Fundamentals of Social Media Advertising

Fundamentals of Social Media Advertising Course

Syllabus

This course takes a deep dive into paid advertising on social media. Learn how
to start advertising on platforms like Facebook and Instagram by developing
effective ads. Learn how to work with design teams by capturing the essence of
your ad campaign in a creative brief, and understand how privacy policies may
affect your ads. Complete the course with a project where you will produce a
creative brief with assets you would deliver to a design team for your ad
campaign. You’ll also create your first social media ad. 

This course is intended for people who want to learn how to create and manage
ads on social media. Learners don't need marketing experience, but they have
basic internet navigation skills and are eager to participate and connect in social
media.  Having a Facebook or Instagram account helps and ideally learners have
already completed course 1 (Introduction to Social Media Marketing) and 2
(Social Media Management) in this program.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course you will be able to:

 Determine why and when to invest in paid advertising on social media 

 Understand the anatomy of a social media ad and how they differ from
organic posts
 Evaluate on which platforms to run social media ad campaigns and what
makes an ad effective
 Craft compelling and effective visuals and copy for social media ads
 Learn how to collaborate effectively with others through creative briefs
  Build foundational understanding for data, data-based advertising and
privacy protection
 Build an ad directly from your Facebook Business Page and your Instagram
Business Account
 Use Instagram Stories Ads effectively to connect with customers
 Write a creative brief and create a social media ad

Introduction to Social Media Marketing Overview

By the end of each week you will be able to to: 

Week 1: Introduction to Social Media Advertising 

 Determine why and when to invest in paid advertising on social media 

 Understand the similarities and differences between organic posts and paid
ads on social media
 Evaluate on which platforms to run social media ad campaigns
 Understand the anatomy of a social media ad
 Evaluate the effectiveness of a social media ad

Week 2: Creating Effective Ads on Social Media

 Understand how a business objective influences how to evaluate the

success of a social media ad campaign
 Create compelling visuals for social media ads
 Craft effective copy for social media ads
 Understand different team setups and roles in social media marketing
 Learn how to collaborate effectively with others through creative briefs

Week 3: Data, Privacy and Policies on Social Media

 Get an overview of data-based advertising and how and what types of data
is collected online
  Know who and how data is collected and stored online
 Get a basic understanding for data protection laws (GDPR, CCPA, COPPA)
 Learn how the digital advertising industry regulates data usage
 Know why and how companies implement data policies

Week 4: Getting Started with Advertising on Facebook and Instagram

 Build an ad from your Facebook Business Page

 Choose the right Facebook ad objective for your business goal
 Build an ad from your Instagram Business Account
 Use Instagram Stories Ads to connect with customers on Instagram

Week 5: Create a Creative Brief for your Social Media Ad

 Write a creative brief and create a social media ad

 Write a comprehensive and actionable creative brief for a social media ad
 Translate the creative brief into a social media ad applying the best
practices taught in this course

Projects and Quizzes

Week 1: Introduction to Social Media Advertising 

Introduction to Social Media Advertising Quiz

 For this quiz you will answer questions based on your knowledge of core
advertising principles and using social media ads.

Week 2: Creating Effective Ads on Social Media

Creating Effective Ads on Social Media Quiz

  In this quiz, you will answer questions based on what you’ve learned around
aligning an ad with business objectives, creating effective ad visuals and
copy, and collaborating with other teams on ad development.

Week 3: Data, Privacy and Policies on Social Media

Data, Privacy, and Policies on Social Media Quiz

 This week’s quiz will test your knowledge of data collection on social media
and data protection laws, regulations, and platform policies.

Week 4: Getting Started with Advertising on Facebook and Instagram

Getting Started with Advertising on Facebook and Instagram Quiz

 This week, you’ll be tested on your knowledge of building an ad on

Facebook and Instagram.

Week 5: Create a Creative Brief for your Social Media Ad

Create a Creative Brief for your Social Media Ad Project

 In this last week, you will apply what you’ve learned throughout the course
in a project where you will write up a creative brief and build an ad on a
social media platform either using a template or on your platform of choice.

Overview of Ad Formats on Different Social Media

Platforms

There are several different types of ads to choose from when advertising on
social media. Most ads consist of some form of visual and text. But the variety of
combinations of those two things allows you to pick and tailor the perfect ad
format to achieve your goals. Let’s take a look at specific ad formats available on
Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest, and
Tiktok, respectively. 
Facebook 
Facebook is the world’s largest social media platform. As such, it’s able to take
data from its 2.7 billion active monthly users and turn it into an intelligent
advertising system that allows marketers to target audiences more precisely than
ever before. Let’s take a look at the kinds of ads that you can create on
Facebook and Messenger. 

Image Ads 

Image ads are some of the most common ads that appear on social media. They
incorporate an eye-catching photo, overlaid with little-to-no text on the image
itself. Image ads can be easier to make and accompanied by a caption and call-
to-action button.

You can choose where you’d like your image ad to appear: in the Facebook feed,
the Facebook right column, Facebook Instant Articles, Facebook search results,
and more. Design specifications vary based on ad placement, in addition to
desktop and mobile layouts. 

Design recommendations for Image Ads on Facebook Feed that can appear on
desktop or mobile are as follows:

Design Recommendations

 File type: jpg or png

 Image ratio: 1.91:1 to 4:5
 Recommended resolution: Upload the highest-resolution image available. 
 Images that consist of more than 20% text may experience reduced
delivery. 
 Primary text: 125 characters.

With link
  Image ratio: 1.91:1 to 1:1
 Recommended resolution: at least 1,080 X 1,080 px
 Headline: 25 characters
 Description: 30 characters

For more information on Facebook’s recommended specifications for Image Ads,

you can access Design Recommendations and technical requirements here and
then further specify by Ad Placement. 

For Facebook’s best practices when creating image ads, click here. For more
information on incorporating text into image ads, click here. 

Video Ads

Video ads are typically short-form and attention-grabbing. They’re also a great
way to tell your brand’s story. With mobile-video consumption rising by 100%
every year, video ads are a must for marketers. 

Here is a table of Facebook’s video ad requirements organized by ad placement.

This table can also be accessed here. 

For more information on Facebook’s recommended best practices for video ads,
you can access this link. 

Carousel Ads

Facebook Carousel Ads allow you to incorporate 2-10 images or videos called
“cards” within a single advertisement. Each image or video includes an individual
link. The Carousel format is an especially great way to advertise more than one
product, create a slideshow effect using multiple images, tell a story in several
pictures or videos, or highlight different aspects of your brand. 
Let’s take a look at the design recommendations for a Carousel Ad that appears
in the Facebook feed: 

Design Recommendations

 Minimum number of cards: 2

 Maximum number of cards: 10
 Landing page url: required
 Image file type: jpg or png
 Video file type: Supported file formats
 Video maximum file size: 4 GB
 Video length: up to 240 minutes
 Image maximum file size: 30 MB
 Recommended resolution: at least 1080 x 1080 px
 Recommended ratio: 1:1
 Primary text: 125 characters
 Headline: 25 characters
 Description: 20 characters
 Landing page link: required
 Images that consist of more than 20% text may experience reduced
delivery.

Carousel Ads design recommendations and technical requirements for various

ad placements can be accessed here. For more information on Facebook’s best
practices for Carousel Ads, click here. 

