Why Facebook Advertisements Should Be Mostly Text Free

June 6, 2015

Why Facebook Advertisements Should Be Mostly Text Free
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Why Facebook Advertisements Should Be Mostly Text FreeUsing social media to spread your marketing messages is a great option for brands that have target audience members active on the networks. More than one million businesses advertise on Facebook alone, supporting the claim that small businesses are finding the social platform to be an efficient medium for sharing brand information.
If you’ve ever advertised on Facebook before, you may have come across a few rules while browsing through their advertising policies that describe the limitations and restrictions on the type of content you use in your ads. The rule we found particularly mentionable is the one regarding the use of text in your images. (You may have even received a direct warning from Facebook about having too much text in your ads.)

Use Minimal Text in Your Facebook Advertisements

According to Facebook’s advertising policies, no more than 20% of your advertising image can include text. Text applies to any words or letters on your image, including logos, slogans, and other text overlays. Facebook says the reason this rule was put in place is because, “using images with minimal text makes your content more engaging and helps to ensure that people only see high-quality content on Facebook.”

The point of this rule isn’t to make it harder for companies to promote their brand. On the contrary, Facebook is proving that it wants you to produce effective advertisements by encouraging you to create visually driven and intriguing content.

Check Your Images with the Grid Tool

To avoid having to go through a rejection process after submitting your advertisement for review on Facebook, use their grid tool ahead of time and determine what percentage of your photo includes text.

The grid tool makes it really easy to see if too much of your image is covered in text.

  • Simply upload your image file,
  • click on the boxes with text,
  • and check that the percentage shown at the left is 20% or less.

As you can see from the sample image below that we’ve used in our Facebook advertising, only 12% of the image is covered in text, so we’re ready to rock!Facebook Grid Tool

What You Can Learn from Facebook’s Advertising Rule

1. Engage Viewers without Text

A picture’s worth a thousand words anyway, right? When on social media, your audience members are only skimming through content online anyway. Asking them to read a lot of text really slows them down. You’ll have a much better chance of catching their attention with a picture than with a bunch of words anyway. Even if you’re not paying to advertise on Facebook, remember to use minimal text in any image you share on social media networks.

2. Choose a Visual to Drive Your Message

Visuals dominate social media and are clearly better for engaging viewers than just posting text. Be sure to use images that speak for your brand and send a clear message without many accompanying words. Keep it simple. A powerful image with your logo in the corner of it will be much more effective in this arena than text. Once again, choosing visuals to drive your message is a best practice to follow on social media whether it’s a paid advertisement or just a post on your company Facebook wall.

3. Strive to Share High-Quality Content

One of the points Facebook made regarding the 20% text rule was that it would be a way to help get high-quality content out to Facebook users. This suggests that quality in social media advertising is synonymous with creative simplicity. It will take some time to find just the right visual to use in your advertising because it needs to speak a clear message and set a tone while remaining consistent with your brand personality. However, the extra effort you put in here is meant to enhance your end product and increase the effectiveness of your advertising.

Who Manifested This Madness?

Monica Maye Pitts

This fabulous human, that's who.

Monica Maye Pitts

Monica is the creative force and founder of MayeCreate. She has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with an emphasis in Economics, Education and Plant Science from the University of Missouri. Monica possesses a rare combination of design savvy and technological know-how. Her clients know this quite well. Her passion for making friends and helping businesses grow gives her the skills she needs to make sure that each client, or friend, gets the attention and service he or she deserves.

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