There are several variations of “clicks” found within your Facebook ad reports. Knowing — and not knowing — what they mean could vastly impact how you view results. Do you know the difference between Facebook clicks?

After reading this post, you will have a clear understanding of the meaning of the following:

• Clicks (All)
• Link Clicks
• Outbound Clicks
• Landing Page Views
• CPC
• CTR
• Unique Clicks (all types)

Ready? Let’s roll…

Where to Find This Info

Facebook has improved significantly in this area. You may not even realize how easy it is to find this info.

If you’re ever uncertain about what a Facebook ads metric means, simply hover over the header row in your ad report.

As you can see, the hover definition is pretty good. But there also tends to be a “See More” link that provides even more info. Click that.

Now you’ll see a really nice pop-over window that includes info like the following:

• Brief definition
• Explanation of how the metric is used
• Explanation of how the metric is calculated
• List (with links) of related metrics
• Links to further related reading

That’s thorough!

I’ll pull the definitions from this information, but I’ll abbreviate and clarify the best I can as well.

Now let’s take a closer look at these similar “click” metrics…

Clicks (All)

Quite simply, this measures the number of clicks on your ads. Any click. Easy.

Clicks to any of the following destinations on a Facebook post or ad would be considered a Click (All)…

• Link clicks (includes on Facebook and outbound)
• Clicks to business Page profile or profile picture
• Post reactions (likes, loves, etc.)
• Comments or shares
• Clicks to expand media (photos, videos) to full screen
• Clicks to take actions identified as your campaign objective (such as liking your Page for a Page engagement campaign)

It’s everything. These clicks add up in a hurry.

This is a good way to measure total engagement on your ads. However, it’s not where you should be looking when wondering how many people clicked through to your website.

Link Clicks

Facebook defines Link Clicks as “the number of clicks on links within the ad that led to destinations or experiences, on or off Facebook.” So, while Link Clicks are more focused than the Clicks (All) metric, they still include clicks on any links, whether they take people on or off of Facebook.

Clicks to any of the following destinations would be considered a Link Click…

• Websites
• App stores or app deep links
• Click to call
• Click to message
• Maps/directions
• Facebook Canvas
• Facebook lead forms
• Facebook Marketplace
• Playable experiences
• Videos that launch the Watch & Browse experience
• Videos hosted by another website (like YouTube or Vimeo)

The Link Clicks metric does a better job than Clicks (All) of isolating higher quality clicks that are related to your objective. However, remember that this still includes clicks to destinations on Facebook as well.

CPC (Cost Per Link Click)

Now that you know how a Link Click is defined, there’s no reason to go much further here. Instead, I wanted to reinforce this.

When you track CPC as a key performance indicator, do you realize what clicks are included? Are you okay with the fact that this includes many low-quality clicks that never result in the loading of an external web page?

Advertisers focusing on this metric when measuring the success of an ad sending people to a landing page are making a mistake. And, more than likely, they are creating a very large gap between CPC and Cost Per Conversion.

Outbound Clicks

Not surprisingly, an Outbound Click would be reported any time you click a link that takes you away from Facebook.

Clicks to any of the following destinations would be considered an outbound click…

• Websites
• Your app in an app store
• App deep links

This should be your focus when reporting clicks to your landing page, right? Not necessarily.

Here’s why…

Landing Page Views

The newest of the click metrics, Landing Page Views measures the number of times a person clicked on an ad link and then successfully loaded the destination web page or Instant Experience. The primary requirement of Landing Page Views is that you must have the Facebook pixel installed.

While this is similar to Outbound Clicks, there’s one very important difference: Page load. Outbound Clicks don’t require the click to result in a full load of the page you’re going to, whereas Landing Page Views do.

This may seem like a minor detail, but it’s an important one. Someone may click on an outbound link from your Facebook post, but they may immediately abandon the loading website. If the site doesn’t load long enough for the Facebook pixel to fire, Facebook doesn’t know that the page was loaded.

Why may this happen? Maybe the person clicking has a poor internet connection. Or they click frequently and accidentally.

This matters. It’s about quality. A click on an outbound link lacks value if it doesn’t result in a page load. Landing Page Views provide some confirmation to the value of that click.

CTR

There are two primary versions of CTR when it comes to measuring rate of engagement with a Facebook ad: Outbound and Link Click.

Once again, we’ve covered both already. Just know that Link Click-Through Rate is going to include the click rate on all links while Outbound CTR will include clicks only on Outbound links.

Link Click-Through Rate may provide a better measure of engagement while Outbound CTR is a clearer measure of rate clicks related to an outbound landing page you are promoting.

Unique Clicks

Each of the clicks discussed above also has a “Unique” variation…

• Unique Link Clicks
• Unique Outbound Clicks
• Unique CTR
• Unique Outbound CTR
• Unique Clicks (All)
• Cost Per Unique [Link Click, Outbound Click, or Click (all)]

People often ask why Unique Link Clicks will be less than Link Clicks. Understand that “Unique” is measuring the number of people who performed an action.

