Quick answer: Pick Conversions or Catalog Sales as your objective, choose a format, match specs, write a tight offer-led copy block, and launch. Or generate the whole creative in seconds with Coinis Sale Promo.
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Choose Your Campaign Objective: Conversions or Catalog Sales
Your objective controls how Meta spends your budget. Pick the wrong one and you pay for the wrong audience actions.
Set objective to Conversions for direct purchase intent
Choose Conversions when you want people to buy a specific product or land on a dedicated sale page. Meta optimizes delivery toward users most likely to complete that purchase.
Use Catalog Sales for dynamic product ads from your catalog
Catalog Sales pulls products directly from your store feed. Meta automatically serves each user the products most relevant to their browsing and purchase behavior. No manual creative per SKU needed.
Key difference: when to use each
One product or one offer? Go with Conversions. Hundreds of SKUs and a live product feed? Use Catalog Sales. Both work for sale events.
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Select Your Sale Ad Format
Each format fits a different part of your sale strategy.
Single image feed ads (best for one product or offer)
One image, one message. Fast to produce and effective for a hero product or blanket discount.
Carousel ads (showcase multiple products)
Carousel ads show 2 to 5 cards. Each card carries its own image and CTA button. Use them to feature multiple sale products or walk through an offer story. Per Meta's Ads Guide, carousel requires a minimum of 2 image attachments for non-app-install objectives.
Collection ads (mini-storefront, drive multiple product discovery)
Collection ads open a full-screen product experience when tapped. Strong choice for a category-wide sale where discovery matters.
Reels ads (full-screen video for dynamic sales pitches)
Reels ads run full-screen and vertical. High attention, high energy. Well-suited for flash sales with a countdown or a quick product showcase.
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Get Your Creative Specifications Right
Wrong specs mean rejected ads or cropped creatives. Get these locked before you design anything.
Feed image ad: 1080×1080 px recommended (1:1 square)
Minimum size is 1080×1080 pixels. The recommended size is 1440×1440 pixels at a 1:1 ratio. Anything smaller risks rejection.
Carousel image cards: 1080×1080 px, minimum 600×600 px
Each carousel card image must be at least 600×600 pixels. Match all cards to the same aspect ratio for a clean swipe.
Image file requirements: JPG/PNG, max 30 MB
Meta accepts JPG and PNG only. Maximum file size is 30 MB per image.
Keep text overlay under 20%; safe zones matter for CTAs
Leave 14% at the top and 20% at the bottom free of text and logos. Meta's safe zone guidance protects your CTA from being clipped by the platform UI. Text-heavy images also risk reduced delivery.
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Write Sale-Focused Ad Copy and CTAs
Copy that leads with the deal outperforms copy that buries it.
Lead with the offer: percentage off, fixed amount, or scarcity
Put the discount, savings amount, or product name in the first line. Readers scroll fast. Give them a reason to stop immediately.
Primary text limit: 125 characters
Only the first three lines display before "See more" cuts in. Fit your core offer into 125 characters and front-load the value.
Headline limit: 40 characters
Forty characters. Use them for the offer or brand name. Nothing decorative.
CTA button best practices: Shop Now, Buy Now, Claim Offer, Get Discount
Meta introduced a custom offers feature that displays discount details directly on the CTA button. Use "Shop Now," "Buy Now," "Claim Offer," or "Get Discount" for sale campaigns. These outperform generic buttons on promotional intent.
Urgency language: Limited time, while supplies last, ends today
"Limited time," "while supplies last," and "ends today" create scarcity. Use one per ad. Too many urgency signals read as noise. Note that Meta's policy requires clearly defined end dates on flash sale claims. Vague or unverifiable savings figures may be flagged and rejected.
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Build Your Sale Ad in Ads Manager
Five steps from zero to live.
Create campaign, choose Conversions objective
Open Ads Manager. Create a new campaign. Select Conversions or Catalog Sales as your objective.
Upload images or select existing posts
At the ad level, upload your creative or pull from an existing Instagram post. Confirm your files meet the specs above before uploading.
Set discount/promotion in ad copy and CTA button
Write your offer in the primary text field. Set the CTA to "Shop Now" or "Claim Offer." Add the custom offer detail if Meta's feature is available in your account.
Choose placement: Feed, Stories, Reels, or let Meta decide
Select Feed, Stories, or Reels manually. Or choose Advantage+ Placements and let Meta optimize across surfaces. Feed and Reels tend to perform well for sale-focused campaigns.
Launch and monitor conversion tracking
Confirm your Meta Pixel or Conversions API is active before launch. Track purchases, cost per result, and ROAS from the Ads Manager reporting dashboard after your ads go live.
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How Coinis Speeds Up Sale Ad Creation
Design friction kills sale momentum. Coinis removes it.
Generate on-brand sale ad images in seconds with Sale Promo workflow
The Sale Promo workflow takes your product URL and brand details, then generates discount-focused ad creatives in seconds. No designer needed. No back-and-forth brief.
Skip the design phase; let AI create variations for A/B testing
Generate multiple creative variations in one session. Test which offer presentation drives more conversions without extra production time or cost.
Store all generated creatives in Creative Library for easy reuse
Every generated asset saves to your Creative Library. Organize by campaign, reuse across future sale events, and never start from scratch again when the next promotion hits.
Launch to Meta directly from Coinis or use in Ads Manager
Publish your finished sale creatives straight to Facebook and Instagram from Coinis. Or export and drop them into Ads Manager. Either way, your sale goes live faster.
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Or let Coinis do it.
From a product URL to a live Meta campaign. AI-generated creatives. On-brand copy. Direct publish to Facebook and Instagram. Real performance reporting. All in one platform.
Start free. Upgrade when you're ready.
15 AI tokens a month. No credit card.
Frequently Asked Questions
What campaign objective should I use for a sale ad on Instagram?
Use Conversions if you're promoting a specific product or sale landing page and want Meta to optimize for purchases. Use Catalog Sales if you have a product feed and want Meta to dynamically serve each user the most relevant items from your store.
What are the image size requirements for Instagram sale ads?
For feed image ads, the minimum is 1080×1080 pixels at a 1:1 ratio, with 1440×1440 px recommended. Carousel card images need a minimum of 600×600 px per card. All images must be JPG or PNG and under 30 MB.
How long can my Instagram ad copy be?
Primary text is capped at 125 characters before the 'See more' cutoff. Only the first three lines display automatically, so put your core offer right at the start. The headline field allows up to 40 characters.
Can I show the discount amount on the CTA button itself?
Yes. Meta's custom offers feature lets you display a specific percentage off or fixed amount directly on the CTA button. This is available inside Ads Manager at the ad creation step and is designed to highlight promotions and lift conversions.