Meta has just started rolling out a new creative ad format – Flexible Format. Continue reading to find out what we know so far and how it might become part of your campaigns going forward.

What does the Flexible Format do? 

Meta stated that Flexible Format uses predictive learning to “show your ad in the format we predict may perform best.” This means its a way to vary the format in real-time to one that’ll work best for each audience member. 

How does it work?

Ensure the feature is only available with the Traffic campaign objective and the Dynamic Creative is turned off at the ad set level. When creating the ad, a prompt will ask you to select up to 10 images and videos (you can use a combination of both). Meta will then be able to work its magic and format versions of single image/video and carousel ads. You’ll then be able to preview these in Ad Manager. 

So how is this different from Dynamic Creative?

There are certainly obvious similarities between the two: you give Meta the ad elements and it remixes them to get the best performance. The main difference is the real-time generation that Flexible Format brings, creating single image/video and carousel ads automatically. So if someone is more receptive to carousel ads, Meta will create a carousel from the images and videos you’ve included. On the flip side, it’ll pick out a single image or video and create an ad from that, if that’s what’ll perform better. 

Dynamic Creative also has to be switched on at the ad set level, rather than on the ad level. As mentioned above, the Dynamic Creative will need to be switched off to use Flexible Format, so it seems that the two aren’t designed to work together. 

What do I need to worry about?

Meta has yet to roll out the feature to other campaign objectives besides Traffic, so as of now, you won’t be able to use Flexible Format for conversions. We expect that this is the next logical step for the feature, so we’ll keep you posted. 

Another issue is currently, there isn’t an option to customise placements or any official guidance on aspect ratios. This means creatives may not fit, as Meta crops images and videos automatically. Therefore, the best option seems to be ‘Square Size’, due to the sizing for carousels already.

What will this mean for me? 

Flexible Format does pose some interesting opportunities for campaign and ad setup as the feature develops further. There’s potential that this tool could be used to limit the number of ads within an ad set. Due to adapting multiple creatives within a single ad rather than splitting them out into individual ads using different formats. 

This is another feature that, alongside the likes of Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns, shows Meta’s push towards automation powered by AI. The idea is to give marketers like you more time to focus on the important stuff.

Need help improving your campaign strategy and developing winning creatives? We can help. Get in touch today.