How to Publish Canvas on Facebook

Creating a mobile experience that’s fast, beautiful, and keeps people inside the Facebook app is a powerful way to tell your brand’s story. You can do just that with Facebook’s Instant Experiences, the full-screen ad format formerly known as Canvas. This guide will walk you through exactly how to plan, build, and publish your own immersive Instant Experience from start to finish.

What Exactly is a Facebook Instant Experience? (Formerly Known as Canvas)

First, let’s clear up the name. If you've been around the marketing block for a while, you probably know this format as "Facebook Canvas." In 2018, Meta rebranded it to "Instant Experience" (often shortened to IX), a name that better reflects its core benefit: it's an experience that loads instantly when someone taps your ad on a mobile device.

An Instant Experience is a full-screen, mobile-only landing page that lives inside the Facebook and Instagram apps. Instead of clicking an ad and waiting for a slow-loading website to open in a separate browser, the user is immediately pulled into an interactive world of videos, photos, carousels, and text you design. Because it's native to the app, the performance is lightning-fast, creating a seamless and engaging journey from the news feed to your message.

Why do they work so well?

• They are incredibly fast. They load up to 15 times faster than a standard mobile website, eliminating the "bounce" that happens when users get impatient waiting for a page to load.
• They are fully immersive. The full-screen format removes all distractions - no competing notifications or browser tabs - allowing your brand to capture the user's undivided attention.
• They are endlessly customizable. You can combine various components like videos, images, text blocks, and product catalogs to create a unique story-driven experience.
• They keep users in the app. By reducing the friction of leaving the platform, you make it much easier for people to consume your content and take the action you want.

Step 1: Plan Your Story Before You Build

Jumping straight into the Instant Experience builder without a plan is like trying to build furniture without instructions. You might end up with something, but it probably won’t be what you pictured. A successful Instant Experience tells a coherent story and guides the user toward a specific goal. Before opening Ads Manager, take a few minutes to map out your vision.

Define Your Objective

What is the single most important thing you want someone to do after viewing your Instant Experience? Don't try to accomplish five things at once. Pick one primary goal. It could be:

• Drive traffic to a specific product page.
• Get viewers to watch a longer-form brand video.
• Showcase a new collection of products.
• Educate customers about a key feature or benefit.
• Tell an engaging brand story to build awareness.

Your objective will dictate the components you use and the Call-to-Action (CTA) you feature at the end.

Outline Your Narrative Flow

Think of your Instant Experience as a mini-storyboard or a vertical one-page website. How will the story unfold as the user scrolls down?

1. The Hook (The Cover): What’s the first thing they see? This should be a captivating image or short video that grabs their attention and sets the scene.
2. The Middle (The Body): How do you build on that initial hook? You might use a series of videos, feature carousels, and text blocks to explain your product, share testimonials, or build excitement.
3. The Action (The CTA): What’s the final destination? End with a clear, direct call-to-action button that sends them to your website, product page, or app store.

Sketch it out on paper or in a document. A simple outline like, "Cover Video -> Headline Text -> Product Carousel -> Explainer Video -> 'Shop Now' Button" can provide all the structure you need.

Gather Your Assets

Once you have a plan, create a folder and collect everything you'll need. Nothing slows down the creative process more than having to hunt for files mid-build.

• Images: High-resolution photos are a must. Vertical orientation (9:16 aspect ratio) works best to fill the mobile screen, although horizontal images with a background color work too.
• Videos: Like images, vertical videos feel most natural. They autoplay without sound, so use captions or make sure your visuals can stand on their own. Keep them short and punchy.
• Logo: Your brand logo to use in the header for consistent branding.
• Copy: Write your headlines, body text, and button text beforehand so you can pop them right in.

Step 2: How to Build Your Instant Experience in Ads Manager

With your storyboard and assets ready, it's time to bring your vision to life. You’ll create the Instant Experience inside Facebook Ads Manager as part of the ad creation process.

