Creative

• Shows gameplay in motion, which holds attention better than a static image.
• Can demonstrate the core loop, art style, and pace of your game in seconds.
• Autoplay on most placements means your creative begins playing before the player decides to interact.
• Versatile — works well on Feed, Stories, and Audience Network placements.

• Recommended length: 15-30 seconds (shorter is generally better — the first 3 seconds are critical)
• Aspect ratios: 1:1 (square) for Feed, 9:16 (vertical) for Stories, 16:9 (landscape) for desktop Feed
• Resolution: At least 1080p
• File size: Keep under 30 MB for fast loading

• Lead with your most visually exciting gameplay moment — do not waste the first seconds on a logo or title card.
• Design for sound-off viewing. Most users browse with sound muted. Use on-screen text, visual effects, and dynamic gameplay to tell the story without audio.
• Show real gameplay, not pre-rendered cinematics. Players who arrive expecting a cinematic experience and find a different game will leave immediately.

• The most engaging ad format — players interact with your game before even leaving the ad.
• Players who convert from a playable ad have a clear understanding of the game, which leads to better retention.
• Highly effective for simple, easy-to-learn game genres such as puzzle, match-3, and runner.

• Requires additional development effort to create the playable HTML creative.
• The playable experience must be polished — a buggy or confusing playable will hurt performance.
• Not all game genres translate well to a 15-30 second mini-experience.

• Keep the playable experience extremely simple. Strip your game down to the single most satisfying mechanic. If your game is a match-3, show one short match-3 level. If it is a runner, show a short, exciting run.
• End the playable at a moment of high engagement — when the player has just succeeded or is about to accomplish something. Ending at this point encourages the player to tap “Play Now” to continue.
• Test loading performance. Playable ads must load quickly or players will scroll past before the ad is ready.

• Allows you to showcase multiple aspects of your game in a single ad (for example, different game modes, characters, or levels).
• Swipeable format encourages interaction, which can improve engagement metrics.
• Can tell a sequential story across cards.

• Most players will only see the first 1-2 cards, so your strongest content must come first.
• Less effective than video for demonstrating gameplay in motion.
• Best used as a complement to video, not a replacement.

• Use the first card to show your most compelling gameplay moment or feature.
• Use subsequent cards to highlight variety (different levels, modes, characters) or social features (tournaments, leaderboards, multiplayer).
• Include a clear call-to-action on the final card.

• Use a single, striking image that instantly communicates what your game is about.
• Include a character, gameplay screenshot, or key visual element that represents your game.
• Avoid cluttered images with too much text — Facebook limits text in ad images, and busy images perform poorly.

• Use screen recordings of real gameplay, not mock-ups or cinematics.
• Highlight the core loop — the primary action the player will repeat throughout the game.
• If your game has impressive visual effects, satisfying animations, or interesting mechanics, feature them prominently.

• The first 3 seconds are the most important. If you have not hooked the viewer by then, they have already scrolled past.
• 15-second videos consistently outperform 30-second or longer videos on most placements.
• Get to gameplay immediately — no long intros, logos, or setup.

• Use the “Play Now” or “Play Game” CTA button (set in Ads Manager).
• Reinforce the CTA in your creative with on-screen text like “Tap to Play!” or “Try It Now — No Download.”
• Emphasize the “instant” nature of the experience — remind players that they can start playing immediately without downloading anything.

• Ensure the art style, gameplay mechanics, and pace shown in the ad match what the player will experience.
• Do not use footage from a different game or show features that are not yet implemented.
• Accuracy builds trust and leads to higher-quality installs.

• Use large, legible text if you include any text in the creative.
• Ensure important visual elements are centered and visible on small screens.
• Test how your creative looks on different aspect ratios and screen sizes.

