Exploring creative ad formats for Paid Social: Carousels, Videos & Stories

So you want to level up the creativity of your paid social ads, but don’t know where to start? Let’s cut to the chase. This article will take you through all you need to know to make the best decision for your campaign objectives, whilst exploring some of the more interesting and unique ad types.

With so many options at your fingertips, you must first understand the benefits, specialities and restrictions of each ad type. The most effective campaigns are ones created using ad types that align with the client’s campaign goals, so it’s time to get to grips with what each type offers you as a creative marketer.

• Why creative ad formats matter in Paid Social
• Beyond the basics: Exploring new and emerging social ad formats
• How to choose the right ad format for your goals
• Platform-specific creative strategies and leveraging data
• Carousel ads: engaging audiences with multiple touchpoints
• Video ads: capturing attention through visual storytelling
• Stories ads: driving engagement in real-time

Why Creative Ad Formats Matter In Paid Social

Just why is it so important to make the right choice in your preferred ad type? Well, most ads have similar goals in mind, but the way they bring in new audiences, capture the attention of different demographics and encourage certain interaction with your brand’s content, is all down to what ad type you choose.

Here are a few important reasons to try out new and creative ad formats in your next campaign.

Driving Engagement

Different ad formats appeal to users in various ways, allowing brands to create more engaging and relevant content.

Flexibility for Goals

Each ad format serves unique purposes, whether it’s driving clicks, building awareness, or encouraging interaction.

Enhanced Targeting

Innovative formats can leverage data to target audiences more precisely, improving campaign performance.

Beyond the Basics: Exploring New and Emerging Social Ad Formats

Beyond the tried and tested ad formats such as text or image ads, you can find an entirely new approach to user engagement with ads. Here are a few that you can benefit from.

Playable Ads

Interactive ads that allow users to experience a product. These are particularly effective in gaming and app marketing, as users can directly see a playthrough of the interactivity of your product.

Shoppable Ads

Enable direct purchasing within social media platforms, which is ideal for e-commerce brands. It cuts down on the steps between a user seeing your brand for the very first time, and being able to click through to purchase a product instantly.

Augmented Reality (AR) Ads

These offer immersive experiences, allowing users to try products virtually, and fostering deeper engagement. There are some amazing experiences being created using this very new format, so it's worth familiarising yourself with new developments in this area.

How to choose the right ad format for your goals 

Before you decide on what format to work with, you need to figure out what would be most useful for your specific campaign objectives. These are a few things to consider:

Define Campaign Objectives

Clearly identify if the goal is brand awareness, lead generation, conversions, or engagement. Then drill down into the details some more. Who do you want to interact with your brand? What conversions are you really chasing? What engagement is the most useful and effective to your overall marketing strategy?

Align with Platform Strengths

Different social platforms have unique user behaviours, so choose formats that complement the platform's strengths. For instance, you wouldn’t want to put the majority of your budget into video ads on LinkedIn, when TikTok has a proven track record with this format.

Understand Target Audience Preferences

Knowing what content resonates with your audience can guide the selection of the most effective ad format. Different ages, genders and interest groups prefer different platforms and types of content. So understand your audience, to understand what will resonate most with them.

Consider Ad Complexity

Balance ad impact and production cost; some formats, like video ads, may require more resources. You’re better off choosing an ad format that you know you have the time and resources to create the best quality ads for, rather than spreading yourself too thin with too many formats.

Test and Optimise

Implement A/B testing to determine which formats yield the best results. Sometimes what looks good in principle doesn’t bring in the results that you were expecting. Data can inform adjustments to creative strategies for improved performance.

Platform-specific creative strategies and leveraging data

Once you’ve got some ideas in mind for what creative formats you’d like to explore, it’s time to level up your next campaign. 

Platform-Specific Strategies

Customise content based on platform-specific best practices (e.g., short, engaging videos for TikTok; carousel ads for Instagram). This is a surefire way to make the most of what each platform has to offer.