For example, you may have 38 Link Clicks and 33 Unique Link Clicks. This is because there were 33 unique people who created those 38 link clicks. In other words, some of those clicks were performed multiple times by the same person or people.

Should You Alter Expectations?

Maybe you’ve been using Link Clicks and Cost Per Link Click when measuring success of ads that send users to your website or landing page, thinking that all clicks were on your promoted link. Using Landing Page Views and Cost Per Landing Page Views likely makes more sense.

Keep in mind, however, that there may be some shock when you make the switch. If you previously thought you were getting a good price while using Link Clicks, your evaluation may change when seeing that you get fewer Landing Page Views. The Cost Per Landing Page View will then, of course, also be higher.

It’s good. You should know the truth. But you may also need to adjust expectations.

In Summary

Let’s recap in order of highest volume down to least.

Clicks (All) includes all of the clicks we discussed in this post, whether on links or not.

Link Clicks includes clicks on any link, whether directing people on or off of Facebook.

Outbound Clicks are clicks that direct people away from Facebook.

Landing Page Views are recorded only after a click results in the load of a web page and Facebook pixel.

Unique [Clicks (All), Link Clicks, Outbound Clicks, Landing Page Views] focuses on the number of unique people who performed clicks.

All of these metrics have a purpose. The Clicks (All) metric is good for measuring total engagement on a post or ad while Landing Page Views (and even more precisely, Unique Landing Page Views) is best for measuring quality clicks to an external website or landing page.

Compare them yourself. Go ahead and customize columns in your ad reports…

Then find all of the “click” metrics discussed in this post. How do they compare? What gaps are there between them? How might you explain the difference?

Your Turn

Which click metrics do you rely on when measuring results?

Let me know in the comments below!

The post The Difference Between Facebook Clicks appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

What are the Facebook image dimensions for ads and pages now? They’re constantly changing. It’s why I need to keep creating new infographics!

All of the dimensions and ad specs below are updated to include the latest changes to Facebook page design and ad units. Note that specs include both the dimensions as they appear and the dimensions that Facebook recommends you use.

Enjoy!

[Tweet “UPDATED! All of the Facebook image dimensions and ad specs in one awesome infographic!”]

The post All Facebook Image Dimensions and Ad Specs [2016] appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

NOTE: This infographic has been updated! Get the 2015 version here!

Want this infographic as a PDF? Subscribe below!

What is the size of the Timeline Cover Photo? What is the recommended upload size of a link thumbnail? How do the dimensions differ for an uploaded image depending upon whether it’s on the Timeline, desktop News Feed, sidebar or mobile?

The truth is that it’s impossible to keep up with it all. That’s why I had this handy infographic created!

Like this infographic? Share it! Hover over the graphic to share to Pinterest. Or you can snag the embed code at the bottom of this page to share it on your website.

[Tweet “UPDATED: Every Facebook advertising and marketing image dimension in one place! Download the PDF here…”]

The post All Facebook Image Dimensions: Timeline, Posts, Ads [Infographic] appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Facebook advertising can be a bit complicated. There are endless terms and features that you need to know about, and this makes learning advertising on Facebook a challenge.

That’s why I created this Facebook ads glossary, and now why I’m excited to share my first (professionally done) infographic!

Bookmark this and keep this baby handy for later!

This is just one in a series of infographics that I’ve published lately that will help simplify Facebook marketing for you:

• Ultimate Guide: Facebook Insights Glossary of Terms [Infographic]
• All Facebook Image Dimensions: Timeline, Posts, Ads [Infographic]

Like this infographic? Share it! Hover over the graphic to share to Pinterest. Or you can snag the embed code at the bottom of this page to share it on your website.

Enjoy!

[Tweet “Check out this COMPLETE glossary of every Facebook ads term and feature you’ll ever need…”]

The post Facebook Ads Glossary: Reference of All Important Terms [Infographic] appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Facebook link thumbnail images are now bigger than ever. However, it’s important that you understand what all specifications are to optimize your posts for advertising.

The image above covers the specs for Desktop News Feed only. Here’s a quick reference that’ll help you figure out all Facebook ad sizes, including ideal dimensions for Desktop News Feed, Mobile and Sidebar for nine different ad types.

[NOTE: This data is pulled from Facebook’s Ads and Sponsored Stories Guide.]

A Few Thoughts

Why does Facebook recommend a 1200 pixel width for all images? One would assume the largest image for each unit’s placement would be sufficient. But the larger size is likely for optimizing the full screen image view (think photo and video viewer).

It’s also odd that Facebook features square images and videos for all placements, but then they recommend a 4:3 aspect ratio for photos and 16:9 for videos. The 16:9 makes sense for videos (it’s standard for viewing), but the photos recommendations is a bit odd.

Happy optimization!

The post Facebook Image Dimensions for 9 Ad Types Across Desktop and Mobile appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

[NOTE: Go here for a full reference of image dimensions of nine ad types across desktop and mobile!]

Facebook has made a change to link thumbnail image dimensions that will make them much more prominent.

This is a huge change. It’s an important change for any marketers looking to drive traffic to their websites. Did I mention this is a big deal?

