In brief
Placements are the places where your ad can appear: feed, stories, short videos (Reels), right column, messaging… Formats are the types of creative: image, video, carousel.
Why it matters
The same image doesn’t look good everywhere: a vertical ad fills a story screen, a square ad suits the feed. Poorly chosen or poorly adapted placements lose you clicks.
Placements: automatic or manual
- Automatic placements (recommended at the start): Meta spreads delivery across all available placements to get the best cost.
- Manual placements: you choose the placements yourself. Useful for excluding a placement or imposing a format.
Formats and aspect ratios
| Format | Use | Recommended ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Image | Simple message | 1:1 or 4:5 (feed) |
| Short video | Demonstration, atmosphere | 9:16 (stories, Reels) |
| Carousel | Several products or steps | 1:1 |
The steps
- In the ad set, choose automatic or manual placements.
- In the ad, choose the format (image, video, carousel).
- Add your media and your texts (primary text, headline, description, button).
- Open the preview for each placement and check: readable text, nothing cropped.
- Adapt the vertical version if needed (a 9:16 crop).
Pitfalls to avoid
- Text too close to the edge: it disappears behind a story’s buttons.
- A blurry or too small image.
- Limiting yourself to a single placement for no reason: the cost often goes up.
- Not checking the preview.
Key takeaways
- Start with automatic, then adjust.
- Adapt the visual to each format.
- Check all the previews.
Practice in TRIALO
In the Ad step, choose a visual then switch between placements in the preview: feed, story, short video, right column.