Collection Ads 

Collection ads incorporate images and videos into a single package. They’re
especially well-suited for showcasing brand collections made up of several
products. Collection ads start with a cover image or video as a first visual, which
is then accompanied by multiple images of various products. When clicked on,
collection ads lead users to an Instant Experience, which takes the form of a full-
screen ad. Collection ads appear on a user’s feed.

Design Recommendations

 Image or video: The cover image or video that is displayed in your collection
ad uses the first media asset from your Instant Experience. Vertical images
or videos may be masked to a max. 1:1 ratio in users’ feed
 Headline: 25 characters
 Primary text: 90 characters

More information on best practices for Collection Ads can be found here. 

Instagram
Instagram, the second-most logged-into daily app in the world. It’s an extremely
visual social media platform that allows its users to share photos and video
content via Feeds, Stories, Instagram Live, and Instagram TV features. It’s
owned by Facebook and reached over a billion monthly users in 2018. You can
place ads in the Instagram Feed, Instagram Stories, and in Instagram Explore. 

Image Ads

Image ads on Instagram maintain the spirit of the app: high-quality, captivating
images that grab users’ attention and promote your brand and products. These
ads can appear in Instagram Feed, Instagram Stories, and Instagram Explore.
Image ads in Instagram Stories appear as full-screen vertical ads in between
Instagram user stories and typically last for 5 seconds.  

Design recommendations for Image Ads on Instagram Feed are as follows:

  File type: jpg or png
 Recommended resolution: Upload the highest-resolution image available
that meets ratio requirements.
 Text: Two rows of text will be displayed.

Design recommendations for Image Ads on Instagram Stories are as

follows:

Consider leaving roughly 14% (250 pixels) of the top and bottom of the video free
from text, logos, or other key creative elements to avoid covering them with the
profile icon or call to action. This means, if your image is 1080x1920, ensure that
key elements appear within a 1080x1420 title-safe area.

 Image ratios: 9:16 and 16:9 to 4:5

Design recommendations for Image Ads on Instagram Explore are as

follows:

Your ads in Explore will appear on Instagram in the same format as your ads in
the Instagram feed.

 File type: jpg or png

 Recommended resolution: Upload the highest-resolution image available
that meets ratio requirements.
 Text: Only one row of text will display.

Design recommendations, as well as technical requirements, can be accessed

here. 

For best practices for Image Ads on Instagram, click here. 

Video Ads 

These ads can appear in Instagram Feed, Instagram Stories, and Instagram
Explore and incorporate dynamic video content. 
Design recommendations for Video Ads on Instagram Feed are as follows:

Upload the highest-resolution source video available without letter or pillar boxing
(no black bars). Most file types are supported. However, we recommend H.264
compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan and stereo AAC
audio compression at 128+ kbps.

 Recommended resolution: Upload the highest resolution video available that

meets file size and ratio limits.
 Video captions: Optional
 Video length: 1 to 120 seconds
 Text: Two rows of text will be displayed. 
 Video thumbnail images that consist of more than 20% text may experience
reduced delivery. 

Design recommendations for Video Ads on Instagram Stories are as

follows:

Upload the highest-resolution source video available without letter or pillar boxing
(no black bars). Most file types are supported. However, we recommend H.264
compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan and stereo AAC
audio compression at 128+ kbps.

Consider leaving roughly 14% (250 pixels) of the top and bottom of the video free
from text and logos to avoid covering these key elements with the profile icon or
call to action. This means, if your video is 1080x1920, ensure that key elements
appear within a 1080x1420 title-safe area.

 Video ratios: 9:16 and 16:9 to 4:5

 Video length: 1 to 120 seconds
 Video captions: Optional
 Video sound: Optional
Design recommendations for Video Ads on Instagram Explore are as
follows:

Upload the highest-resolution source video available without letter or pillar boxing
(no black bars). Most file types are supported. However, we recommend H.264
compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan and stereo AAC
audio compression at 128+ kbps.

 Recommended resolution: Upload the highest resolution video available that

meets file size and ratio limits.
 Video captions: Optional
 Video length: 1 to 120 seconds
 Text: Only one row of text will display. 
 Video thumbnail images that consist of more than 20% text may experience
reduced delivery. 

Design recommendations, as well as technical requirements, can be accessed

here.

For best practices for Video Ads on Instagram, click here. 

Click here to view a chart of the different video requirements across ad

placements. 

Instagram Carousel Ads 

Carousel Ads are also available on Instagram and they can appear on Instagram
Feed and/or Instagram Stories. For Carousel ads, you can incorporate 2-10
images or videos. 

Design recommendations for Carousel Ads on Instagram Feed are as

follows:
Selecting the Instagram Feed placement will allow members of your audience to
see your ad within their Instagram app feed.

The carousel format allows you to showcase up to ten images or videos within a
single ad, each with its own link. With more creative space within an ad, you can
highlight different products, showcase specific details about one product, service
or promotion, or tell a story about your brand that develops across each carousel
card.

 Minimum number of cards: 2

 Maximum number of cards: 10
 Landing page url: required
 Image file type: jpg or png
 Video file type: Supported file formats
 Video maximum file size: 4 GB
 Video length: up to 60 seconds
 Recommended resolution: at least 1080 x 1080 px
 Carousel ratio: 1:1
 Text: Two rows of text will be displayed.
 Headline: One row of text will display.
 Images that consist of more than 20% text may experience reduced
delivery.

Design recommendations for Carousel Ads on Instagram Stories are as

follows:

Consider leaving roughly 14% (250 pixels) of the top and bottom of the image or
video free from text and logos to avoid covering these key elements with the
profile icon or call to action.

 Minimum number of cards: 2

 Maximum number of cards: 10
  Maximum video duration per card: 120 seconds
 Ratio: 9:16 and 16:9 to 4:5
 Recommended resolution: 1080x1920
 Aspect ratio tolerance: 1%

Design recommendations, as well as technical requirements, can be accessed

here. 

For best practices for Stories on Instagram, click here. 

YouTube
YouTube is the largest video-sharing platform in the world and the second-most
popular search engine after its parent company Google. Users can create and/or
view videos on a variety of topics. YouTube has 2 billion monthly active users
and offers different ad formats that incorporate well into its video platform. 

Ad format Placement Platform Specs

Appears to the right of the

feature video and above the
300x250 or
Display ads video suggestions list. For Desktop
300x60
larger players, this ad may
appear below the player.

Semi-transparent overlay ads 468x60 or

Overlay ads that appear on the lower 20% Desktop 728x90 image
portion of your video. ads or text

Skippable Skippable video ads allow Desktop, Plays in video

video ads viewers to skip ads after 5 mobile player.
seconds, if they choose. devices, TV,
Inserted before, during, or after and game
 Ad format Placement Platform Specs

the main video.If you turn on

this option, you may see a
consoles
combination of skippable and
bumper ads play back to back. 

Plays in video
Non-skippable video ads must player.15 or 20
Non- be watched before your video Desktop and seconds in
skippable can be viewed.These ads can mobile length,
video ads appear before, during, or after devices depending on
the main video.  regional
standards.

Non-skippable video ads of up

to 6 seconds that must be
watched before your video can Desktop and Plays in video
Bumper ads be viewed.If you turn on this mobile player, up to 6
option, you may see a devices seconds long
combination of skippable and
bumper ads play back to back. 