Following is an overview of dimensions and text guidelines and limitations associated with Desktop News Feed, Mobile and Sidebar ads for link shares.

[Note: Much of this was pulled from Facebook’s latest update to their Ads and Sponsored Stories Guide.]

[Tweet “When done right, Facebook link thumbnails take up the width of News Feed. Here’s the trick…”]

1.91:1 Aspect Ratio

This is the main thing you need to know. The width of your image needs to be 1.91 times the height. When this is the case, it will scale nicely across Desktop News Feed, Mobile and Sidebar.

That’s the biggest change here, beyond the larger size for News Feed and Mobile. The aspect ratio is now consistent, no matter where you see the image.

Facebook recommends a pretty ridiculous 1200×627 pixel image. In most cases, unless you have a high definition image, this won’t be possible.

So your main goal should be an image that fits the largest dimensions possible. In this case, it’s mobile.

Desktop News Feed

Following are Facebook’s recommendations:

• Text: 500 Characters Max (remainder truncated)
• Title: 1-2 Lines
• Domain: 1 Line
• Description: 2-3 Lines
• Image Size: 400×209 pixels

If the thumbnail image isn’t at least 400×209 pixels, Facebook will resize it to 154×154 or 90×90. That’s a big difference!

Mobile

Following are Facebook’s recommendations:

• Text: 110 Characters Max (remainder truncated)
• Title: 1-2 Lines
• Domain: 1 Line
• Description: Up to 1 Line
• Image Size: 560×292 pixels

If the thumbnail image isn’t at least 560×292 pixels, Facebook will resize it to 100×100.

I know what you’re thinking: Why is the mobile image bigger than the Desktop News Feed? My assumption is that this is first because of tablets. The second reason would be due to no mobile sidebar.

Sidebar

Following are Facebook’s recommendations:

• Text: 90 Characters Max (remainder truncated)
• Link Title: 25 Characters Max
• Domain: 1 Line
• Image Size: 100×72 pixels

In case you’re wondering, no… There are no changes here!

What This Means for You

First, it’s time to start optimizing the featured image that goes along with your articles and blog posts! The width of the featured images in my blog posts has been 700 pixels since my redesign. Therefore, I am now going to a 700×366 pixel standard size.

Second, you should optimize any link posts that you plan to turn into an ad. As stated earlier, the image needs to be at least 560×292 pixels. You should also get to the point in your text within the first 90 characters (or more if you won’t promote on the sidebar).

What Do You Think?

What do you think of this change? For quite a while now, I’ve been telling you to stop sharing links as photo shares or text updates. Now, you shouldn’t think twice!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Facebook Link Thumbnail Image Dimensions [Reference] appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

When marketers discuss Facebook Insights measurements, there are two words that cross their lips most often: Reach and Engagement.

Meanwhile, there are two terms that go completely ignored. They’re nowhere to be found within the web version of Facebook Insights. They’re only found within Insights exports.

Consumers and Consumptions.

The reason few marketers discuss these metrics could be partially due to the fact that so few understand what they mean. And Facebook can be blamed for this, not only because the definition isn’t incredibly clear but because there is another term that is defined in nearly exact terms which causes significant confusion.

What are Consumers and Consumptions?

Within Insights export files, Facebook defines Consumers as follows:

The number of unique users who clicked anywhere in your post. Clicks generating stories are included in “Other Clicks.”

If you dig into the individual tabs for Consumers and Consumptions within the exports, you’ll find columns for Link Clicks, Other Clicks, Photo Views and Video Plays.

The Page Level export adds one other point of clarity:

Stories generated without clicks on page content (e.g., liking the page in Timeline) are not included.

I’m going to look at this a bit more closely in a minute, but the main thing to understand here is that Consumptions measure any click on Page content, whether it generates a Story or not.

Based on the definitions above, the following are considered Consumptions of a Page post:

• Link Clicks
• Photo Views
• Video Plays
• Post Comments
• Post Likes
• Post Shares

The clicks above are those that Facebook measures and tracks in Insights. But based on the definition of “clicked anywhere,” we’re not covering everything here.

Here is the data within an Insights export. Note that items like comments, likes and shares are included within “Other Clicks.”

One can assume this also includes:

• Clicking in the Comment box, but not commenting
• Expanding to view comments
• Clicking a user profile link
• Clicking a tag
• Clicking in a way that does not yield results (??)
• Reporting or marking a user comment as spam (??)
• Reporting or marking the post as spam (??)

As you can see, I’m not completely clear here. But Facebook does say that it includes “clicks anywhere.” So if we are to take that definition literally, it should include every item listed above, including when our post is hidden or reported as spam.

Even though there’s some ambiguity here, it’s quite clear that these measurements are extremely important and need to be monitored by marketers. I believe strongly that they are far more important than the almighty “Reach” metric, which gets far more attention (more on that later).

Consumers vs. Engaged Users Confusion

Now the problem. Here is Facebook’s definition for Engaged User, first from post level:

The number of unique users who clicked anywhere in your posts.

And now Page level:

The number of unique users who engaged with your Page. Engagement includes any click or story created.

Uh… okay.

