Tech Update: Facebook Removes 20% Text Rule for Advertisers
Copywriters & creative teams, rejoice!
Facebook is lifting its 20% text rule on advertising images!
What’s the 20% text rule, you ask? Well, if you weren’t previously aware (perhaps your graphics were denied and you didn’t know why), Facebook placed limitations on the amount of text placed in an image. This forced creative teams to consider how to present important information in a concise way.
The issue with this system was that the Facebook algorithm didn’t actually weight the size of the image with the text in a true 20:80 ratio. Instead, a 5×5 grid was applied to the image. Five grid squares were then considered the max on 20% limitations. Any text placed in the 6th grid square lead to a denied ad. The rule was less about the amount of text, and more about where the text was actually placed. Talk about encountering textual difficulties!
How does this affect your Facebook advertising creative? Well, to be quite honest, it doesn’t. Sorry, we know you were looking for a more optimistic answer!
While your ads will no longer be denied for containing more than 20% text, any ads containing more than 20% text will be held back from high performance by the algorithm. As Facebook continues to roll out this change, images will be rated on a “Ok, Low, Medium, High” scale.
One thing is clear: the less text you place on an image, the better it will perform.
So, we’re trading (questionable) confidence with the 20% rule, for more creative options with more ambiguous performance predictability.
Our recommendation is to still function as though the 20% rule is in place. You no longer need to worry about the exact placement of the text in order to meet those limitations, but refrain from adding long, convoluted verbiage. Instead, use the limitless space of the status and a smart headline to get your information across.
As the old adage goes: less is more – and Facebook seems to think so too.