Sponsored cards display

content that may be relevant to
your video, such as products
featured in the video.Viewers Desktop and
Sponsored
will see a teaser for the card for mobile Card sizes vary
cards
a few seconds. They can also devices
click the icon in the top right
corner of the video to browse
the cards.

Source: Table provided by Google

Twitter
Twitter is a fast-paced social platform that focuses on trending topics, current
events and in-the-moment discussions. Posts on Twitter are called tweets, which
are limited to 280 characters. Not only did Twitter reach over 330 million monthly
active users in 2019, but its users also post more than on other platforms.

Twitter offers several different ad formats that incorporate images, text, video,
hashtags, emojis, and more. Let’s take a look at the following four categories of
Twitter ad formats: Promoted Tweet, Video Ads, Cards, and Brand ads. 

Promoted Tweet

Promote existing tweets or specifically created ads in order to reach more people
on Twitter. Promoted tweets can be in the following formats:

 Promoted Text
 Promoted Image
 Promoted GIF
 Promoted Poll
 Promoted Account 

The Design recommendations for a Promoted Image on Twitter are as

follows:

 Tweet copy: 280 characters. Each link used reduces character county by 23
characters, leaving only 257 characters for your Twitter copy.

 Image width/height: We recommend a minimum width of 600 pixels,

although larger images (i.e. 1200 pixel images) will be better optimized for
when users click to expand images. Any height is acceptable, although if the
height exceeds the width, we will crop to 1:1.

Aspect ratio
  Desktop: Any aspect between 2:1 and 1:1 is acceptable. For example, 1200
X 600 (2:1), 1200 X 800 (3:2) or 1200 X 1200 (1:1). After 16:9 aspect ratio
(for example, 1200 X 1400) we’ll crop to a 16:9 aspect ratio.
 Mobile: 16:9

Design recommendations for all different kinds of promoted tweets can be

accessed here. 

Video Ads

Video ads on Twitter incorporate video content and come in various formats
intended to control when and where your video ad will appear to Twitter users.
They are a great way to showcase your brand and attract users’ attention to your
ads. Twitter offers the following kinds of video ads:

 Promoted Video
 Amplify Pre-roll
 Amplify Sponsorship
 First View
 Promoted Live Video/Periscope. 

The Promoted Video option is Twitter’s most popular and proven ad solution.
These ads can appear and autoplay in a user’s Timeline. If the video is shorter
than 60 seconds, it will loop as a viewer watches. Twitter also strongly
recommends including closed captioning or text overlays in video ads.

The Design recommendations for a Promoted Video on Twitter are as

follows:

 Tweet copy: 280 characters. Each link used reduces character county by 23
characters, electing 257 characters for Twitter copy.
 File size: Max 1GB
 Video length: Recommended 15 seconds or less. Max 2 minutes and 20
seconds. Select advertisers are eligible to request an increase up to 10
 minutes. Please contact your Twitter Account Manager for more
information. 
 File types: MP4 or MOV

Video bitrate recommendation

 6,000 - 10,000k (recommended 6,000k) for 1080p

 5,000k - 8,000k (recommended 5,000k) for 720p

 Frame rate recommendation: 29.97FPS or 30FPS. Higher is acceptable. If

the available video has a lower frame rate don’t try to “upsample” it.
 Audio codec recommendation: AAC LC (low complexity)
 Video codec recommendation: h264, baseline, main or high profile with a
4:2:0 color space

Video aspect ratio:

 1:1 is recommended as it will always render as a square on desktop and

mobile, timeline and profile.
 This and 9:16 (vertical) will take up the same amount of real estate - which
is more than 16:9.
 Upon tap, full screen will open and fill with black bars.
 Any aspect between 2:1 and 1:1 is acceptable, but after 1:1, the platform will
crop to 1:1 aspect ratio.
 9:16 (vertical) will always render in a 1:1 space on desktop and mobile,
timeline and profile.
 The desktop will have black bars on the sides once the video begins
playing.
 Mobile will crop the top and bottom of the video, center, and autoplay
without bars.

Recommended size:

 1200 x 1200 (minimum for 1:1 is 600 x 600)

 Any height is acceptable, but if the height exceeds the width, the video will
be cropped to 1:1 in the feed.
  If not a 1:1 aspect ratio: 640x360 minimum

Thumbnail

 Supported Files: PNG or JPEG

 Aspect Ratio: recommend matching sizing of the video
 Minimum size: 640 pixels by 360 pixels
 Max Size: 5MB

Other types of video ad formats available on Twitter include the following:

 Amplify Pre-roll: allows you to align your brand with brand-safe content
that your customers are already watching. 
 Amplify Sponsorship: allows you to build brand association by aligning
yourself with a publisher through a one-to-one sponsorship package. 
 First View: a premium, 24-hours long ad package intended for mass
awareness and maximum impressions. 
 Promoted Live Video/Periscope: allows you to maximize live video
content and interact with your audience in real-time; recommended for
launches of new products, etc.

Design recommendations for all different kinds of video ads on Twitter can be
accessed here.

Cards

Twitter’s Card ad formats are specific image or video ads that drive users to take
a certain action such as visiting a brand’s website, downloading an app,
encouraging users to send direct messages to brands, or tweet at brands to
become a part of a particular conversation or to unlock certain deals and offers.
These cards come in five different formats:

 Website Card
 App Card
  Direct Message Card
 Conversation Card 
 Tweet to Unlock. 

Here’s an example of the design recommendations for a Website Card ad: 

 Tweet copy: 280 characters

 Website title length: 70 characters. Depending on device and app settings,
this description may truncate. Up to two lines of text are rendered on the
card title; any text beyond that is truncated with an ellipsis. Although not
guaranteed, limiting the description to 50 characters should ensure that
truncation won’t occur across most devices.

Image size:

 800 x 418 pixels for 1.91:1 aspect ratio

 800 x 800 pixels for 1:1 aspect ratio (Max 3MB)
 Image aspect ratio: 1.91:1 or 1:1
 Image file size: Max file size 20MB
 Image file types: PNG and JPEG are recommended. We do not accept BMP
or TIFF files

For more information on the different kinds of Cards and their design
recommendations, click here. 

Brand

Brand format ads on Twitter come in various forms that all help to amplify your
brand’s presence on the social media platform. These types of ads incorporate
features that can be personalized to your brand. Twitter offers the following
brand-focused ad formats:

 Branded emojis: specific emojis designed for your brand that can be used
whenever your hashtag appears on Twitter. 
  Brand reminders: enables a third-party application to automatically tweet a
mention from your brand to thank users who interact with your brand’s call-
to-action tweets. 
 Promoted Moments: allows marketers to publish a group of tweets
intended to tell a story, enabling brands to share a message about
themselves in more than 280 characters. 
 Promoted Trends: allows brands to appear as the top trending topic for 24
hours in order to maximize awareness. 
 Promoted Trend Spotlight: allows brands’ video ads to appear in premium
spots in Twitter’s Explore feature. 

Here’s an example of the design recommendations for a branded emoji:

 Up to 5 #Hashtags associate with Emoji.

 Any desired hashtag cannot exceed 250 mentions on Twitter over the last
30 days, unless directly related to brand conversation (more than 70%).
 Emoji design must be designed at 72x72 pixels, and must be clearly visible
at 16x16.
 Can be displayed on light or dark background; recommend not using all light
colors - won’t be visible in the timeline.
 Simplicity is key! Keep details to a minimum to maximize message and to
make sure it doesn't get lost when minimized
 No multiple faces/logos - these become too small and indistinguishable at
16x16

For more details on these types of ad formats and their specifications, click here. 