Consumers are people who “click anywhere” within your posts or Page content. Engaged Users are people who “clicked anywhere in your posts.” So what the heck is the difference?

I reached out to several knowledgeable people in Facebook marketing who work closely with these stats, and I couldn’t get a clear and definitive answer from anyone.

In fact, it seems that the answer has changed over time. Based on an article by Josh Constine for InsideFacebook back in 2011, it appears that Consumptions once meant “The number of people who clicked on any of your content without generating a story.” That is definitely no longer the case.

But I believe the answer lies within the extra line that exists in the Consumers definition for Page level metrics. One more time…

Stories generated without clicks on page content (e.g., liking the page in Timeline) are not included.

This stumped me at first, but it now makes sense. Engagement includes all clicks and all stories generated about your Page. Consumption includes all clicks, whether they result in a story or not.

Clear as mud?

This is the distinction: Engagement includes stories generated that were not the result of a click within your content. Consumption does not. As a result, Engagement is always equal or higher.

Now, this is not confirmed, but I believe the following would be examples of stories that did not result from a click on Page content:

• User post that tags/mentions your Page and was not written on your Timeline
• Checkin executed via mobile device without navigating to your Page
• Liking your Page from a user generated story — not from your Page or Page content
• ??

The example Facebook gives of “liking the page in Timeline” doesn’t clarify things for me. Whose Timeline? The Page or a user? It raises more questions than it provides answers.

And I know there are items missing from my list here since none of them are on the post level. I can’t think of a single example of a story generated from engagement with a Page post that is not the result of a click. Can you??

While it certainly would be helpful to know this, we at least now understand the difference between an Engaged User and a Consumer. They are identical in that both include any click within your Page or post, whether they do or do not result in a story. The only difference is that Engaged User also includes stories that weren’t the result of a click.

So the real question is this: Why in the world are both stats necessary?

Your guess is as good as mine. But Facebook actually provides more details for Consumers and Consumptions within the exports (providing columns for Consumption types) than Engaged Users (no such detail). So it’s my belief that we need to start using the terms “Consumer” and “Consumption” to be more accurate and consistent across the board.

Reach Replacement: No More Fuzzy Metrics

The jury is out on the value of the Reach metric. Some think it’s valuable. Some even use it as a determining factor when running ads.

I think these people are crazy. Reach is a fuzzy and inexact metric that measures the number of people who may have seen your content.

But isn’t the Consumers metric what we actually want here?

We know that those who clicked anywhere within our post saw it. There is no disputing that. There is no fuzziness.

What’s nice is that this metric doesn’t only include the Storytellers (those who created a story by commenting, liking or sharing). It includes the Lurkers as well, assuming they clicked anywhere within the post.

How many people saw my post? At least X [the number of people who consumed it]. The number of total people who saw it will be higher. But this is the starting point to determine the number of people who had any interest whatsoever in my content.

From there, we can start getting creative with our metrics:

• Consumers / Total Fans: What percentage of your Fans consumed your post?
• Talking About This / Consumers: What percentage of Consumers created a story?
• Stories / Consumptions: What percentage of Consumptions resulted in a story?
• Link Clicks / Consumptions: What percentage of Consumers clicked your link?
• Shares / Consumptions: What percentage of Consumers shared your content?

This is real data here, people. This is actionable data that means something.

My Free Insights Webinar

On March 22, I will be holding a free webinar to cover these and other advanced topics associated with Facebook Insights.

The post Facebook Insights: Consumer vs. Engaged User appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

This is part of a series of blog posts covering Facebook Advertising Guidelines.

By now, you’re well versed on some key aspects of Facebook’s Advertising Guidelines:

• Use of Imagery
• Acceptable Language
• Targeting

Now let’s talk about the proper use of a landing page or URL destination for your Facebook ad unit. More specifically, let’s lay out the violations that can get your ad rejected.

Once again, this is largely pulled from the Facebook Help Center.

General Landing Page Guidelines

Whether your ad sends users to a Facebook destination or an external URL, your landing page must accurately reflect whatever it is you’re promoting with your ad. No bait and switch, nothing deceiving. We actually discussed this briefly in the post about Acceptable Language.

The landing page also cannot contain any content, products or services that are prohibited by the Facebook Ad Guidelines. Check this out if you need more info.

External Landing Page

• Must function properly in all browsers
• Can’t be restricted to users in specific regions
• Can’t be under construction or lead to an error page
• Can’t trigger pop-ups or pop-unders upon arrival or exit
• Can’t result in malware, spyware or auto-downloads
• Can’t link to a file that requires other software to open the content
• Can’t lead to a page that has been flagged as abusive by Web of Trust

In other words, your landing page has to be clean, functional, honest and not spammy. Pretty consistent with what Facebook expects within their pages as well.

Facebook Destinations

There are two destinations that you can’t send users to with ads within Facebook:

• Can’t direct to a “Closed” or “Secret” Group
• Can’t direct to www.facebook.com

The second one is obvious. Why in the world would you do that?

But the first is one that people could potentially miss. While I’ve never promoted a Group, I’ve had people ask me about that before. You could promote an Open Group, but not one with any restrictions.

