--- name: select-formats-and-placements description: >- Matches Meta ad format to placement before creative gets built: single image/video for one clear message, carousel (2-10 cards) for multiple products or a sequential how-to, collection plus Instant Experience for mobile catalog browsing. Specs each live placement's asset, Feed at 1:1 or 4:5, Stories and Reels at 9:16 with the top/bottom ~14% UI safe zones kept clear of text/logos, Reels shot native-vertical rather than reframed, and covers per-placement asset customization so one ad doesn't run a stretched or cropped default. Previews every live placement, not just one, before commit. Reach for it before any creative is produced for a new campaign, or when live creative shows visible cropping or UI-covered text on a placement. It ends at an approved format/placement plan and matching creative, it does not choose which placements serve automatically (enable-advantage-plus-placements) or build catalog/product-set mechanics (build-collection-ads-and-product-sets). --- # Select Ad Formats and Placements ## Purpose A single creative dropped into every placement is a wasted opportunity, Feed wants a square or portrait still frame, Stories and Reels want full-bleed vertical motion with nothing in the safe zones, and a carousel or collection format changes what story the ad can even tell. This skill maps the offer to the right format(s) and specs each placement's creative so nothing gets cropped, covered by UI, or built in a format the placement doesn't reward. ## When to run - Building creative for a new campaign before any asset is produced or uploaded. - An existing campaign runs a single format/ratio stretched across every placement, visible cropping, cut-off text, or UI covering the subject. - Deciding between single image/video, carousel, and collection for a given offer. ## When NOT to run - The question is which placements should be eligible to serve at all, hand that to Meta's automatic optimization via `enable-advantage-plus-placements`. - The format is already decided as collection and the need is catalog/product-set mechanics, `build-collection-ads-and-product-sets`. - The question is why a chosen format is underperforming on retention, not which format to pick, `improve-hook-rate-and-hold`. ## Prerequisites - The offer type decided: single product/message, multi-product, step-by-step process, or full catalog browse, this drives the format choice. - Source assets in high enough resolution to crop or reframe per placement without quality loss. - Placements already chosen or defaulted (Advantage+ Placements vs. manual), this skill specs creative for whichever placements are live; it doesn't choose them. ## Procedure 1. **Match offer to format.** One clear message or product → single image or video. Multiple products, sequential steps, or a how-to → carousel (2-10 cards). Full catalog browse on mobile → collection with an Instant Experience. 2. **List the live placements.** Confirm which surfaces are actually serving (Feed, Stories, Reels, in-stream, etc.) so every asset that needs building is accounted for, an unspecified placement falls back to a stretched or cropped default. 3. **Spec Feed assets.** 1:1 (square) or 4:5 (portrait), portrait claims more vertical scroll real estate on mobile Feed. Keep the subject centered enough to survive both crops if one asset must cover both. 4. **Spec Stories/Reels assets.** 9:16 full-bleed vertical, native-feeling motion, Reels-first means shooting vertical from the start, not cropping horizontal footage. Keep text, logos, and CTA elements out of the top/bottom ~14% safe zones, where Meta's own UI (profile, caption, CTA button) sits and will cover anything placed there. 5. **Build per-placement creative.** `mads_create_creative` per format/ratio needed, or one creative using placement asset customization when the account supports assigning specific images/videos to specific placement groups within a single ad. 6. **Keep on-screen text minimal everywhere**, and never rely on text that exists in only one crop, if the message depends on text, confirm it survives every ratio it will run in. 7. **Preview every live placement, not just one.** `mads_preview_creative` across each format, a Feed-only preview hides Stories/Reels cropping problems. 8. **Summarize and get approval.** Plain-English recap of the format/placement plan, which format per offer, which asset per placement, aspect ratios, safe-zone compliance, for explicit user approval, then commit the ads PAUSED. 9. **Confirm rendering post-commit** with another `mads_preview_creative` pass, a ratio mismatch often only shows up in the actual rendered preview. ## Decision rules - **Single clear message →** single image/video; **multiple products or steps →** carousel; **full mobile catalog browsing →** collection + Instant Experience (`build-collection-ads-and-product-sets` for the mechanics). - **Feed →** 1:1 or 4:5; **Stories/Reels →** 9:16 always, a horizontal (16:9) asset dropped in without reframing gets pillarboxed and loses most of the placement's impact. - **Safe zones are non-negotiable for Stories/Reels:** nothing load-bearing (text, logo, face, CTA) in the top/bottom ~14%, it will be covered by platform UI. - **Reels rewards native-vertical, motion-first content** shot for the format, not a repurposed Feed video letterboxed to fit, treat Reels as its own shoot when budget allows. - **Less on-screen text survives every placement better than more**, a text-heavy asset that reads fine in Feed often becomes unreadable at Stories/Reels scale. - **Done means:** every live placement has a correctly-ratioed, safe-zone-compliant asset, format matches offer type, preview confirms correct rendering per placement, and the user approved the plan before commit. ## Common failure modes - **A 1:1 image force-fit into Stories/Reels**, pillarboxed, tiny, ignored. - **Text or logo placed in the top/bottom safe zone**, covered by Meta's own UI. - **Carousel used for a single-message offer** with nothing to actually sequence, diluting the story across cards nobody swipes through. - **Horizontal footage submitted for a Reels-first plan** and reframed after the fact instead of shot vertical from the start. - **Previewing only the default/first placement** and missing a cropping problem on another surface. ## Related skills - Before: `produce-ugc-creative-brief` (specs the 9:16/format constraints this skill enforces at build time). - After: `enable-advantage-plus-placements` (advantage-plus) for automatic placement selection; `build-collection-ads-and-product-sets` (catalog-commerce) for collection/catalog mechanics. - Related: `run-creative-testing-framework` (format itself can be the one variable under test).