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a social media platform intended for working professionals and
businesses, serving as a professional networking site and a platform for job
searches and hiring. As of 2020, LinkedIn has more than 310 million active users
and makes up a large portion of business-to-business interaction online. Ad
formats available on LinkedIn include the following: Sponsored Content,
Sponsored InMail, and Text Ads. Let’s take a closer look. 

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content ads appear in the LinkedIn feed and can be as diverse as
any organic content available on LinkedIn. Brands can share website links,
images, video and messages to potential customers as they normally would, but
promote these posts to expand reach and awareness. 

LinkedIn Ad Specs for Sponsored Content:

 Title: 70 characters or fewer

 Intro Copy: 150 characters or fewer
 Display Image: 200px or more (1200x627 recommended)

To learn more about Sponsored Content ads, click here. 

Sponsored InMail

Sponsored InMail ads take advantage of LinkedIn’s inbox system and allow
advertisers to tailor messages specifically to their intended recipients. 

LinkedIn Ad Specs for Sponsored InMail:

 Sender Name: 25 character maximum suggested

 Subject Line: 30 character maximum suggested
 Body Copy: 1000 character maximum suggested
 CTA Button Copy: 25 character maximum suggested
 Banner Ad Dimensions: 300x250, .jpg/.gif/.png, 40 kb or fewer

To learn more about Sponsored InMail ads, click here. 

Text Ads

These are streamlined text-only ads that LinkedIn offers on a pay-per-click basis
that appear inline or on the side rail of the LinkedIn website as users are online. 

LinkedIn Ad Specs for Text Ads:

 Headline: 25 characters or fewer

 Description: 75 characters or fewer
 Image (optional): 50x50

For more information on best practices for LinkedIn Text ads, click here. 

For further reading on LinkedIn’s ad formats and specs, click here. 

Snapchat
Snapchat is a visual-focused social platform that allows users to send “Snaps” to
each other. Snaps come in the form of photo or video content that disappear
after a short amount of time. Users are also able to create Stories updates. Ad
formats available on Snapchat include Single Image or Video ads that can be
enhanced by features such as Filters and Lenses. Snapchat offers ad
placements in Stories and the Snapchat Discover section and includes options
for shoppable ad formats and non-skippable six-second commercial ads. 

Single Image or Video Ad

Single Image or Video ad formats appear as full-screen mobile ads that appear in
between Snapchat user content, for example, in-between stories. These ads can
take on a variety of forms apart from just photos or videos, including gifs,
cinemagraphs, stop-motion and more. Ads on Snapchat can be up to 3 minutes
long, but marketers are recommended to keep their ads between 3-5 seconds. 
Ads can be enhanced with Filters, which are overlays that increase an artistic
effect on image or video content, or with Lenses, which apply augmented reality
effects to content. 

The following are specs for ads on Snapchat:

Full-Screen Canvas:

 1080 x 1920px
 9:16 aspect ratio
 Scaled proportionally to the original asset

Length:

 3 to 180 seconds

File Format:

 Video: .mp4 or .mov and H.264 encoded

 Image: .jpg or .png (Ads Manager only)
 Storage Aspect Ratio (SAR): 9:16
 Display Aspect Ratio (DAR): 9:16
 Pixel Aspect Ratio (PAR): 1:1

File Size:

 Video: 1 GB or less
 Image: 5 MB or less

Audio:

 Must utilize 2 channels (left and right) in a balanced way throughout

 Audio target level should be- 16 LUFS
 PCM or AAC codec
  192 minimum kbps
 16 or 24 bit only

Photo Image Requirements 

The image will be converted into a video of 5 second duration.

 Image format: PNG or JPEG

 Minimum image size: 1080 x 1920px
 If you’re uploading an image or video that is not 1080x1920 you’ll have the
ability to crop it to meet the specifications
 Required Image Ratio: 9:16
 Maximum file size: 5MB

For more information on Snapchat ad specs, click here. 

For Snapchat ad best practices, click here. 

Pinterest
A visual social media platform designed for creating inspiration and mood
boards, virtual scrapbooks and references around a particular theme. Images
and videos posted on Pinterest by users and brands appear as Pins. 

Image Ad

Most Pins on Pinterest are images that users have virtually dog-eared. The most
common ads on Pinterest are Standard Pins or Promoted Pins which very much
resemble organic content but may have been paid for to be promoted and push
awareness, traffic and revenue. Pins can be made Shoppable so that users can
click on the product image and get directed to a landing page for purchasing. 
The following are design recommendations for Standard and Promoted
Pins:

Images

 File type: PNG or JPEG

 Max file size: 32 MB
 Aspect ratio: We recommend using a 2:3 aspect ratio, or 1000 x 1500
pixels. Pins with an aspect ratio that's greater than 2:3 might get cut off in
people's feeds.

Character counts

 Title: Up to 100 characters. If you don’t fill out a title, people will see your Pin
description instead.
 Description: Up to 500 characters. The first 50-60 characters are most likely
to show up in people’s feeds, so put your most important info first.

Video Ad

Ads that incorporate attention-grabbing auto-play video content shown to users

as they explore Pinterest. These ads can include standard, vertical video or a
maximum width format that appear in user feeds. 

The following are design recommendations for Video ads at standard

width:

Videos:

 File type: .mp4, .mov or .m4v

 Encoding: H.264 or H.265
 Max file size: Up to 2GB
 Video length: Minimum 4 seconds, maximum 15 minutes
  Aspect ratio: Shorter than 1:2 (width:height), taller than 1.91:1. We
recommend making your videos square (1:1) or vertical (2:3, 9:16).

Character counts:

 Title: Up to 100 characters. If you don’t fill out a title, people will see your Pin
description instead.
 Description: Up to 500 characters. The first 50-60 characters are most likely
to show up in people’s feeds, so put your most important info first.

The following are design recommendations for Video ads at maximum

width:

Videos

 File type: .mp4, .mov or .m4v

 Encoding: H.264 or H.265
 Max file size: 2GB or less
 Video length: Minimum 4 seconds, maximum 15 minutes
 Aspect ratio: Square (1:1) or widescreen (16:9). Note that max. width videos
can't exceed the height of a 1:1 aspect ratio.

Character counts

 Title: Up to 100 characters. If you don’t fill out a title, people will see your Pin
description instead.
 Description: Up to 500 characters. The first 50-60 characters are most likely
to show up in people’s feeds, so put your most important info first.

For best practices for both Image and Video ads on Pinterest, check out this link.

Promoted Carousels

Promoted Carousels allow you to create ads with 2-5 cards attached to one Pin.
Each card can feature a different image with a different link and description.
Promoted Carousels are a great way to showcase multiple products through a
single Pin. 

The following are design recommendations for Promoted Carousel ads:

Images

 Image count: 2-5 images per Carousel

 File type: PNG or JPEG
 Max file size: 32 MB per image
 Aspect ratio: 1:1 or 2:3

Character counts

 Title: Up to 100 characters. The first 30-35 characters will show in people’s
feeds.
 Description: Up to 500 characters. The first 50-60 characters are most
important.  

Promoted App Pins

Promoted App Pins are an ad format designed for brands that wish to create
awareness and generate downloads for an app. Users can learn about or even
download apps without actually leaving the Pinterest platform. These ads can
incorporate images or videos. 