Double Check

The post Facebook Advertising Guidelines: Landing Pages appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

This is part of a series of blog posts covering Facebook Advertising Guidelines.

A major source of frustration for advertisers is the Facebook ad approval process. Facebook ads are often rejected without much clarity as to the source of the rejection.

Facebook has some extensive ad guidelines that, frankly, most advertisers don’t read. My goal is to help educate to limit this frustration.

Yesterday, I focused on the rules behind the use of imagery in Facebook ads. Today, let’s take a look at the proper use of language.

Since the actual Ad Guidelines aren’t in plain English, I’ve pulled much of this from the Facebook Help Center, which provides helpful examples of what you can and cannot do.

1. Be Accurate

This may seem like common sense, but you can get away with dishonesty in ads elsewhere so it’s important to understand this. Be smart. Don’t make unsubstantiated claims regarding price, performance or results.

I don’t know if Facebook can always verify that. But what they can do is nail you if the language of your ad is not reflected by your landing page.

So make sure that whatever you promise in your copy is fulfilled when clicked through to a landing tab or external web page.

2. Be Nice

Obscenity is often in the eye of the beholder, but Facebook is going to play it safe more often than not.

3. Be a Tease

4. Be True

Don’t use copy and links to deceive the user into thinking your ad is related to Facebook Messages, friend requests, wall posts, etc. Here are a couple of examples of what you absolutely should not do:

5. Respect Privacy

So if you create an ad that implies you do know a little too much about them, it’s freaking creepy. Facebook doesn’t want that.

In other words, don’t create an ad that implies you know the targeted user’s race, religion, age, sexual orientation, medical condition or criminal history. There is a very important distinction that I’ll get to in a moment.

Here are a few examples of copy that would not be allowed:

• “Meet other Christians”
• “Car insurance for 18-24 year olds”
• “Meet other Gay guys”
• “Handicapped?”
• “Broke? Bankrupt? Check out our services”
• “Are you a convicted felon?”

But that doesn’t mean that you can’t target their interests. You could do the following:

• “Date Christian Singles”
• “A service for teens”
• “Gay Dance Clubs”
• “Depression Counseling”
• “We have the best services for your financial needs”
• “Services to clean up any previous offenses”

There’s a fine line, but one advertisers must understand.

Do not imply the race, religion or sexual orientation of the user. Instead, focus on the product or service that may appeal to them as a result of their race, religion or sexual orientation. The key word to avoid here is “other” (“Meet other Christians”).

When it comes to age, only categories (teens or seniors) tend to be allowed. The exception would be if your ad is regarding a medical study that applies to a specific age range.

When it comes to financial status or disability, it’s important not to directly associate the user with either. Instead, focus on the product or service that can help them.

Play it Safe

The post Facebook Advertising Guidelines: Acceptable Language appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

Why was my Facebook ad denied?

Last week, I wrote about a new rule within the Facebook Advertising Guidelines that prohibits the use of images that include a reference to purchase or pricing information in Sponsored Stories. In particular, this impacts anyone promoting a post that uses an image to highlight a discount.

That was news to many people, so I decided I’d write a series of posts that cover different sections of the Facebook Advertising Guidelines.

Today, I am going to finish what I started and explain in more detail what you cannot do in Facebook ad imagery. This comes from a nice overview within the Help Center.

Ad and Sponsored Stories images cannot…

• Exploit political, sexual, or other sensitive issues.
• Use shock or scare tactics.
• Be overly sexual, imply nudity, show excessive amounts of skin or cleavage, or focus unnecessarily on body parts.
• Portray nonexistent functionality, like play buttons that suggest video capability and close buttons that do not close.
• Contain QR codes.
• Use Facebook brand images (logos, icons and alert notification graphics).
• Be inappropriate when targeted to those under 18.

If your use of imagery is deceptive or aims to inspire a strong emotion, you can expect that approval won’t be easy.

Text on Image Guidelines

• Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it on socialmusic.com”.
• Contact information such as a website address, email, mailing address, or information that should go in a Page’s “About” section.
• References to Facebook features or actions, such as “Like” or “Share” or an arrow pointing from the cover photo to any of these features.
• Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends.”

In other words, you should really avoid text in an image if you plan to use it in a Sponsored Story.

It’s important to point out here that this second group of rules only applies to Sponsored Stories. It does not apply to your standard ads that can only go into the sidebar. In that case, it appears any of these tactics are allowable.

Facebook Doesn’t Let Us Do ANYTHING!

Don’t be deceptive. Don’t use logos that aren’t yours. Don’t try to scare and freak people out. Don’t use inappropriate imagery. Don’t make your Sponsored Story look like a banner ad.

The last one is what people have the biggest trouble with. But let me refer you to this quote from Facebook:

Photos that appear authentic and closely resemble those posted by individuals trigger much deeper emotional responses than ads that appear photoshopped or contain large amounts of text.

They are absolutely right. Sometimes, Facebook needs to protect us from ourselves.

What do you think? Are these guidelines reasonable?