The Initial Ad Setup

1. Navigate to Facebook Ads Manager and click the "Create" button.
2. Choose an advertising objective that supports Instant Experiences. Most of the popular ones do, including Traffic, Brand Awareness, Reach, Conversions, and Video Views.
3. Complete the Campaign and Ad Set levels as you normally would, defining your budget, schedule, audience, and placements. For placements, make sure you've selected feeds on Facebook or Instagram, as IX is designed for scrollable feeds.
4. At the Ad level, upload the image or video that will appear in the user’s feed. This is the "cover" of your ad - the first thing people see before they tap to open the full experience.

Building the Instant Experience Itself

This is where the fun begins. Scroll down to the "Destination" section at the Ad level.

1. Check the box that says "Add an Instant Experience."
2. A new window pops up. You can either choose a pre-built template (like "Storefront" or "Lookbook") or select "Build a custom Instant Experience" for full control. We’ll focus on the custom option.
3. This opens the Instant Experience Builder. On the left, you'll see a panel for adding and editing components. On the right, you'll see a live preview of how your creation looks on a mobile phone.

Choosing the Right Components for Your Story

Now, you simply add components one by one to build out the story you planned earlier. Click "Add Component" and choose from the menu. Here’s a breakdown of the key building blocks:

• Header: This component stays pinned to the top of the screen as the user scrolls. Use it for your logo to keep your brand front and center. You can set the background color to match your brand's palette.
• Photo: Use this to add a single static image. By default, it will fill the screen width. You can set a link destination for the photo, so if a user taps it, they go to your website.
• Video: This is arguably the most powerful component. Videos autoplay on mute as soon as they scroll into view. They are perfect for product demos, behind-the-scenes content, or an atmospheric brand film.
• Carousel: This creates a horizontally swipeable gallery of images. It's an excellent way to showcase a product collection, a series of testimonials, or different features of a single product. Important: Each card in the carousel can have its own unique destination link.
• Text Block: Add headlines and body copy to tell your story, explain benefits, and guide the user. Keep it brief and scannable by using bolding or creative formatting.
• Button: The final destination. Every good Instant Experience needs a strong Call-to-Action. Customize the button text ("Shop Now," "Learn More," "Watch Again"), link, and colors to create a clear next step.
• Product Set: If you have a Facebook Commerce account with a product catalog, you can use this component to dynamically pull in products for users to browse and buy.

Pro Tips for a Polished Instant Experience

• Think Vertical: Always prioritize vertically shot video and images (9:16 aspect ratio). They fill the screen and create the most immersive feel.
• Design for Sound Off: Most videos will be viewed on mute, so add text overlays or on-screen captions to get your message across.
• Maintain a Flow: Your layout should feel intuitive. Don’t jump jarringly from a high-energy video to a quiet text block. Guide the user’s eye down the page logically from one element to the next.
• Preview Constantly: The editor preview is good, but you must use the "Preview on Mobile" option. This sends a notification to your own Facebook app so you can open the IX on your phone and see exactly how it will look and feel to a real user.

Step 3: Finishing and Publishing Your Ad

Once you are happy with how your Instant Experience looks and feels on your phone, you are ready to publish it.

1. In the Instant Experience Builder, click the "Save" button, then click "Finish." Be aware that once you click "Finish," you can't go back and edit that specific IX again. You can, however, duplicate it to make changes.
2. You’ll be returned to the Ad setup screen in Ads Manager. Your newly created Instant Experience will be attached. From here, you can double-check all your settings and click the green "Publish" button.

Facebook will review your ad, and once approved, your immersive, fast-loading mobile experience will be live!

Final Thoughts

Creating a Facebook Instant Experience gives you a unique chance to build a fast, beautiful brand story right inside the app, cutting through the noise with an interactive mobile journey. By focusing on a clear narrative and selecting the right mix of visuals and text, you can move beyond a simple ad and craft a memorable experience that grabs attention and inspires action.

While mastering specific ad formats like Instant Experiences is an important part of a winning strategy, the foundation of social media success lies in consistently managing your entire content calendar. At Postbase, we built our platform to clear away the daily chaos of social media management. We were tired of wrestling with outdated tools that make simple tasks feel complicated. Our goal is to give you a clean, visual calendar and a rock-solid scheduler that publishes your content - from a quick status update to your latest video - reliably every time, freeing you up to focus on the creative work that matters.