Promoted App Pins specs are the same as those for image or video ads.

TikTok
TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social platforms in the game, attracting a
particularly young user base. Owned by the Chinese company ByteDance,
TikTok began as a musical lip-sync app, but supports a variety of short-form
video content. It has an estimated 800 million monthly users. 

Video Ads

The TikTok app currently only supports video ads. 

Design recommendations for TikTok Video ads:

 Aspect ratio: 9:16, 1:1, or 16:9

 Video resolution: Resolution must be ≥720*1280px, ≥640*640px, or
≥1280*720px.
 File type: .mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp, or .avi
 Video duration: 5-60s allowed. We suggest short videos of 9-15s.
 Bitrate: ≥516 kbps
 File size: ≤500 MB
 Profile Image:
 Aspect Ratio: 1:1
 File Type: .jpg, .jpeg, .png
 File size: <50 KB
 App or Brand name: For app names, we support 4-40 characters (Latin
alphabet) and 2-20 (Asian characters). For brand names, we support 2-20
characters (Latin alphabet) and 1-10 (Asian characters). 
 Ad Description: For descriptions, we support 12-100 characters (Latin
alphabet) and 6-50 (Asian characters). 

For more recommendations for Video ads on TikTok and specs for other Video
ad placements, click here. 

For creative best practices for TikTok ads, click here. 

Sources: 

75+ Social Media Sites You Need to Know in 2020. (2020, July 06). Retrieved
August 22, 2020, from https://influencermarketinghub.com/social-media-sites/

Tools for Creating Effective Visuals

When creating visuals for ads that bring results, you’ll want to take advantage of
various tools that can help bring your ad visuals to the next level. We’re going to
look at some apps that not only simplify the process of making effective visual
content, but also give your ads a creative boost. 

Hyperlapse

Hyperlapse is an app for mobile or tablet devices that allows you to create time-
lapse videos. Hyerlapse is a great tool for taking out the complications (and cost!)
of shooting stable video footage that can be sped up. Leave shaky footage
behind and change the speed of your videos from 1x up to 12x. By quadruple
tapping the screen with four fingers, you can also unlock a secret menu from
which you can adjust video resolutions, frame rate and even faster speeds. 

For more tips on using Hyperlapse, click here. 

Download: iOS

Boomerang

With Boomerang, what goes around comes around. This app lets you make short
looping videos. These types of videos are quick, fun and ideal for showing off
your products. 
For more tips on using Boomerang, click here. Download: iOS/Android

Legend

Legend allows you to animate the copy of your ads. Put your text into motion
over the backdrop of one of your photos. Legend is ideal for ads with a short
amount of text. 

Source: https://en-gb.facebook.com/business/m/mobile-apps-to-create-video-
ads/legend

Download: iOS/Android

Videoshop

Videoshop is a video-editing app that helps you make the most creative ads.
With Videoshop you can add music to your videos, edit them by cutting out any
parts you don’t want, merge different videos together, integrate a variety of sound
effects, add subtitles, incorporate slow motion and more. Videoshop lets you edit
and create stellar videos from your mobile device and share them to various
social platforms. 

For more tips on using Videoshop, click here. 

Download: iOS/Android

Adobe PhotoShop Mix

Adobe PhotoShop Mix brings the possibilities of PhotoShop to your mobile

device and allows you to cut, combine and blend images to form creative visuals
for your ads. You can join, crop, merge and layer different images together and
enhance your visuals with the different looks that Adobe PhotoShop Mix has to
offer. 

Download (mix): iOS/Android

Adobe Spark Post

Adobe Spark Post is a graphic design app that offers templates for you to use to
take your visuals to the next level. Using your photos, you can add text, colors,
filters, layouts and more. Adobe Spark Post helps you resize, recolor, animate or
redesign your visuals to make your ads more attention-grabbing and unique. 

Download: iOS/Android

Ripl

The Ripl app enables you to transform your photos into videos, by animating
them. Ripl offers various animated templates for you to choose from and apply to
your photos. You can also add in text as well as customize it. 

Download: iOS/Android

Unfold

The Unfold app lets you create visuals for Stories, offering a variety of stories
templates for you to choose from. With Unfold you can use multiple photos to
create amazing Stories ads. There is also a selection of fonts, filters, textures,
stickers that you can add to your visuals. 

Download: iOS/Android
Mojo

Mojo has a variety of stories templates for you to choose from and add in your
own photos to create effective ads. The Mojo app also lets you customize and
choose fonts and colors for your visuals. 

Download: iOS

Plotaverse

Plotaverse creates one-of-a-kind visuals by adding motion effects to still photos.

The result is an eye-catching effect of movement that takes your still photos to
the next level and helps them become effective visual ads. Visuals enhanced
with Plotaverse have been shown to generate more engagement than typical
photos or videos. 

Download: iOS/Android

Quik

With the Quik app you can animate your photos to music. Create videos and
motion visuals from your photos to the perfect soundtrack and with stunning
effects and transitions. 

Download: iOS/Android

Tools to Employ for Effective Copy

Let’s review the three essential components of effective ad copy:

1. Opening. Your opening is the first and most important part of your ad.  It
should be composed of two parts:

Audience Call-out: Audience call-outs are words that indicate to whom the ad is
directed. If you’re an online clothing company using Facebook Audience Insights
to target consumers who make between $50,000-$70,000/year and who enjoy
the latest fashion, call-out examples could include:

 New arrivals from top brands

 What to wear this summer
 The new styles of the season are here

A good call-out means that you know your audience and are appealing to them
directly.

Hooks: A line or phrase that piques the audience’s interest using:

 Pain points: Identify the problem your product or service will solve.
 Feelings: Explain how they will feel before and after using your service.
 Logic statements: Provide data that will make them want to know more. You
can do this for example by asking a “Did you know?” statement.

An example of a hook is: “Are you ready to become a master photographer?”

2. Transition. After you’ve grabbed the reader’s attention you will discuss the
solution and the benefits of using your product or service.An example of a
transition is: “Learn the art of French pastry making in this award-winning course
and impress your family and friends.”

3. Call to Action. Tell your audience exactly what to do.Examples of “Calls to

Action” include: “Enroll today”; “Swipe up to shop”; and “Click here to claim your
30-day free trial.” Important things to remember when writing your copy 

In terms of content:
  Tailor your ad copy to your audience.
 Be recognizable. Before publishing your ads, check your landing pages
and make sure that content and tone align with your prior ads.
 Mention price or special offers (if it’s aligned with your brand.) This can
motivate customers to buy.
 Include a timeframe to create a sense of urgency.

 Use data and customer reviews where relevant. Customers are drawn to
statistics and will want their purchasing choices to be validated.

In terms of style:

 Visuals should complement your text.

 Keep it clean and simple. Large blocks of text can make customers lose
interest. Edit your copy down to short and engaging paragraphs that can
easily be skimmed.
 Write and rewrite. Can you change your phrasing to the active voice?
Eliminate vague or excessive adjectives? Include humor?

Even without employing professional copywriters or agencies, there are

numerous tools available for you to create cohesive and enticing campaigns. 

Grammarly

Grammarly is an AI-run digital writing tool that edits for basic grammar,
punctuation, and spelling. A premium version also checks for tone, plagiarism,
word choice, and readability.

