Send a client a folder of ad images and you’ll get feedback on a folder of images. The logo could be bigger. The text could be larger. Could we try blue? None of it is wrong, exactly, but it’s feedback on artwork, not on an ad that has about a second to stop someone’s thumb.

The fix is mostly about presentation. Here’s how to show paid social creative so clients review it the way their customers will see it.

Why the feed changes the feedback

On an artboard, an ad is the only thing on screen. In a feed, it sits between a friend’s holiday photos and a news headline, under a profile row and above a caption and a button. Some things that looked fine on their own disappear. Others that looked loud turn out to be just right.

When clients see the ad in that setting, their questions change. Instead of “can the logo be bigger?”, you hear “would I stop for this?” and “is it obvious what we’re selling?”. Those are the questions that decide whether the campaign works.

Check the specs before anyone sees it

Few things cost more client trust than approving an ad that then gets cropped or rejected. Before you present, check each piece against the placement it’s made for:

• Feed: square (1:1) and portrait (4:5) are the safe choices on Instagram and Facebook. Portrait takes up more of a phone screen.

• Stories and Reels: full-screen vertical, 9:16, usually 1080 × 1920. Keep text and logos away from the top and bottom of the frame, where the profile name, caption and call-to-action button sit. A common rule of thumb is to keep the top 14 percent clear and leave even more room at the bottom.

• LinkedIn: single-image ads are most often 1.91:1 (1200 × 627) or square.

• Copy: the usual guidance is about 125 characters of primary text on Meta and about 150 characters of intro text on LinkedIn before a “see more” link cuts it off. Put the hook in the first line.

Platforms change their specs often, so confirm the current numbers in each ad manager and preview the ads there before final export.

Show each ad in the placement it will run in

Present a story as a story, full screen in a phone frame. Present a feed ad with the profile name, the “Sponsored” label, the caption and the button around it. If one concept runs in several placements, show each version in its own mockup. A crop that works in a square can lose the product in a 9:16.

If the platform has a dark mode, check the ad there too. A dark logo on a transparent background can vanish against a dark feed.

Present the copy with the creative

Captions are part of the ad. If the images go in one file and the copy in a spreadsheet, the client reviews them separately and never sees how they work together. Put the caption where it will appear and let the client read the ad as a whole.

If the copy is still open, offer two or three options in place. Choosing between options in context is much faster for a client than rewriting from scratch.

Group the set so clients compare like with like

A campaign with three concepts, each in four placements, is twelve pieces. Show them grouped by concept first, so the client can choose a direction, then by placement, so they can check each crop. Asking someone to judge twelve ads in random order is a reliable way to get feedback that contradicts itself.

Ask questions that fit the medium

Steer the review with a few specific questions:

• Would this make you stop scrolling?

• Can you tell what we’re offering within two seconds?

• Does it look like it belongs on this platform, or like a print ad that wandered in?

• Is there anything here a customer might not believe?

The last one matters more on paid social than almost anywhere else. Claims that feel too good, or urgency that feels made up, cost you attention, and sometimes the platform’s approval as well.

How to present social ads in Honter

Honter’s social ad view does the mockup work for you. Upload images, PDFs, videos or Figma frames, and Honter reads each ad’s aspect ratio to pick its placement: tall ads become stories, very wide ones become LinkedIn page headers and the rest go in the feed. Mockups cover Instagram feed and stories, Facebook feed and stories, and LinkedIn feed and page headers, in light and dark.

• Clients can switch an ad between platforms that offer the same placement, or hide the platform UI to see the raw creative.

• Video ads play muted and on a loop, the way they autoplay in a feed.

• A sparkle in the caption slot suggests three captions written for that platform. The client can pick one, edit it or write their own, and everyone sees the change live.

• For static ads, AI reviewers check whether the ad will stop the scroll and whether its claims hold up, before your client sees it.

Clients pin comments on the exact spot they mean, without creating an account. One note on scope: Honter is for reviewing and approving creative. It doesn’t schedule or publish posts, so you’ll still launch from Meta Ads Manager or LinkedIn Campaign Manager. If you need a publishing calendar, our comparison with Planable explains the difference.