Note: The brands featured herein are meant to serve as compelling examples, and are not Nanigans customers unless expressly noted.

What Are Unpublished Page Posts?

Facebook’s Unpublished Page Post Ads (or Dark Page Post Ads, as they’re sometimes called) allow you to amplify your Facebook Page posts by turning them into ad units and targeting them to a broader audience. However, these posts do not appear on your Facebook Page itself, which is why they’re “unpublished.” They do appear in the Newsfeed of mobile and desktop devices, and in the right-hand side column on desktop.

The Benefits Of Unpublished Page Posts

One of the most obvious benefits of Unpublished Page Posts is that they seamlessly fit in with organic content. That means when users scroll through their Newsfeed, your Unpublished Page Posts will flow right alongside other Facebook posts in the feed. This native appearance can increase viewership and be less obtrusive to audiences.

Unpublished Page Posts are great for improving social engagement — including comments, likes and shares. They’re also useful when you want to target a specific group with a deal or offer. For example, if you want to promote a flash sale on women’s shoes, you can create an Unpublished Page Post targeted just towards your female followers. That level of targeting and reach would not be available if you shared the deal as an organic post.

Unpublished Page Post Specs And Other Requirements

Unpublished Page Posts can include a link, a photo, a video, or just text. When using a photo or video, Facebook recommends the following:

Link Ads

• Link ads are clickable everywhere, so users can visit your site by clicking on your ad’s image. They can feature either a photo or video.
• Recommended News Feed image size: 1,200 x 628 pixels
• News Feed image ratio: 1.9:1
• Text: 90 characters
• Headline: 25 characters
• Link Description: 30 characters
• Text: 90 characters (longer posts may be truncated on small screens)
• Your image may not include more than 20% text. 

 Photo Ads

• The images in photo ads aren’t clickable, so users must click on a URL included in your copy to go to your site
• Recommended News Feed image size: 1,200 x 900 pixels
• News Feed image ratio: 4:3
• Right column image size: 254 x 133 pixels
• Right column image ratio: 1.9:1
• Text: 90 characters (longer posts may be truncated on small screens)
• Your image may not include more than 20% text

 Video Ads

• The video in video ads aren’t clickable, so users must click on a URL included in your copy to go to your site
• Text: 90 characters (longer posts may be truncated on small screens)
• Headline: 25 characters
• Thumbnail image size: should match the aspect ratio of your video. Your thumbnail image may not include more than 20% text.
• Video: H.264 video compression, high profile preferred, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan
• Format: .mp4 container ideally with leading mov atom, no edit lists
• Recommended Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 / 4:3 / SDTV, 1.375:1 / film, 1.77 / 16.9 / HDTV, 1.85:1 / Film, 2:39:1 or 2:40:1 / Widescreen, no pillar boxing or letter boxing
• Audio: Stereo AAC audio compression, 128kbps + preferred
• File Size: Up to 1.75GB max
• Bitrate: No limit to bitrate file if you’re using two pass encoding, as long as long as your file doesn’t exceed 1 GB. Otherwise, 8 megabits per second for 1080p and 4 megabits per second for 720p.
• Length: 45 minutes max

Unpublished Page Post Examples And Why They Work On Facebook

BarkBox

BarkBox makes its desktop Unpublished Page Post ad look like organic content with candid creative that appears to be from one of its satisfied customers. The ad’s copy also reinforces this friendly, laid-back appeal. Because BarkBox made its ad look like other Facebook posts, it will be unobtrusive and fit right in with other content as users scroll through posts from their friends.

JetBlue

JetBlue‘s desktop video ad (which you can view in full here) doesn’t overload viewers with every benefit of the airline. Instead, it has a tone that is just as fun and silly as the video’s star, Patriots football player Rob Gronkowski. This makes the video more like the other viral videos that usually populate Facebook Newsfeeds, increasing its chances of being shared and liked. After all, every ad doesn’t have to be a laundry list of why your business is great. Sometimes short, fun, snackable ads are the most memorable.

Pebble

Pebble‘s Unpublished Page Post for mobile is simple, sleek and to the point. The ad showcases three of its watches in an uncluttered, catalog style, which allows the products to speak for themselves. Pebble also includes link copy in the style of a news headline, making it look like the shared news stories which regularly pop up on Facebook Newsfeeds. This no-frills style works especially well on small mobile screens, where clean-cut minimalist design tends to resonate especially well.