The post Facebook Advertising Guidelines: Use of Imagery appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

I find that every time I create a new Facebook ad, I’m running a Google search trying to figure out the ideal dimensions and character limits. So I decided it was time that I finally created this cheat sheet.

The below infographic provides the main specs that you need to know for three different types of Facebook ads (all promoted within the right sidebar on Facebook.com):

• Promoting an External URL
• Promoting your Facebook Page
• Promoting a Facebook Page Post (shared image)

A few key things that you need to know…

Headline Character Limit

This makes it easy for external URL’s. Through trial and error, find the best headline that fits within 25 characters.

But the problem comes in if you are promoting a Facebook Page, application or Event that has a name with more than 25 characters. In that case, the headline will be cut off.

This is problematic since you probably won’t change the name of your Page for an ad. But this is one more reason why you need to be succinct when you choose the name of your Page.

Facebook Ad Photo

Because of this, you need to be very careful. Do not pick a square or narrow image since it will then leave a random-looking white space between your image and copy. If you can, create an image specifically for this ad that is 100 x 72 pixels.

The example I provide in the infographic for promoting a post is of a shared image. Since images are so effective on Facebook, I’d also recommend them when promoting posts. In this case, the maximum height will be 90 pixels and maximum width is 90 pixels (you’ll likely share a larger photo, and it will be scaled).

Unlike the prior ads, this image will go below your copy and should be square to maximize the space you are given. I wouldn’t worry about sharing a photo that is 90 x 90 pixels. Instead, just make sure that it’s square and it will be scaled down.

Copy Limitations

Once again, you’ll control this copy when promoting an external URL or promoting your Page. But if you’re promoting a Page post, the ad will be based on the actual description that you used within that Post.

If your Page post description is greater than 90 characters, it will be cut off. So it’s imperative that when you create the post that you get to the point quickly. I’d even suggest strategically making a post that you plan to promote with the proper image dimensions and character limit for your description.

Okay, so here it is. Bookmark it in case you need it later. And please, pass it on!

The post Facebook Ad Dimensions and Character Limits [Infographic] appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

If you haven’t already, make sure you check out my new video Timeline: The History of Facebook in Less than 90 Seconds. The video was put together by Andy Greenhaw and is a dizzying trip through Facebook changes from 2004-2012.

What’s amazing about this video is that it only highlights the major changes. When I put together the research for the video, I created a six-page document that detailed Facebook changes since the social network’s humble beginnings. But for the sake of entertainment, we cut out most of it from the final product.

Now you get to see what was left on the cutting room floor. I used the Facebook Blog as my source for most of these changes, and I link to the specific blog entry where possible.

So here is the detailed history of Facebook changes. The transformation is amazing.

Are there any major changes missing? Please let me know so that I can update my list!

2004

• February: Launched as TheFacebook.com, limited only to Harvard students
• March: Expanded to Stanford, Columbia and Yale
• No photos, wall, news feed, events or pages yet
• Reached 1M users

2005

• Purchased facebook.com domain for $200k and dropped “the”
• Introduced Photos
• September: High school version launched

2006

• January: Friend Details (how you know your friends)
• February: High School and College Facebook Merged
• March: Redesigned Groups and Events
• Spring: Expanded to include work networks
• Spring: Facebook Mobile Texts
• Spring: My Messages Page launched
• Spring: Browse launched
• Spring: Mobile Photo Uploads
• Spring: My Photos page upgraded
• Summer: Search functionality added for former classmates and coworkers
• Summer: Global Groups and Events
• August 15: Facebook Development Platform Launched
• August 22: Facebook Notes
• Late August: Mobile Web
• September 5: News Feed and Mini-Feed launched
• September 8: New privacy controls
• September: Added spam prevention systems
• September 26: Opened to all 13 and up with valid email address
• October 27: Share links to articles, photos and videos
• October 31: Share Button
• November 15: News Feed Preferences
• Fall: Privacy controls for when you poke, message and add friends
• December: Profile picture photo album, keeps history of your profile photos

2007

• January 10: Mobile Web (again) announced for mobile friendly Facebook
• January 10: Mobile Uploads
• January 10: Mobile Texts
• January 17: List screen names for IM clients in contact info of profiles
• January 24: Redesign of My Privacy page
• February 7: Give virtual gifts
• March: Group Update Information and create Events from Groups
• March 14: Photo Sorting and Organizing
• March 15: Export photos directly from iPhoto to Facebook albums
• April 11: Navigation and profile simplification
• April 11: My Messages and My Shares changed to Inbox
• April 11: Network Pages launched
• April 20: Added “[user] is…” before each status update
• April 20: Friends’ three most recent updates on the home page
• April 20: See all friends’ updates at once
• April 20: RSS feed of friends’ updates
• April 20: Subscribe to a friend’s updates via SMS
• April 20: Update status from your phone by sending an SMS to Facebook
• April 24: Gift Shop accessible to blind via screen-reader
• May 14: Marketplace completely rolled out (classifieds)
• May 24: Facebook Platform launched
• June 22: Facebook Video Launched (tagging, FB video player, video messaging, mobile integration)
• July: Post Attachments to the Wall
• July 10: 30 Million Users
• August 15: Facebook for iPhone Mobile Site
• August 20: Send Facebook Messages to Facebook User or email address
• September 5: Public Search Listings
• November 6: Facebook Pages for Businesses launched
• November 6: Social Ads launched, making advertising relevant
• November 6: Share activities taken off of Facebook (Beacon)
• November 9: Publish your activities on Facebook Pages to News Feeds
• December: Make a tagged photo your profile photo
• December 5: Beacon made opt-in
• December 19: Friend Lists launched

