Meet the new and improved Facebook Instant Experiences (formerly known as Canvas)

Facebook has decided to rename its Canvas ad format and along with the name change come a few new features.

If for some rare and unexplained reason you haven’t heard of Facebook Canvas, here’s a recap:

“Facebook Instant Experiences, formally known as Canvas, load instantly, they’re mobile-optimised and designed to capture the complete attention of your audience. Within an Instant Experience, people can watch engaging videos and photos, swipe through carousels, tilt to pan and explore lifestyle images with tagged products – all in a single ad.”

Facebook Canvas launched back in February 2016, but it wasn’t until September last year with the addition of templates, that the format really took off. This new format enabled brands to create full-screen ads and really go wild. The creative options within the ad format are almost endless and many brands are reaping the benefits.

What’s that? You’ve never done an Instant Experience ad? Well then, read on and see why you most certainly should!

The number of Facebook campaigns using Instant Experiences has more than doubled in the past year and the reason behind this might be quite a simple one – Instant Experiences load 15x faster than standard mobile websites.

The new template, Instant Forms, allows people to easily share their contact information to learn more about your brands offering. The additional template will be joining the existing Instant Storefront, Instant Lookbook, Instant Customer Acquisition and Instant Storytelling. Facebook also announced that the Facebook pixel will now be added to Instant Experiences automatically for any business that’s already using the pixel on its website.

Advertisers can also embed third-party pixels in the ads enabling them to really dig into the data. But ultimately, they’ll be able to retarget customers who have engaged with their Instant Experiences.

So, there you have it, if that hasn’t convinced you to try out this magic ad format then I don’t know what will.

Latest Posts

The social media landscape has undergone another seismic shift, and brands that fail to recognise the growing trust gap between marketers and consumers risk being left behind – that’s according to Brandwatch’s 2026 State of Social report. Analysing 910 million online mentions, Brandwatch has found that brands…
Read More
Make social the engine room of growth I’m thrilled budgets are shifting to social; I’m less thrilled by the pressure on lean teams. The board isn’t being awkward, they’re being rational. They want growth. If social now commands a bigger slice of spend, the plumbing must match the promise.
Read More
TikTok has just announced the latest round of creators and organisations taking part in its “Change Makers” programme – and if you’re into content that actually makes a difference, this is something worth knowing about. At its core, the Change Makers programme is all…
Read More