Facebook Advertising 
Navigating the labyrinth of Facebook ad placement can feel like wandering through a maze with no end in sight. With so many options to choose from, how do you know which placements will maximize your ROI?
In this blog, we’ll unravel the different types of placements available, how to change ad placement settings, and show you how to measure the effectiveness of each placement.
What is Facebook ad placement?
Facebook ad placement refers to where your ads appear across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and the Audience Network.
Your campaign objective will influence which placements are available to you.
Each placement type also has distinct requirements for image size and format, making it crucial to decide on your ad placements before designing your creatives.
A simple rule of thumb: Facebook and Instagram placements give the most bang for your buck.
Choosing the right Facebook ad placements allows your ads to appear where your audience is most likely to engage, optimizing your CTR, and ROAS and making every dollar count.
Which Facebook ad placement options should you choose?
The answer is: always Manual placements.
Facebook sets Advantage+ Placements as the default option, but we highly recommend you switch to Manual Placements. Here’s why:
1. Advantage+ Placements
Within your ad budget, this option lets Facebook distribute your ads across all available placements. However, this approach may lead to irrelevant or inappropriate ad distributions.
At Nestscale, we discovered that Facebook uses Advantage+ placements to maximize its flexibility and fill ad inventory gaps. This means your ads may appear in low-value places, hampering your ROAS.
2. Manual Placements
Opting for manual placements gives you full control over where your ads appear and where they will bring the most customers and revenues.
Facebook offers an option to run a 4-day A/B test but we also recommend turning this off as it can double your ad spend for much less effectiveness.
Types of Facebook ad placement
Facebook offers around 20 ad placements, which can be tricky to navigate. Don’t worry—we’ll simplify their characteristics and provide practical advice on when to choose each one.
Facebook & Instagram feed
These ads appear in desktop and mobile feeds, blending seamlessly with organic content from friends, pages, and groups. Their ad sizes can be either square (1:1) images or vertical (4:5) videos.
Due to their popularity and effectiveness, feed ads are highly competitive and can be expensive in terms of CPM.
However, 10 out of 10 times, DO select feed ads.
Feed ads have the highest CTR and CVR for the lowest cost. They are also ideal for targeting the top of the sales funnel due to their high traffic.
Feed ads look like regular Facebook and Instagram posts, so they appear less intrusive to users. However, they can still draw attention easily due to their size.
Also, Instagram is highly visual and frequented by younger consumers, so ensure your Instagram ads are visually engaging and creative.
Facebook profile feed ad, which appears under Facebook feed, will show your ads in between posts of a person’s profile.
This option is only available for veteran advertisers and we recommend not using it even if available as it does not result in much reach or conversion.
Facebook Marketplace
Marketplace ads appear when users browse or view the Marketplace home page.
They function similarly to Google ads but are more budget-friendly.
You should use this ad placement if:
- You are a local service and brick-and-mortar business: most marketplace products are bought and sold locally.
- You are an E-commerce selling low to mid-priced items: people often search the marketplace for cheap deals rather than luxuries.
- You want to target users with purchase intent.
Just note that Facebook Marketplace has fewer users compared to established platforms like Amazon and eBay, so there are fewer impressions here.
Facebook video feeds
Facebook video feeds are ad placements where video ads appear in feeds dedicated to video content across the platform. This includes:
- The Video tab on Facebook
- All video feed environments on Facebook. When users tap an organic video in their feed, additional video suggestions may appear in a scrollable feed of videos.
Video feed ads are ideal for showcasing product features, demonstrating usage, and creating a more immersive brand experience that can drive higher engagement and conversions.
Products with visual appeal, such as fashion items, electronics, and beauty products, can particularly benefit from this placement.
Facebook right column
This placement is likely the least used, as it’s only available for desktop users.
Given that most Facebook users access the platform via mobile, this placement generally offers limited reach compared to mobile feed ads.
Right-column ads are smaller, less prominent, and do not include CTA buttons, which often results in a lower click-through rate compared to other placements.
There are still cases where e-commerce stores should use Facebook for this ad placement.
Facebook right column ads have the lowest cost-per-click and are fixed in the right column, ensuring they remain visible while users scroll through their newsfeeds.
Instagram explore & Instagram explore home
The Instagram Explore home is a section where users discover photos and videos related to their interests.
When a user clicks on a post in Explore, they are shown additional similar posts. Your ads will appear among these recommended posts.
