In the ever-evolving Meta Ads interface, new settings seem to pop up everyday, oftentimes relating to Advantage+ enhancements on the account, campaign, and ad level. Meta’s continuously growing list of enhancements can get overwhelming quickly as an advertiser. It may be tempting to turn off all enhancements, rather than analyzing each individual setting and strategically picking which ones to apply to your ad. However, certain enhancements might be just what you need to take your ads to the next level and provide that performance boost you have been searching for.
Meta is persistent that their enhancements improve performance and cost efficiency. “Using Standard enhancements in Advantage+ creative can result in, on average, a 4% lower cost-per-result in campaigns optimizing for link clicks, landing page views and offsite conversions.” Meta encourages advertisers to embrace Advantage+ enhancements in ad creation by proactively activating them and requiring them to be manually deactivated. Meta also quantifies how much lower cost per result could be with certain enhancements enabled for the individual account as a way to incentivize advertisers to leverage these features.
While some enhancements are certainly more straightforward than others, it can be difficult to understand what you are really getting yourself into when enabling Meta’s Advantage+ enhancements, especially since new features become available so frequently. We will dive into each individual Advantage+ creative enhancement available on the ad level and outline what it is they actually do, and why enabling them could be advantageous. We will also spotlight which enhancements have the most promising potential in terms of elevating your ad performance.
Meta Advantage+ Enhancements for Single image or Video Format
Image Template
Meta provides templates that will overlay text you have provided onto your image when it is expected to improve performance.
Option to customize font and background color or let Meta automatically choose based on your image.
Delivers to: Mobile Feed, Instagram Feed and Facebook Reels
*only available for single image ads*
Why image template?
Make your message more visible
Adoption rate: 58% of consumer packaged goods businesses have turned on image template
Visual Touch Ups
Meta will improve the visual quality of your image by automatically adjusting the aspect ratio, brightness, and contrast.
Delivers to: Instagram Stories, Mobile Feed, Instagram Feed and Facebook Reels
Why visual touch-ups?
Enhanced visuals make your ad more captivating, enticing viewers to linger longer.
Adoption rate: 87% of consumer packaged goods businesses have turned on visual touch-ups
Text Improvements
Meta will take the text you provide and dynamically display it as either the primary text, headline or description.
Delivers to: Instagram Stories, Mobile Feed and Instagram Feed.
Why text improvements?
Adjusts the location of the provided copy within your ad to make the most impact on users
Adoption rate: 84% of consumer packaged good businesses have turned on text improvements
Relevant Comments
Meta will identify the most relevant comment and showcase it beneath your ad.
Delivers to: Instagram Feed and Mobile Feed.
*also available for carousel ads*
Why relevant comments?
Displaying relevant comments below your ad has the potential to boost brand credibility and trust, instilling greater confidence in customers to take action
3D Animation
Meta will enhance your image with 3D motion when it is expected to improve performance.
Delivers to Instagram Stories, Instagram Feed and Instagram Reels
*only available for image ads*
Why 3D animation?
Grab users’ attention by making your media more interesting to look at
Adoption rate: 16% of consumer packaged goods businesses have turned on 3D animation
Expand Image * AI
Image expansion is a generative AI feature that automatically generates additional pixels so your image can fit various aspect ratios and therefore be used in more placements
Text overlays may be included on your expanded images if Meta anticipated they will improve performance
Delivers to: Instagram Feed, Facebook Reels, Mobile Feed, Instagram Reels and Instagram Stories.
*only available for image ads*
Why image expansion?
Advertisers can spend less time and fewer resources editing images to fit the necessary aspect ratios
*Meta does not make any warranties regarding the completeness, reliability and accuracy of expanded images.*
Music
Meta will choose a song to go along with your ad based on its content and on music popularity, or you can select one yourself.
Meta provides a library of songs that can be filtered by genre, artist tempo, etc
Delivers to: Instagram Reels, Mobile Feed, Facebook video feeds (Video tab - mobile) and Instagram Feed
*only available for image & carousel ads*
Why music?
Over 50% of video watch time on Instagram Feed is spent with sound on
Turning on music can help your ads feel more like organic posts and fit in better in sound-on placements
Add Catalog Items
Meta will display items from your catalog alongside your selected media in the form of product cards when they anticipate it will improve performance.
You may choose the catalog and product set that contain the items you want to show next to your media.
Delivers to: Mobile Feed
*also available for carousel ads*
Why add catalog items?
Streamlines the shopping process by enabling users to click on and shop products directly from the ad.
Image Filter
Meta will apply minor filters to your image when they suspect it will improve performance.
