Facebook ads can be a powerful marketing tool, but it’s important to create them the right way. This post goes over four visual elements that are essential to the success of ads on Facebook.

Appropriate Fonts and Text

Some people are tempted to shrink the letters of their Facebook ads’ text to squeeze in more information. Don’t make this mistake. Customers probably won’t bother squinting or zooming in to examine text that is too small to read easily; instead, they’ll just ignore your ad. The same goes for illegible font styles: Stick with tried-and-true, easy-to-read fonts.

Go Dark

Facebook ads work best when they use dark colors. That’s because they will appear on the white background of Facebook, meaning a lightly colored ad has a very poor chance of standing out. According to Nadya Khoja, who tested different ad styles for the Social Media Examiner, the use of a darker background color resulted in 136 percent more clicks than an average sample ad.

This doesn’t mean your ads have to be completely dark. If you want lighter elements, consider placing light, eye-catching text over a dark background.

A Product Image

Customers will want to see what you’re trying to sell. Imagine a business that sells kitchenware: An attractive picture of the business’s specific knives, spatulas, and the like will probably be more effective than less relevant, more generic stock imagery. Even if your business is peddling a creative product or service, you can still include an image. For instance, a graphic designer might incorporate a sample of their work in the ad. 

Graphics and Icons

Graphics and icons are the final visual ingredient of successful Facebook ads. They can be used to direct the viewer’s attention to where you want them to look. For example, a small, colorful icon could be placed next to a low price to make people more likely to notice how low the price is. Graphics and icons can also provide context to quickly help the viewer identify what the ad is about.