• Format: Video vs. playable vs. carousel vs. static image
• Gameplay focus: Different levels, modes, or moments of your game
• Visual style: Different color schemes, UI visibility, character selection
• Hook: Different opening moments for the first 3 seconds
• CTA messaging: Different text treatments (“Play Now” vs. “Try It Free” vs. “Challenge Your Friends”)
• Aspect ratio: Square (1:1) vs. vertical (9:16) vs. landscape (16:9)
• Length: 10 seconds vs. 15 seconds vs. 30 seconds

1. Create multiple ad variations within the same ad set, or use Facebook’s A/B testing feature at the campaign level.
2. Keep tests simple. Change only one variable at a time so you can attribute performance differences to a specific change.
3. Give tests enough time and budget. Each variation needs at least 50 optimization events to reach statistical significance. Running tests for less than 3-5 days usually does not produce reliable results.
4. Measure the right metrics. For creative tests, focus on:
   • Click-through rate (CTR): How compelling is the creative?
   • Cost per install (CPI): How cost-effective is the creative at driving installs?
   • Day 1 and Day 7 retention: Are the players attracted by this creative actually sticking around?
   • ROAS: Is this creative driving profitable players?
5. Scale winners, pause losers. Once a clear winner emerges, allocate more budget to it and pause underperforming variations. Keep testing, because the current top performer will eventually fatigue.

• Declining CTR over time
• Rising CPI despite no other changes
• Increasing frequency (the average number of times each person has seen your ad)

1. Monitor frequency. When frequency exceeds 3-4 (meaning the average person in your audience has seen the ad 3-4 times), it is time to refresh your creative.
2. Maintain a creative pipeline. Always have new creative variations in development so you can rotate them in when current creative fatigues. A healthy pipeline includes 3-5 active variations at any time.
3. Rotate creative regularly. Even if performance has not declined yet, rotating in new creative every 2-4 weeks keeps your ads fresh and can capture new segments of your audience that did not respond to previous creative.
4. Iterate, do not reinvent. When refreshing creative, start with variations of your best-performing creative rather than creating something entirely new. Change the gameplay moment, the text overlay, the color scheme, or the opening hook while keeping the overall format and structure that has proven effective.
5. Seasonal and event-based creative. Align creative refreshes with in-game events, seasonal themes, or cultural moments. Timing refreshes this way gives your ads a reason to look different and can improve engagement through timely relevance.

• Attribution tracking: Know exactly which campaign, ad set, and ad creative drove each player. This lets you compare the performance of different creative variations at a granular level.
• Personalized onboarding: Show different tutorial flows, welcome messages, or bonus offers based on the ad the player came from. For example, if your ad featured puzzle gameplay, you can start the player in a puzzle mode rather than the default menu.
• A/B testing in-game experiences: Test whether different first-session experiences (bonus starter packs, skip-tutorial options, featured game modes) improve retention for ad-acquired players.
• Campaign-specific rewards: Offer an exclusive reward or bonus that is tied to a specific ad campaign, creating urgency and a sense of exclusivity.

1. Define your payload structure — decide what data you want to pass. Keep it simple and well-organized. Example:

   {
     "campaign": "us_puzzle_launch",
     "creative_id": "video_v3",
     "offer": "starter_pack_bonus",
     "entry_mode": "puzzle"
   }
2. Set the payload in Ads Manager — when creating or editing your ad, enter the payload in the Deep Link or Custom Payload field (see Setup for the exact location).
3. Retrieve the payload in your game — use the Instant Games SDK to read the entry point data:

   const entryData = FBInstant.getEntryPointData();
   if (entryData && entryData.campaign) {
     // Player came from a C2P ad
     // Customize their experience based on the payload
     if (entryData.entry_mode === 'puzzle') {
       startPuzzleMode();
     }
     if (entryData.offer === 'starter_pack_bonus') {
       showStarterPackOffer();
     }
     // Log the campaign for attribution
     trackCampaignSource(entryData.campaign, entryData.creative_id);
   }
4. Test the payload — verify that the data is being received correctly by launching your game from a test ad and checking the payload values.

• Keep payloads small (a few key-value pairs). Large payloads add complexity without much benefit.
• Use consistent naming conventions across all campaigns so your analytics data is clean.
• Always handle the case where the payload is null or missing — not all players will arrive through a C2P ad.
• Log payload data to your analytics system so you can compare performance across campaigns and creative variations.

• Creative shows real, representative gameplay
• First 3 seconds are attention-grabbing
• Creative works with sound off (on-screen text, visual storytelling)
• Call-to-action is clear and prominent
• Creative accurately represents the game (no misleading elements)
• Tested on both mobile and desktop previews
• Correct aspect ratios for target placements (1:1, 9:16, 16:9)
• File size is within limits (under 30 MB for video)
• Custom payload is configured correctly (if applicable)
• A/B test variation is in place (if testing)