Delivers to: Instagram Stories, Mobile Feed and Instagram Feed
*only available for image ads*
Why image filter?
Makes your media more more visually appealing to users
Meta Advantage+ Enhancements for Carousel Format
Profile End Card
A card featuring your Page profile picture and details will be added to the end of your carousel ad.
Delivers to: Mobile Feed
Why profile end card?
Encourages users to explore your page further and leaves them with a visual reminder of your business to help with brand recognition.
Dynamic Description
Meta will determine when to show your carousel description based on its likelihood to improve ad performance.
Why dynamic description?
Tailors messaging to each individual user to maximize relevance and impact
Highlight Carousel Card
Meta will help determine the best performing card for your audience and highlight it first.
Why highlight carousel card?
Immediately capture users’ interest and increase the likelihood of them engaging further with your carousel ad.
Meta Advantage+ Enhancements for Catalog Format
Dynamic Format
Meta will show your ad in either the carousel or collection format, depending on which is most likely to appeal to each user.
Delivers to: Feeds
Why dynamic format?
Improves the likelihood of users taking action on your ad by serving them the format they are most likely to engage with.
Dynamic Description (from catalog)
Meta will display product information from your catalog as your ad's description based on what each user is likely to engage with.
Ex: the item price or a free shipping offer
Why dynamic description?
Provides relevant information about your product/service that aligns with each users’ preferences, further capturing their interest and enticing them to take the desired action.
Dynamic Media
Meta will create videos of your catalog items out of your product images. They will either display the video or the image version of your product depending on what each viewer is likely to find engaging.
You may also be able to toggle on…
Automatic video cropping: Meta will automatically adjust the aspect ratios of the videos to match given placements
Always show video (when available): If a catalog item has video, meta will always show the video.
Delivers to: Mobile Feed, Instagram Feed, Facebook Stories and Facebook Reels
*cannot be enabled if the ad has an intro card*
Why dynamic media?
Allows you to extend your reach to video placements like Facebook Reels & ensures the highest-performing assets are delivered
Generate Backgrounds * AI
Meta will create different backgrounds for your product image based on the original asset for eligible product images and deliver the version that your audience is most likely to respond to.
Delivers to: Mobile Feed
*cannot be enabled if the ad has an intro card*
Why generate backgrounds?
Ideally, generated backgrounds will make your product images more visually appealing, therefore increasing the chances that the ad will catch users attention and earn their engagement
*Meta does not make any warranties regarding the completeness, reliability and accuracy of generated backgrounds. Meta will not be liable for any damages in connection with the use of this feature.*
Info Labels
Meta will overlay information from your catalog onto your creative assets when it's expected to improve performance.
Ex: Meta may display a message that an item is on sale or qualifies for free shipping.
Delivers to: Feeds
Why info labels?
Provides relevant information that aligns with each users’ preferences within the ad creative, further enticing them to take action.
A Few Advantage+ Creative Enhancements that Stick Out
Image Template
The image template enhancement offers a convenient solution for effectively displaying a message you really want to convey in the ad, but time or resources for adjusting the creative asset are limited. It provides a quick and straightforward way to showcase specific messaging within the ad creative, especially when incorporating in-creative text is not immediately feasible. Additionally, this enhancement reduces the dependency on the user reading the ad copy in order to grasp the message, ultimately offering a direct and visually engaging way to communicate announcements like sales, new product launches, and more.
Music
Knowing how many users scroll on Instagram/Facebook with their sound on, adding music to ads is a simple way to capture your audience’s attention. Especially on video-forward placements like IG Reels, enabling this enhancement makes your image/carousel ads blend more seamlessly with organic posts while users are scrolling. With Meta’s option to select your own music, you can even tailor the audio to fit the vibe of your brand/advertisement.
Add Catalog Items
If your brand has a history of success with catalog-based ads, why not allow Meta to include items in your catalog next to your single image/video/carousel ads if it is likely to increase performance?
Highlight Carousel Card
If you have a carousel advertisement for which a specific order is not required, this enhancement could be extremely useful. While you can certainly make inferences on the optimal asset to use as the first card, audience response can be unpredictable. This enhancement ensures the top-performing asset leads, therefore eliminating the risk of wrongly inferring which media will make for the best first card.
Dynamic Media
If your brand runs both carousel and collection ads, this enhancement is a great way to streamline your account structure and may reduce the need for multiple ad variations. By enabling this enhancement, you allow Meta to choose to display the catalog as either a carousel or collection based on the individual user’s likelihood to engage. Knowing that certain users are partial to a carousel/collection, this enhancement has tons of potential.
Photo: ©Kaboompics