The screen is split into two main sections, with your writing on the left side, and
pending edit alerts to the right. The virtual assistant in the rightmost tab grades
your overall writing and filters edits for correctness, clarity, engagement, and
delivery by color. Select one of these categories to populate edit suggestions,
which you can accept or dismiss.

Steps:
 1. Go to grammarly.com
2. Select “New.”
3. Upload, type, or paste a document into the reader.
4. Set goals for audience, formality, tone, and intent.
5. After completing edits, go to the menu on the left hand side of the screen
and download the text into a new Microsoft Word document.

Tips and Tricks:

 Grammarly.com uses a standard text editor but you can download

Grammarly for Microsoft Office to gain access to formatting tools.

YayText

Yaytext.com converts your copy into different font styles. You can paste the
converted text onto various platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and
Youtube. 

Selecting a style from the menu on the left of the screen will lead you to a page
showing the font in action, along with usage suggestions. The menu also
features various how-tos, complete with detailed instructions and diagrams.

Steps:

1. Type or paste into the box that reads “Your Text” on the homepage.
Alternatively, you can select by style from the menu to the left and enter
text there.
2. Select “Preview” to jump to the bottom of the page and see how the text will
appear across various platforms.
3. Select the “Tweet” button, which automatically populates the text in a new
tweet. Make sure to delete “via http://yaytext.com” before sending your
tweet. Or copy the generated text by selecting the “copy” button and paste
in your comment, post, or bio of choice.

Tips and Tricks:

  Stick to one or two styles per post. Changing the font of a word or phrase
can add emphasis, but too many styles will make the text appear scattered
and off putting to the reader. 

Emojipedia

Emojipedia is a reference website for all things emoji. It offers names,

descriptions, history, statistics, and compatibility of each emoji, along with
references for how each appears across various platforms and its latest versions.
You can search by typing in the bar or browse by category.

Emojis have become popularized across social media platforms as a sort of

hieroglyphic alphabet. They can tell a story, if several symbols are used in
sequence, or act as punctuation, to give a different connotation from those our
standard symbols offer. As with font variation, however, overuse can muddle
your message and visually overwhelm readers.

Creative Tips:

 Create a poll and ask your audience to comment with a 👍🏼 [thumbs up

emoji] or 👎🏼 [thumbs down emoji]
 Ask your audience to decode a string of emojis in the comments for a
chance to enter sweepstakes.

Canva

Canva is a design platform that offers templates for Instagram and Facebook
posts (for both story and feed), posters, reports, presentations, logos, and more.
Their templates can be especially effective when it comes to designing and
composing visuals that include copy. To get started, visit
https://www.canva.com/. It is free to sign up, but some features are only available
through the premium version, which you can access for 30 days through a free
trial.As you develop your digital marketing campaign and post more consistently,
you will need to develop original content. This will ensure you don’t have to
spend time acquiring permission to reuse photos and define your brand’s look.

Steps:

1. Select a Template for your desired platform or project.

2. Click on an element of your project (e.g. text box or image) to reveal the
toolbar and edit.
3. Upload a picture or drag and drop it into your project from your desktop.
You can also select a photo to use from Canva’s archives.
4. Add stickers, grids, charts, lines, and other graphics from “Elements” in the
menu to the left. You can also add and edit text, music, and backgrounds
here. 
5. Select “Share” to allow other contributors to edit the document. 
6. When you have completed your edits, select “Download” to save your work.
Select a File type. Sizing and quality options are also available in the
premium version. Press “Download” to complete.
7. Share the ad on your platform of choice.

Creative Tips:

 Coordinate the color scheme of your ad with the colors of the product.
 Choose contrasting background/text colors to make your image and copy
both stand out.
 Use lines or other graphic elements to add visual interest to a plain
background.
 Use a consistent color scheme for each campaign across platforms
(newsletter, Instagram/Facebook posts, etc.) to make campaigns easy to
locate while scrolling through a feed or blog.

Types of Facebook Ads You Can Create Directly from

Your Page
Facebook offers a variety of options and tools that fit each person or business’
individual advertising needs to launch a successful ad campaign. Conveniently, it
can all be done within your Facebook business Page.

When starting the process of generating an ad on Facebook, you’ll be asked to

choose from a set of business goals. These goals are:

 Promote Your Page

 Boost a Post
 Promote Your Business Locally 
 Get More Website Visitors
 Promote Your App
 Get More Leads
 Promote Your Send Message Button
 Get More Website Purchases

It’s a good idea to have a business goal in mind to help you select the right goal
for your ad. Determining the goal or objective of your campaign is the first step in
creating your ad. The goal you select will also determine options you can choose
as you build your ad and how you measure the success of your ad. 

For example, if you’re looking to increase awareness of your business and/or

your Facebook business Page views, you will want to select ‘Promote Your
Page’. 

Below, you’ll find a survey of the different types of ads you can create to best fit
your business goal. 

Promote Your Page

Business Goal:To increase people’s awareness of your business and get more
Page likes. 
Promoting your business Page is a great way to reach people who may be
interested in your brand based on similar content and pages they’ve interacted
with. 

Your business profile picture and a short description should appear in your ad,
along with a call-to-action for people to ‘like’ your page. Just like other Page
goals, you can follow Facebook’s recommendations on crafting your ad or alter
details to fit your desired audience. 

Once people interested in your business “like” it through the ad, they will be able
see your posts in their news feed, increasing their awareness.

Success Metric: Look at the number of people who engage with your ad. Also,
keep an eye on your follower count to determine if the ad is driving numbers up. 

Boost A Post

Business Goal: To show your ad to as many people as possible within your

target audience.

Boosting a post can create more awareness around your business and increase
online visibility for your business. If looking to extend your reach on Facebook,
boosting a post can also help get more people to react, share and comment on
your content, as well as help expand your audience to friends of followers and
new audiences altogether.

Select a pre-existing post that has performed well among your target audience,
or one that best represents your business.

Success Metric: Look at the post engagement number, which is the total
number of actions that people have taken involving your ad.

Promote Your Business Locally

A local promotion ad may target the population around your brick-and-mortar
business, or you may just want to target a specific area of your city or town to
increase local awareness if your business is solely online. Regardless, local
promotion is possible through geo-targeting a specific area and reaching your
ideal audience.

You’ll be able to set the range of your ad from your current location, anywhere
from a 1-mile radius to a 50-mile radius. You will also have the option to narrow
your audience by gender, interests, education, age, and other parameters. 

Success Metric: Look at how many people you reached in your audience. 

Get More Website Visitors

Business Goal: Send people from Facebook to your business’s website

With this goal, Facebook will help you create an ad to push a specific URL to
your desired audience. The ad will not only increase awareness of your specific
web page (whether that be your landing page or a section of your site), but
should drive link clicks by reaching people who are most likely to engage. 

Promote content on a blog to draw in visitors, or promote specific product pages

and direct customers where to buy them on your site. 

Success Metric:Look at the number of link clicks on your ad, as well as traffic
stats on your website platform.

Promote Your App

Business Goal: To get more people to download your business’s app

Promoting your app through your Facebook page can be a simple way to draw
people into downloading your app. Promoting your App should illustrate to users
what the app is used for and how it relates to your business, utilizing photos and
videos when necessary. You can even create a call-to-action button (“Download
Today” or “Play Now”) to send visitors into your app. 

Success Metric: Look at your number of app downloads from your ad.

