Optimize Creative with Flexible Formats, But I Have Questions

Meta is rolling out a new feature to help with creative optimization of your ads called Flexible Formats. It’s actually pretty interesting. But, documentation is limited and I have lots of questions.

I don’t have all of the answers here because I’ve yet to stumble on any official documentation from Meta. So, we’re left figuring this out on our own. It’s like a scavenger hunt!

Let’s walk through what we know from early experimentation as well as what is incredibly confusing.

Join me on this crazy ride…

Initial Setup

If you want to use Flexible Formats, there are some basic structural requirements.

Use the Traffic objective.

Yeah, I’m not a fan of the Traffic objective, but it’s the only way to access this feature right now.

Use the Website conversion location.

I’ve tried selecting all of the performance goalThe Performance Goal is chosen within the ad set and determines optimization and delivery. How you optimize impacts who sees your ad. Meta will show your ad to people most likely to perform your desired action. More options, and it doesn’t seem to matter.

When creating the ad, use Manual Upload as the creative source.

Flexible Format

Under Format, you should see a new option of “Flexible” in addition to Single Image or Video, CarouselA carousel allows you to display two or more scrollable images or videos in the same ad, with the ability to link each to a different URL. More, and Collection.

This means that Meta will “show your ad in the format we predict may perform best.” Admittedly, Meta’s documentation is limited at this stage. There’s also an initial “See What’s New” alert…

It reads:

Optimize your ad whenever it’s delivered with flexible formats. Use flexible formats to reduce creative fatigue and show your ad in the specific format we predict will perform best for each person.

Let’s walk through how that’s going to work.

Under Ad Creative, you can select up to 10 images or videos. It can be a combination of each.

I went ahead and selected five images and five videos.

Meta also seems to suggest you use the Optimize Creative For Each Person option.

This essentially applies Standard Enhancements you’re used to seeing from Advantage+ Creative.

When you’re done, you’ll be able to preview your ads by format.

You can see the carousels that are assembled for you.

Missing Pieces

At the moment, this seems incomplete. Here are a few reasons why…

1. What are the ideal dimensions?

It appears to be 9:16 for images and 1:1 for videos (when you edit it, those are the dimensions shown for “recommended”), but the image or video would need to be easily cropped to fit all other aspect ratios automatically without your input.

2. Customize by placementA placement is a location where your ad is shown. Examples include Facebook's mobile Feed, Messenger, Instagram feed, Audience Network, right-hand column, and more. More?

Related to the first one, I guess, but there doesn’t appear to be a way to customize the aspect ratios of the images and videos by placement. That makes this an enormous challenge since Meta then does all of the cropping automatically.

3. Copy Previews.

If you look at the previews above, they don’t include any copy (primary text or headlines). That’s strange since I provided five primary text and headline options.

4. Why Not Other ObjectivesWhen you create a campaign, one of the first things you'll do is select an objective. The campaign objective is your ultimate goal. Your selection will impact options, including optimization and delivery. Options include Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App Promotion, and Sales. More?

This actually doesn’t make much sense since it’s available for any performance goal when using the Traffic objective. In other words, you should be able to get access to the same creative optimization options when your performance goal is Maximize Link ClicksThe link click metric measures all clicks on links that drive users to properties on and off of Facebook. More, regardless of your objective. I assume this will come eventually.

But, most importantly…

Isn’t This Just Dynamic Creative?

Okay, this is weird. I know you’re thinking it because I am, too. This sounds a whole lot like Dynamic Creative.

Here’s how Meta describes it:

Provide creative elements, such as images and headlines, and we’ll automatically generate combinations optimized for your audienceThis is the group of people who can potentially see your ads. You help influence this by adjusting age, gender, location, detailed targeting (interests and behaviors), custom audiences, and more. More. Variations may include different formats, templates or audio based on one or more elements.

So, the minor difference there is that Dynamic Creative also includes the text, but Flexible Formats used with Optimize Creative For Each Person is basically the same thing.

Also, Dynamic Creative is turned off when I used Flexible Formats. Once I turned Dynamic Creative on, Flexible Formats was no longer available. But, you know. It felt pretty darn similar.

One primary difference is that Flexible Formats generates a carousel option. But if you were to press me on the differences beyond that, I’d struggle to make much sense.

My guess is that Flexible Formats will eventually replace Dynamic Creative. They can’t be used together, and they’re basically the same thing. It also makes slightly more sense since it’s all set from the ad rather than turning Dynamic Creative on from the ad setAn ad set is a Facebook ads grouping where settings like targeting, scheduling, optimization, and placement are determined. More.

Of course, this is where it would also be helpful to have official documentation from Meta on the benefits of Flexible Formats, but that doesn’t currently exist as far as I can tell.