2008

• January: Extended Profile to declutter
• February 11: Spanish version launched, set language
• February 20: Interaction with applications curbed to block spam
• March 19: New privacy interface and options
• April 4: Ignore application invites from specific friends
• April 6: Facebook Chat Launched
• April 15: Import activities from Flickr, Picasa, Yelp and del.icio.us
• May 1: People You May Know
• May 23: Import activities from YouTube, Pandora and other sites
• June 4: Suggest Friends to other Friends
• June 19: Inbox Search
• June 23: More language translations and 55 others opened to the community
• June 25: Comment on friends’ mini-feed stories from their profile
• July 10: Facebook for iPhone Application
• July 21: The Wall
• July 21: The Publisher – publish content directly to the Wall
• July 21: New tabbed profile design (Wall, Info, Photos, Boxes)
• August 26: 100 Million Users
• September 19: Pirate Translation
• October 7: Microsoft Live Search added to Facebook Search
• October 31: Gift Shop Credits
• December 4: Facebook Connect Launched
• December 5: Higher quality video
• December 17: Seamless browsing commenting pop-up

2009

• January 7: 150 Million Users
• January 30: Birthday Reminders
• February 4: Update to Terms of Use
• February 9: Like button added to friends’ content
• February 11: Schedule a virtual gift on Valentine’s Day
• February 17: Temporary return to prior Terms of Use after uproar
• February 24: Group Administrators able to change Group Name
• March 3: New version of Facebook Marketplace (powered by Oodle)
• March 4: New profiles for public figures and organizations (formerly Pages)
• March 11: Facebook available in Arabic and Hebrew
• March 11: New Home Page design, real-time stream, new filters, improved Publisher, Highlights
• March 16: “Everyone” option available to create public posts
• April 8: 200 Million Users
• April 27: View your Facebook stream on websites and applications outside of site
• April 30: New Friends Page for organizing and filtering
• May 4: News Feed now updates in real time, no longer needing to be refreshed
• May 6: Filter friends by Recently Updated and view Only Status Updates
• May 8: Family Relationships added
• May 11: Facebook Chat updated to include Friend Lists and Offline Mode
• May 11: Notifications appear in real time above chat bar as pop-up alerts
• May 19: Increased size limit of photo albums from 60 to 200 photos
• May 20: New Application Directory
• May 22: Update to Facebook Credits, removing a Zero
• May 29: Presentation of People in search results updated
• June 2: Removing Regional Networks
• June 4: Subscribe via SMS to friends’ status updates
• June 13: Facebook Usernames
• June 18: Streamlined Inbox
• June 22: Display alternate names
• July 8: Create Events from the Publisher
• July 8: Facebook Fan Box on Websites
• July 15: 250 Million Users
• July 17: New Tools to Secure a Compromised Account
• July 22: Upload Photos or Videos via email
• August 10: Improved Facebook Search
• August 20: Publish Facebook Page content to Twitter
• August 24: Invite Friends to an Event Who Attended Prior Event
• September 14: Tag Friends in Status Updates
• September 15: 300 Million Users
• September 17: Log in with Username in addition to email address
• October 19: Revamped Groups for consistent design and publish to News Feeds
• October 21: Retooled Gift Shop, including Music
• October 23: Change to two views: News Feed and Live Feed
• October 23: Friends Suggestion Box
• October 26: Share Count added to Share Button
• November 17: Xbox Connects with Facebook
• November 17: New Privacy Policy Adopted
• December 9: Simpler Privacy Controls Launched/All Users Required to Update
• December 16: Relationship Anniversaries Added to Profile