Get More Leads

Business Goal: Collect information from people interested in your business

If you’re looking to collect information from followers or other target audiences,

create a lead generation ad. It won’t necessarily drive traffic to your site through
the ad, but it will allow you to capture data like names, email addresses, and
phone numbers using a ‘Sign Up’ call to action. 

Lead ads also allow you to identify potential customers, encourage downloads,
understand the interests and behaviors of clients, or get more subscribers to
programs or newsletters. Conveniently, Facebook sometimes helps by auto-
populating this information into lead forms for users, making it easier for your
business to collect information. 

Success Metric: If your goal is to get more leads to acquire customer contacts,
look for the number of leads your ad gets, rather than the number of people
reached.

Promote Your Send Message Button

Business Goal: Communicate with potential or existing customers and

encourage interest in your business

Making yourCall-to-Action (CTA) on your business Page a ‘Send Message’

button lets visitors instantly take action to contact you via your ad and helps you
form relationships with potential customers.
1.3 billion Facebook users use Messenger each month, which means your
message button has the potential to draw in serious customers and move visitors
from consideration to action. By moving visitors into a message conversation,
you can more easily answer questions, offer support, drive sales, and provide
further information about your business.The CTA button can be tailored to fit a
variety of different business goals, however, and can be changed any time.
Generate leads with a ‘Sign Up’ CTA, or draw in sales with an ‘Order Now’
button. 

Success Metric:  Look at the number of clicks on your send message button.

Get More Website Purchases

Business Goal: Encourage people to take a specific action on your business’s

site

Increase online purchases for your business by turning potential buyers into
returning customers.  You’ll have the option to send audiences directly to a
product check-out page, or to a page on your online shop. 

The Website Purchases ad will optimize your ad by using data to identify

audiences most likely to buy your product or service. It will help determine the
best path to generate a sale based on your website traffic and other factors. If
Facebook is unable to determine who is making purchases yet due to a lack of
data, it will show your ad to people who have looked at your products or have
placed items in their cart. Once there is enough data collected for your business,
Facebook will be able to optimize your ad for purchases. 

Success Metric:Look to see the number of website purchases brought in

through the ad. 
How to Write an Effective Resume

In this guide, you’ll learn how to create an effective resume. You’ll learn
strategies for tailoring your resume to the role you’re pursuing, and how to
effectively present your skills and experience—whether you're a new-job seeker
or a mid-career professional switching to a new field. You will learn about
templates and formats and understand the structure of every core section of a
successful resume.

Strategy
An effective resume needs to present all the important information about you as
a professional in a concise and clear way. Format and content are both
important. Prior to diving into the details of resume structure, you’ll first want to
have a clear understanding of what you are trying to communicate. It’s also
important to keep your focus on what matters to the employer and do everything
you can to tailor your resume to the role.

Focus on what’s important to the employer

Before writing your resume, try to consider the employer’s point of view. What do
they want to know? Answering this question will enable you to focus on the
information that is going to be relevant to the employer. This, in turn, increases
your chances of getting their attention.

When applying to a specific role, carefully read the job description. This will help
you understand specifically what the employer is looking for. If you want to gather
additional insights, review multiple job descriptions to see what shows up
repeatedly. This will help you gain a broader understanding of the role. Another
great way to understand the needs of your potential employer is to schedule
networking conversations with industry professionals who can share their
experiences and insights.

Keep in mind that focusing on what’s relevant to the employer might mean
omitting details about your skills and experiences that are significant to you but
are not directly relevant to the role. Deciding what to not include on your resume
can be as important as deciding what to include. Irrelevant information might
distract or confuse a reader, potentially making them more likely to discard your
resume.

Tailor your resume to a role

It is essential that you tailor your resume to each job that you apply for. Even if
your target roles have the same general set of requirements—and even if your
skills and experience are broadly applicable—you should still adjust the order of
your qualifications to match the order on the job description. In this way, you’re
putting what’s most important to each employer at the top. 

If you can, try to match the language of the job description. For example, if you
have a resume built around recruiting, and you are applying for a talent
acquisition role, replace “recruiting” with “talent acquisition” on your resume.
Shifting to the employer’s terminology can help them relate to you. This approach
can also help prevent you from being filtered out by automated software that
relies on keywords to match your resume to the job description and to determine
whether it should be passed on to a recruiter or discarded.

TIP: Keep in mind that resumes are traditionally written in the third person
without the use of personal pronouns.

Different Types of Job Seekers

Your resume strategy will differ at different stages of your career journey.
Someone seeking their first role will need to use a different approach than
someone looking to make a mid-career switch to a new field. In both of these
scenarios, you have to communicate your value despite not having experience in
the field, but your strategy will differ depending on what information you have
available to share.

You can use the recommendations in this section to understand how to

communicate your value to an employer in a way that’s appropriate to your skills
and experience.

Career changers

If you are an experienced professional but are looking to start a career in a new
field, your background can provide you with a unique perspective, and can
potentially help you stand out as a candidate. At the same time, you will need to
be conscious about clearly establishing yourself as a qualified professional in
your new field. Remember that your application will most likely be reviewed
alongside applications from people with directly relevant experience, so you need
to make it clear to the employer why they should consider you for the role instead
of those candidates. 

Here are some key things to keep in mind as you build your resume:

Focus on your transferable skills and experiences and highlight the

advantages of your diverse background. When describing your past
experiences, focus on what’s relevant to your new career, and don’t over-
elaborate on less relevant details. For example, if you’ve been managing a
restaurant and are now shifting into IT support, your customer service skills will
be crucial, while your ability to manage staff won’t be as relevant. If, as a
restaurant manager, you maintained your computer network and electronics, that
will be important to discuss on your resume as well—even if it was a minor
component of your role. Finally, try to point out how your background—despite
being in a different field—is actually an advantage. For example, you might
highlight how the commercial awareness you developed as a restaurant manager
can help you understand business needs when prioritizing your work as an IT
support professional.

Adopt the terminology of your new industry. Get familiar with the language,
terms, and jargon of your new industry and demonstrate this familiarity by using
industry-specific words and phrases in your resume. This will make it easier for
the reader to understand how your experience is relevant for them, and give
them confidence about your engagement with your new field. For example, if
you’ve run your own business in the past and are now looking for a role in
marketing, use terms such as “marketing funnel” and “nurturing leads” when
discussing your past marketing activities—even if you weren’t thinking in those
terms at the time. 

New Professionals

People who are looking for their first job, and who don’t yet have professional
experience to describe, might struggle with how to fill their resumes. When this is
the case, you can leverage non-professional experiences such as coursework,
extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and life experiences (travel, caretaking,
and more) as a means to demonstrate to the employer how you overcome
challenges, solve problems, and achieve results. 

It’s important to remember that the employer only knows what’s on your resume.
If you think something will help you make your case to a prospective employer,
you need to find a way to include that information on your resume. Use sections
such as Projects, Volunteer Work, Relevant Experiences as alternatives to
Professional Experience for that purpose.

Templates and Layouts

Now that you have an idea of what you want to communicate on your resume,
you can start filling out the details. You can design your own resume or use an
existing template. There are many templates available online, and you can
access them by typing “resume templates” into your favorite search engine. You
can also find Google Doc templates by going to Google Docs and clicking
Template Gallery at the top right. 

TIP: Whether you actually use a Google Doc template or not, it’s a good idea to
design your resume in Google Docs. It will enable you to easily share, get
feedback, and download your resume in a convenient format.

