Facebook offers a plethora of options when it comes to advertising. This includes ad formats, of which there are six:

• Video: Empowering your audience through motion pictures is one of the most used ad formats. Video can range from full motion, stop motion, GIFs, and more.

• Photo: Simple yet effective. Photos are powerful in telling stories. 

• Slideshow: Slideshow ads use a series of pictures to tell a story. These ads can be created one of two ways: editing photos together and uploading them as a video, or using the Slideshow tool in Facebook Ads Manager.

• Carousel: A Carousel ad differs from a Slideshow ad since it is a series of swipeable photos, each with different captions and destination URLs.

• Dynamic: Most platforms offer Dynamic ads, and Facebook is no different. Dynamic ads are those that appear to users who have previously expressed some kind of interest in your product or service.

• Canvas: Canvas Ads are full-screen video ads that offer users a more immersive ad experience. These ads can include text, video, and calls-to-action.

• Lead Form: A Lead Form Ad is one that, when clicked, prompts the user to fill out a form. For the form itself, you can either use a template from Facebook or create your own with information that pertains to your business.

Facebook Ads is also very advanced in its targeting options. Businesses are given the opportunity to target a specific audience using these characteristics:

• Location
• Age
• Gender
• Connections and Friends
• Relationship Status
• Interests
• Language(s) Spoken
• Level/Place of Education
• Job Role 

There are also two different ways to target audiences using all of this information:

• Broad Category Targeting: Broad Category Targeting is used to engage with larger audiences. Examples of broad categories include hobbies (such as painting), interests (such as comedy movies), or product markets (such as sports equipment). Since these categories are not specific, they have the ability to include more people.

• Precise Interest Targeting: This kind of targeting uses information from user profiles, such as specific likes and interests, to narrow down the exact audiences that would have the highest likelihood of actually engaging with your brand. These interests also often stem from broad categories. For example, someone who enjoys cooking could be precisely targeted using their interest in the Food Network Magazine.

Like most web advertising services, Facebook’s comes equipped with an analytics tool that allows business owners and ad managers to track ad performance and engagement. To learn more about Facebook Analytics, visit this page.