If you’re looking to craft SUPER engaging content on Facebook, look no further than Facebook Instant Experience ads (or IX). There are three types of campaigns where these in-depth immersive ads really stand out: customer acquisition, eCommerce, and brand building. Let’s dive into Instant Experiences; what they are, how to build them, and our best practices to make them worth your while.

What are Instant Experiences?

Instant Experiences are mobile-exclusive Facebook ads that function almost like an ad and a landing page in one. Most importantly they’re hosted natively on Facebook. Why does native matter? Because they load almost instantly. 

Once the user begins interacting with the IX, they can easily navigate through your content in a variety of forms. You can send them swiping through a carousel of products, tilting to view panoramas, watching videos, zooming in to view images in detail, or pressing call-to-action buttons.

That level of engagement IX ads can garner is impressive. Facebook claims that 53% of users that open an Instant Experience view at least half of it, and the average view time per ad is 31 seconds.

How to build an Instant Experience

Depending on what sort of production capabilities you have, creating an ad like this might sound intimidating. Fortunately, creating an Instant Experience is a heavily templated process. You can create your own template if you’d like, or you can start with one of the pre-designed templates depending on your campaign objective. Facebook describes them like this: 

Instant Storefront

Create a mobile shopping experience using your catalog or photos and details about your products. Optimized for sales, the template targets the most interested audiences with your products. Use the categories feature to organize your products.

Note: An e-commerce catalog is required when creating this template. Depending on the format chosen, this template may appear under the name Sell Products.

Instant Lookbook

Let people explore your products in action by featuring them in lifestyle images and using product tagging. Use the tabs feature to organize your products.

Note: An e-commerce catalog is required when creating this template.

Instant Form

Provide a way for people to share their contact information if they are interested in learning more about your brand, product, or service.

Instant Customer Acquisition

Encourage new customers to discover your brand and products with a mobile landing page that prompts action. This template takes interested people directly from IX to your signup, subscription, or purchase page. It works best with fewer components (photos, text, videos), a concise message, and a strong call to action.

Instant Storytelling

Give people an engaging way to explore your brand, product, or service and build brand awareness.

Instant Experience Best Practices

While IX ads are undoubtedly more time-consuming than other ad types to create, they give you the ability to immerse prospects into a crafted interaction with your brand or product. You definitely get out what you put into these ads, so don’t rely on the templates alone to garner your conversions. Follow these best practices to create truly dynamic Instant Experiences.

Start Strong: Instant Experience starts with a standard traffic/web-clicks ad in the mobile News Feed and opens into a full-screen experience. Your initial ad needs to feature strong creative that gives them a reason to tap and see more.

Consistent Branding: The logo or name of your product or company should be visible within the first screen to ensure people understand the experience they are in and how it relates to the ad they clicked on. We recommend placing your logo in the header to provide the best context for people who engage with an Instant Experience.

Make Your Point Early & Often: People looking at your IX ad may not view through the end (in fact, most won’t). Come out of the gate strong and state your UVPs early and often throughout the Instant Experience to keep users interested. Include calls to action throughout the Instant Experience to increase your chance of engagement and conversion.

Make It A Multimedia Experience: Instant Experiences that only use one video or one photo tend to get less attention compared to longer Instant Experiences with 5-7 components. Take advantage of the fullscreen experience with a mix of high-quality images and videos.

Include a Strong CTA: Each screen should contain a button or image linking to your website. As people scroll through the Instant Experience, it should be easy for them to learn more about your product, service, or company. Capitalize on their interest and don’t make them hunt for a way to find out more.

Choose Your Own Adventure: Let people go at their own pace by using interactive features like tilt-to-pan. When people can control the pace at which they engage with your content, their experience is more dynamic and personalized.

Instant Experience ads can be a powerful tactic for brand building, eCommerce, and customer acquisition. What you get out of them is determined by what you put in – and these are media-heavy ads. We’re always here to help if you want to elevate your content or if you’d just like that chat about if these are a good fit for you and your goals. Cheers!