You can use your personal taste and preferences when selecting a template, but
it’s also important to consider the following factors:

 Ease of reading: Your resume needs to make a great impression and

communicate all your most important information in a very short amount of
time. Make sure sections are clearly organized and that the font is easy to
read, and use margins and white space to prevent the document from
feeling cramped.

 Simple design: Your resume needs to be easily comprehended by both

humans and applicant tracking systems (ATS)—the software that
companies use to store and retrieve candidate information. ATS’s vary, but
many cannot parse graphs and other visual elements, meaning that
information contained in them will be lost. Simple designs relying on well-
organized text are best. 
 Length: Your resume should be one page, unless you have at least 10-15
years of relevant (not total) experience. Two-column resume templates are
appropriate for one-page resumes. Two-page resumes should use the entire
width of the page.

Resume Sections
Before you start filling out your resume, you’ll need to decide which sections to
include, and in what order. There are core components that should be in every
resume. There are also optional components you may want to include,
depending on your skills and experience, and the roles you're applying for. Adjust
your template by moving, adding, removing, and renaming sections as
necessary.
Core resume sections include contact information, a professional summary, and
details about your skills, experience, and education. Make sure to use section
labels to help the reader easily navigate through your resume. In terms of order,
this will often depend on what you want to highlight to your employer. A recent
graduate might want to put their education first, whereas a working professional
would lead with their experience. Optional sections could include information on
projects, publications, volunteer experience, awards and honors, patents,
languages, and more. 

Let’s take a closer look at each section of a typical resume.

Individual Resume Sections

Header

This is the section at the top of your resume that includes your contact
information. Your name is the only part of your resume that should be spelled out
in a larger font than the rest of your document. Your contact information should
include: 

 city, state, zip (no street address for privacy purposes) 

 phone number, email address
 LinkedIn profile URL
 Optional: personal website, GitHub (for technical roles), portfolio (for
creative roles)

Summary

The Summary section will always be located at the top of your resume
immediately following the Header. It should be brief (3-5 lines) and clearly
articulate what makes you a great candidate for the role, as well as what makes
you stand out from your competition. The Summary sets the

context for the rest of the document by calling out the most important things for
the reader to know about you.

While there are many ways to write a summary, consider the following format,
focusing on your core expertise, strengths, and what sets you apart from others.

Sentence 1: Describe yourself by role and competencies. This is where you

provide your professional introduction. Examples:

 Digital Marketing Manager with expert level knowledge of SEO, Social,

PPC, and GMB.
 Talent Acquisition expert with 4+ years of experience in the medical device
industry.

TIP: If you are changing careers, describe yourself using your desired title. For
example, if you are shifting from QA Analytics to Project Management, describe
yourself as a Project Manager. You can add “with a background in QA Analytics”
to acknowledge that part of your career.

Sentence 2: Connect your expertise to your value prop. This is where you
define how your unique skills will make you a valuable asset to the company.
Examples:

 Proficient in creating and editing graphics, figures, and illustrations.

Consistently able to create high-quality marketing assets that drive
conversions.
 Able to source for a full range of positions from administrative to executive
level. Able to create a seamless recruiting and hiring process for managers,
and consistently present top-quality candidates.

Sentence 3: Include a differentiator. You are likely to compete against other

people with similar skills, so it’s important to provide a clear reason why an
employer should select your resume. Examples:  
  Known for the ability to eloquently present point of view to clients, prospects,
and colleagues with expertise, confidence, and clarity.
 Consistently noted in performance reviews as being able to present to
clients, prospects and colleagues, with expertise, confidence, and clarity.
 Received 8 awards for customer service excellence.

TIP: If you are changing careers, describe yourself using your desired title. For
example, if you are shifting from QA Analytics to Project Management, describe
yourself as a Project Manager. You can add “with a background in QA Analytics”
to acknowledge that part of your career.

Skills

Immediately below the Summary, you should have a list of your core areas of
expertise and your specific skills. 

For a non-technical role, include 4-8 short bullets detailing your core skills (also
known as Areas of Expertise) organized in two or three columns. To decide what
goes on this list, think of what the employer would primarily hire you for. Focus
on quantifiable skills like copywriting, agile project management, Google
Analytics, or sales funnel management. Keep in mind that skills like
communication, time management, and collaboration—which are harder to
quantify, and are claimed by most people—are not as effective on a resume. 

TIP: When tailoring your resume to a specific role, the Skills section is your first
opportunity to line up with the job description.

For a technical role, it’s important to list out all of your relevant technical skills. If
you find that your list is too long to list out each item in a separate bullet, then
organize your skills by type—software, programming languages, hardware, data
analytics, or any other categories that apply.

Professional Experience Section

The Professional Experience section is uniquely important because it tells the
story of what you’ve done in your career. For employers, this is a strong indicator
of what you will be able to do for them.

The Professional Experience section should list your roles (company, job title,
location, employment dates) in reverse chronological order. If you have
significant professional experience, limit your resume to the past 10-15 years, as
that is what is most relevant to the employer. 

Ideally, you want to list three to six roles on your resume that demonstrate
progress on your career journey. Under each role, you should list your
responsibilities and accomplishments in bullets. Responsibilities describe what
you were supposed to do, and accomplishments are the specific outcomes that
demonstrate how well you performed your role. 

Your most recent role should feature the most detail, with four to six bullets of no
more than two lines each. Older roles should provide less information. Begin
each bullet with an action verb that puts you in control. Include numbers to show
the scope of your role and impact—how many leads did you convert, how much
revenue growth did you drive, how many new hires did onboard, how large was
the team you managed, and more.

TIP: Avoid chronological gaps in your Professional Experience. If you spent more
than six months out of the workforce at any point—whether intentionally (for
caregiving purposes or travel) or unintentionally (unemployment)—explain on
your resume what you did during that time. Particularly highlight any activities
relevant to your professional life, such as independent study, projects, and part-
time or volunteer work.

Example

Big Box Story, Service Associate, Middleton, CA                01/2015 - 02/2016

 Provided customer service during checkout transactions and assisted

customer questions and concerns in a big-box retail 
  Earned 8 Employee of the Week awards in one year on a team of 100+
associates
 Enrolled over 200 consumers in new credit cards within a 15-month time
frame (4x average rate)
 Received “Certificate of Excellence” for success at upselling to customers

Education Section

In this section, include degrees beyond high-school in reverse chronological

order (include your high-school information only if you don’t have any education
or training beyond it). For each entry in the Education section, list the degree,
institution, location, and date of completion.

TIP: You can include pending or incomplete degrees by marking them as “In
progress” or “Incomplete”—if you do so, make sure to include information on the
classes/work you did complete. 

Finalize Your Resume

Once you’ve completed your resume using the guidance in this document, try to
have someone proofread it for you. Recruiters consistently say they will discard
resumes with typos, even if the resume is in great shape otherwise.

TIP: Consider asking a few people you trust—especially those familiar with your
work—to provide feedback on the content. Don’t feel obligated to incorporate all
the feedback you receive, but be open to recommendations that can help
enhance the quality of your resume.

In conclusion, please keep in mind that, while there is no such thing as a perfect
resume, you can use this guide to create an effective resume that avoids
common problems and pitfalls. As you progress in your job search, remember
that your resume is a living document. You can make revisions based on any
feedback you receive, but try to avoid losing valuable time trying to over-
optimize. Focus on your skills and experience, present yourself in the best light
possible, and get ready to land that next role!