2010

• January 12: Reply to Comments through email
• January 20: Receive Updates from Applications through Email
• February 4: New Top Menu
• February 4: New Left Menu
• February 5: 400 Million Users
• February 5: Faster, Simpler Photo Uploader
• February 10: Connect Facebook Chat with AIM
• February 17: New Privacy Controls for Applications
• March 1: New Applications and Games Dashboard
• March 1: Bookmark Applications
• March 1: Become a Fan of Application Facebook Pages
• March 2: Maximum Size of Photos Increased to 720 Pixels
• March 16: Instant Search Results while Typing
• March 26: Updates to Privacy Policy
• April 19: Community Pages
• April 19: More Connected Profiles
• April 19: Now “Like” a Facebook Page instead of “Become a Fan”
• April 21: Social Plugins (Like, Activity Feed, Recommendations)
• April 21: Open Graph Protocol
• April 21: Graph API for Developers
• May 1: Streamlined Events Creation
• May 13: New Security Features
• May 18: Mobile Site 0.facebook.com launched with focus on speed
• May 26: Simplified Privacy Controls
• June 16: Added the ability to Like a Comment
• June 30: New Application Permissions Authorization
• July 1: Improved Photos Tagging
• July 2: Interests Suggestions for New Registrants
• July 21: 500 Million Users
• July 21: Facebook Stories Launched
• July 22: Update to Left Hand Navigation
• July 28: Facebook Questions Launched
• August 1: Facebook Gift Shop Closes
• August 4: Access to Streamlined Privacy Controls from Any Device
• August 11: Dynamic Load Photo Album Browsing
• August 13: New Layout and Features for Facebook Notes
• August 18: Check in at Facebook Places
• September 15: Update to Facebook Chat
• September 21: Features that Give Control over Games Updates in News Feed
• September 24: Facebook Page Browser for Page Discovery
• September 30: Improvements to Photos: Higher Resolution, New Photo Viewer, Easier Tagging and Uploading
• October 6: New Version of Facebook Groups
• October 6: Download All of your Facebook Content to your Computer
• October 6: New Dashboard for how Applications Use Your Data
• October 12: One-Time Passwords
• October 12: Sign out of Facebook Remotely
• October 13: Partnership with Bing for Social Search
• October 14: Skype Integration
• October 28: Friendship Pages
• November 2: Facebook Deals
• November 3: Places and Groups to Android App
• November 3: Deals Integration for iPhone App
• November 3: Mobile Single Sign On
• November 15: Seamless Facebook Messaging (SMS, Chat, email or Messages)
• December 5: New Facebook Profile
• December 8: New Detailed View of What You Share with Apps from Mobile
• December 15: Face Recognition Photo Tagging

2011

• January 5: 600 Million Users
• January 19: Facebook for Feature Phones Application
• April 25: Improvements to Facebook Groups
• April 26: Expansion of Deals to Deals on Facebook
• May 30: 700 Million Users
• July 6: Video Calling and Other Improvements to Facebook Chat
• August 11: Improvements to Games including Games Ticker
• August 23: More Controls to See Who You are Sharing With
• August 26: Bigger, Faster Photos
• September 13: Improved Friend Lists, including Smart Lists and Notifications
• September 14: Subscribe Button to Subscribe to Non-Friends’ public content, allow non-friends to subscribe to your public content, and better control what content you see from your friends
• September 20: Top Stories on News Feed
• September 20: The Ticker
• September 22: 800 Million Users
• September 22: Facebook Timeline for Profiles
• October 10: Facebook for iPad
• October 19: Facebook Messenger Mobile Application
• November 10: Recent Stories Filter
• December 7: Updated Facebook for Android Application
• December 8: Facebook Subscribe Button for Websites
• December 15: Timeline Available on Mobile

2012

• January 12: Listen to Music with your Friends
• January 18: Apps for Timeline launched, allowing frictionless sharing
• February 1: IPO Filing
• February 29: Facebook Timeline for Pages
• March 3: Facebook Interest Lists

2005

(Source: Mashable)

2006

(Source: Mashable)

2007

(Source: Mashable)

2008

(Source: Mashable)

2009

(Source: Mashable)

2010

(Source: Mashable)

2011

2012

The post Detailed History of Facebook Changes 2004-12 [Research] appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.

November 19 Update: If you suddenly saw that your profile and cover photos don’t “fit” properly, read this! Facebook Page Profile Photo Problem: The Fix

Just when you get everything the way you want it, Facebook makes another change…

Today, a new Facebook profile photo size was rolled out for brand Pages. Formerly 125×125 pixels, Facebook has increased the size of profile photos to 160×160 pixels. In either case, the minimum size of the photo you use needs to be 180×180 pixels, but Facebook shrinks it down to the smaller size.

I know, that’s confusing. Just know that you need to pick a photo that is at least 180×180 pixels, just as before, but it will now appear as 160×160 pixels instead of 125×125 pixels.

This matters, as I discovered with a couple of my own Pages. I created a nice little montage of baseball cards on the Brewers Updates From 1982 Facebook Page, making a 1982 Topps Robin Yount card the profile photo. Sweet, right? Well, with the change, it no longer fits…

Of course, I’m not the only one with this problem. Countless other Facebook Page admins got cute with their Cover Photos and Profile Photos and now need to scramble and make adjustments.

I’m here to help. The infographic below details all of the dimensions you need to know. Which are:

• Submitted profile photo must be at least 180×180 pixels
• Facebook will shrink profile photo to 160×160 pixels (formerly 125×125)
• Including padding, profile photo area is 170×170 pixels (5 pixels all the way around)
• 23 pixels from left edge to profile photo border
• 210 pixels from top edge to profile photo border
• 658 pixels from right edge to profile photo border
• 105 pixels from bottom edge to top profile photo border

[Click the image for a close-up]

I’ve also updated the reference of all Facebook Timeline dimensions Infographic to reflect this change.

Are you having to scramble as a result of the larger profile photos? Let me know in the comments below!

The post New Facebook Profile Photo Size Impacts Cover Photos [Infographic] appeared first on Jon Loomer Digital.