Leveraging Data

There are two sets of data to make use of. The first is any historical data that you have from existing campaigns (this could be social data, or other PPC data that demonstrates audience behaviour). The second is any performance data from your new campaigns, that you can use to refine audience targeting and format choices, maximising ROI in the process.

Carousel ads: engaging audiences with multiple touchpoints

Introducing carousel ads, a format that can encourage interactivity from users.

Description

These ads allow users to swipe through a series of images or videos, each with its own link.

Pros

Excellent for showcasing multiple products or features in one ad; high engagement and swipe-through rates. You’re essentially presenting multiple opportunities for users to tap through to your site or product page, in a way that is visually engaging.

Cons

Requires a cohesive story or theme to maintain viewer interest; limited to platforms that support swiping. So this isn’t as applicable to desktop-specific campaigns.

Best Practices

Use the first slide to grab attention; each slide should tell a piece of the story; ensure visual and narrative coherence.

Examples

This is a fantastic ad type for product showcases, storytelling sequences, step-by-step tutorials.

Video ads: capturing attention through visual storytelling

Video ads shouldn’t be underestimated. There’s so much potential in a well planned video campaign.

Description

Utilise visuals and audio to communicate a message, often through short clips or longer, more in-depth content.

Pros

Video ads have a high engagement potential and are effective for storytelling and delivering emotional impact. It’s a way of connecting with your audience that doesn’t demand much from them, other than casually watching your content.

Cons

Requires high-quality production; may not perform well with audiences preferring quick, scrollable content. You can combat this issue through a campaign featuring both longer and shorter videos based around the same themes.

Best Practices

Keep videos short and engaging (6–15 seconds for maximum impact); include captions for sound-off viewing; use strong visuals to capture attention early.

Examples

Video ads are ideal for brand stories, product demonstrations and testimonials from happy customers.

Stories ads: driving engagement in real-time

A more personal approach to ads can be found in stories. This is an underutilised platform for promoted content, so have fun exploring this new frontier.

Description

Full-screen ads that appear within stories on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, often in video or image format.

Pros

This is a great way to capitalise on a growing user base. It’s an immersive full-screen experience; ideal for short, time-sensitive content.

Cons

Limited to 24-hour visibility; can feel intrusive if not crafted thoughtfully. Remember, you’re entering into a more personal and intimate online space. Stories feel more like someone’s DMs than someone’s inbox, so plan carefully and thoughtfully.

Best Practices

Use vertical format for full-screen immersion; leverage stickers, polls, or countdowns for interactivity; maintain a clear call-to-action.

Examples

Stories can be a really effective way of promoting flash sales, event teasers and behind-the-scenes content for your brand.

Best practices: Overall

There are a few ways to elevate your practice of creating creative ad campaigns.

Harnessing UGC (User-Generated Content)

Incorporate content created by users for authenticity and relatability, enhancing trust and credibility. This can speed up and add to your existing marketing efforts.

Aligning with Platform Algorithms

Understand each platform’s algorithm to optimise ad delivery, such as using Reels on Instagram for broader reach. Every platform has its own pros and cons, so lean in to exactly what users engage with the most on each platform to ensure you’re starting off on the right foot.

Repurposing Content Across Formats

Adapt content to fit various ad formats, extending the life and reach of each creative piece while saving on production costs. One great idea can translate to multiple platforms with ease, so focus on getting a great concept, and push it out to multiple platforms for maximum impact.

Summary

Selecting the right ad format for paid social is crucial to achieving campaign goals and engaging audiences. When it comes to creative ads, you have a lot of options that go beyond traditional text ads.

By understanding each format's strengths, weaknesses, and best practices, you can leverage these tools to maximise reach, engagement, and conversions. But focus on finding the right ad type to experiment with, as many of these ads will perform significantly better on specific platforms.

As users' preferences of interacting with online content evolves, these creative ad types will future-proof your marketing. Now all that’s left to do is explore your new creative options.

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