamlessly combine video and still image. Video interwoven into the advertisement will start up automatically when the viewer reaches that point and stop automatically when that point is passed.
Tilt Controls: One of the most innovative ideas used in Facebook Canvas Ads is the tilt controls. For certain sections of the advertisement, the viewer can tilt the mobile device in order to see more of an image. It is like looking at the sky through a telescope and then moving the telescope to see different stars. This allows the advertisement to include landscape images or expanded information or maybe even hide a few Easter eggs in the advertisement.
Creating a Facebook Canvas Ad
Creating a Facebook Canvas Ad is reasonably simple, but can still be rather time consuming. Storyboarding alone can take hours and then you still have to upload all the images and implement all the tools. Furthermore, truly great advertisements require creativity and wit in order to be engaging and properly take advantage of this impressive new tool. If you aren’t personally a digital artist, Ensuite Media can create a compelling advertisement for your business that truly takes advantage of all the possibilities inherent in the the new Facebook Canvas Ad.
