Moda Social Ads

moda-social-ads

PREREQUISITE — load moda-core once per session (step-0, write contract, free/metered map). Already loaded? Skip ahead. If you cannot load it, the non-negotiables: run moda doctor --json before anything; moda brand list before creating; writes that pin a revision use your last read's — on stale_revision, re-read and retry once (it heals); send the canvas link the moment it exists; stuck or failed? moda ask "<question>" — free and fast, never guess.

Sizes and defaults

The IAB core set (--category web-ads), plus any size the user names:

Platform-native single ads (--category web-ads or social): IG story ad 1080×1920 (bottom reserved from y 1400 for CTA chrome), Facebook feed ad 1200×628, IG feed ad 1080×1080 or 1080×1350.

Craft, in one pass: the Rule of One — one audience, one promise, one ask. Hierarchy is hook → brand → CTA, with brand and CTA both visible; the CTA is button-shaped and the highest-contrast element ("See the demo", never "Learn more"). Keep type and CTA 8–10px off every edge — networks add a border at serve time. Photography rarely survives these sizes: prefer solid colour, gradients, shapes, type, and generated patterns.

Recipe — the size set (master first)

1. moda canvas create --name "[Campaign] — ads" --intent "[the one promise]" --size 300x250 --category web-ads --brand [KIT] — send the link immediately.
2. Design and APPROVE the master on page 1: moda canvas markup [CANVAS_REF] --file - --page [PAGE_ID], then moda canvas screenshot [CANVAS_REF]. Do not adapt anything until the master is right.
3. moda canvas add-pages [CANVAS_REF] --count 1 --size 728x90 — one page per size, repeated for each size in the set.
4. Re-COMPOSE each size (never squash): one markup apply per page, serial on the one canvas — the same message, re-laid for the shape. Check the two hostile sizes (728×90, 320×50) first; they break layouts before the others do.
5. moda canvas screenshot [CANVAS_REF] in ≤3-page batches; judge the set for one voice, one CTA, one brand presence.
6. moda export [CANVAS_REF] --format png --pixel-ratio 2 -o [campaign]-ads.zip — multi-page png arrives as a zip: the set ships together, one file for the trafficker.

Recipe — one platform-native ad

1. moda canvas create --name "[Campaign] — [placement]" --intent "[the one promise]" --size [WxH] --category web-ads --brand [KIT] — link immediately.
2. Write the idea in one sentence first: "For [audience], [brand] is the [category] that [single claim]." Kill every secondary message.
3. Author in ONE apply; keep the CTA inside the placement's chrome-free zone.
4. moda canvas screenshot [CANVAS_REF] — squint test: blurred, does it still show what it is for and where the eye lands? Fix, re-screenshot.
5. moda export [CANVAS_REF] --format png --pixel-ratio 2 -o [campaign]-[size].png.

Examples

• "banner ads in the standard sizes" → size-set recipe, IAB core, one zip.
• "an Instagram ad for the spring sale" → platform-native recipe at 1080×1350.
• "just a 728×90 and a 300×250" → size-set recipe with those two pages only.
• "an animated banner ad" → not this skill: load moda-video (motion wins).

Errors

Any typed error → load moda-core and read its recovery reference. canvas_busy is likeliest here (many pages, many applies): applies to one canvas stay SERIAL — they serialize on the server anyway, so fanning them out buys nothing and can come back busy.

Make it recurring

A campaign refresh on a cadence → moda-automate; the approved size-set skeleton → moda-templates, so the next campaign starts at step 4.

See also: moda-social — organic posts, carousels, one-off graphics · moda-core — the contract, recovery, everything Moda can do.

References