Meta’s Rolling Out More Variable Ad Display Options

Meta’s rolling out a new ad option called “Flexible Media”, which is its next step in enabling variable ad delivery approaches based on its systematic predictions of user response.

Okay, that was a bit of a jargonistic explainer. The more simple explanation is Meta’s looking to maximize ad performance by having more creative options that it can then display to different users.

On this front, Meta’s already pushing advertisers to utilize its automated Advantage+ campaign tools, which effectively choose which of your ads to show different users. It also has several ad options that can customize and personalize ad display, with Flexible Media playing another part in this.

As you can see in this example, posted by Bram Van Der Hallen, “Flexible Media” is showing up as an option to some advertisers on some Meta Ads campaigns.

As per the description:

“We’ll deliver the media you choose for placement groups across placements when it’s likely to improve performance.”

To be clear, this is different from “Flexible Ads”, which enable you to submit 10 images for an ad, with Meta’s system then able to pick and choose which images to show to each user.  

Flexible Media looks to be another variation on this, which would enable Meta’s system to use different images for different placement groups. So, essentially, you’d be giving Meta’s system permission to use different images for different ad types, as it sees fit.

As noted, it’s another step towards Meta fully automating ad campaigns, and displaying different ads to different users, relative to how its systems determine likely response. In other words, Meta’s seeking to automate more and more elements of your ad process, so that eventually, you won’t even need to come up with any element of your ad. You’ll just enter a URL, and Meta will do the rest.

Which likely feels like you’re giving over too much control to the system, but given that Meta’s ad targeting process is based on its system AI, which measures and tracks ad responses, it makes sense that it would also be able to help you reach a more receptive audience.

And you’re likely restricting that by manually choosing your audience.

So while it may feel wrong, and like you’re not utilizing your audience knowledge for ad targeting, it’s likely worth experimenting with Meta’s automated ad options, and seeing whether they drive better results. Flexible Media looks to be another part of this, giving Meta’s systems more options on which ads and ad displays it can show to users.