Given that over 50% of Instagram users use Explore to find new brands each month, it’s a valuable placement to consider.
Messenger inbox
When choosing this placement, your ads will appear between your audience’s Messenger conversations.
When someone clicks on the ad, they will see a detailed view with a CTA button within Messenger.
We recommend turning this off as few Facebook advertisers see significant volume from Messenger anyway.
Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger stories
This option places your ads between users’ Stories on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger.
Note that Messenger stories can only be used with Instagram stories or Facebook feed placements.
E-commerce stores should use Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger Stories for time-sensitive promotions, product launches, and engaging, visually-driven content.
These full-screen, immersive ads are perfect for capturing users’ attention quickly and encouraging immediate action, making them ideal for flash sales and special offers.
Facebook and Instagram reels
Facebook and Instagram Reels are short-form video ads featured in a dedicated Reels feed.
They are ideal for engaging, creative content that captures attention quickly and reaches a wide audience, making them effective for brand visibility and engagement.
E-commerce stores should use Facebook and Instagram Reels ads to engage audiences with short, dynamic videos, particularly when targeting a younger, mobile-centric demographic.
These ads are perfect for showcasing product demos, promotions, or behind-the-scenes content in an entertaining and immersive format.
Facebook in-stream videos & ads on Facebook reels
These are mid-roll video ads shown to users watching videos and reels from selected creators and publishers on Facebook.
Available only on mobile, you can run video ads ranging from 5 to 15 seconds.
Facebook enforces strict guidelines for creators and publishers, ensuring your ads won’t appear alongside inappropriate content.
These two placements can be omitted as they tend to have lower conversion rates and smaller inventory compared to other ad placements.
Users generally rarely engage with these kinds of ads as they interrupt the viewing experience
That said, Facebook in-stream videos & ads on Facebook reels have their use in brand awareness and other top-of-funnel marketing campaigns because they are non-skippable.
Facebook & Instagram search results
The search results ad placement displays your ads on Facebook and Instagram’s search results pages, including both the general and Marketplace search engines. These ads can be videos, photos, collections, or carousels.
This placement is ideal for targeting high-intent shoppers already interested in what you offer, driving relevant traffic to your store.
Be aware that this placement isn’t standalone; you must run a Facebook News Feed ad to use it.
Additionally, the search results pages often have numerous options from various sellers, making it easy for your ad to get lost or overlooked.
Messenger sponsored messages
This option is available only for the Message objective.
Unlike the Messenger inbox placement found in the feeds category, sponsored messages allow you to create ads that appear as direct messages.
Your ads will be delivered directly to users in their Messenger app if they have an existing conversation with you.
We don’t recommend this placement due to its high cost, which may not offer the best return on investment for merchants.
Audience network
The Audience Network consists of third-party apps and websites where your ads can be displayed.
Within the Audience Network, you have a few placement options:
- Native, banner, and interstitial ads: These are classic display placements similar to Google display advertising.
- Rewarded video ads: These ads appear as videos that users can watch in exchange for rewards within an app.
We generally do not recommend using this placement option as it does not provide the high reach and engagement found on more established platforms, which can limit the effectiveness of your ads.
How to measure Facebook ad placement effectiveness?
To determine which placements are best for you, you need to measure your ads’ performance continuously. The basic metrics within your Meta Ads Manager only tell whether your ads are reaching your customers, not whether customers are converting, and only ads on Meta are shown.
For a more comprehensive understanding of how your ads affect your store’s performance, NestAds offers a powerful solution.
Our marketing attribution feature consolidates data from Facebook, TikTok, and Google, giving you a complete view of your ad performance. NestAds highlights crucial metrics such as ROAS, CPA, and conversion rates, helping you assess and optimize your campaigns.
FAQ
How to change/remove ad placement on Facebook?
To remove placements in Facebook ads, go to the ad set level in Ads Manager, select the ad set you want to edit, and navigate to the Placements section.
Choose Manual Placements, then uncheck the placements you want to remove before saving your changes.
Facebook ad placement size?
Facebook ad placement sizes vary depending on the type of placement.
For example, images for the Facebook Feed are typically 1080 x 1080 pixels or 1080 x 1350 pixels, while images for Facebook Stories are best at 1080 x 1920 pixels.
Always check Facebook’s current ad guidelines for specific size requirements for each placement.
Google Advertising 
