We’ve discovered how to define your audience, objective, and budget in the previous sections.
Now it’s time to focus on the creative side of running Facebook ads.
The social media platform has some strict rules, regulations, and requirements that limit the type of visuals you can use, as well as the language.
So in the following paragraphs, I’m going to show you how to come up with clever descriptions, original creatives, and how to tie the two together in a way that’s compliant with Facebook’s advertising policies.
I’ll then be closing out with some profitable Facebook ad examples that you can use as creative inspiration.
Importance of Original Content
Before we get started with the behemoth of information to come, it’s important that we address a common issue that’s easily avoidable.
When it comes to running ads for your product, you can either make the product appear alluring or bland.
It’s all about positioning.
And since the point of running ads is to get the clicks for a sale, we want to make our product look as alluring, appealing, charming, seductive, and any other adjective that synonymously fits that category, as possible.
So blending in by being bland isn’t going to cut it.
And as the world of social media evolves, so do marketing strategies.
We are each being hit with over 10,000 ads a day – most of which we subconsciously void.
So to dodge landing in that ‘void’ category, you need to come up with eye-catching, thumb-stopping images and copy that strongly align with your customer’s needs, wants, and desires.
Easiest ways to achieve this?
Photograph your own products instead of using the images that your supplier provides.
Because guess what, every other competitor that’s selling your product is going to be using the same exact images provided by your supplier.
Better yet, get your customers to provide you with user-generated content that you can run as ads!
This includes posts they make on social media or even reviews they leave on your store – you’ll see more on that later.
Remember how I said you need to closely align with your customer’s needs, wants, and desires?
Well, what better way to do that than to use your customer’s original content.
Just some food for thought.
What To Avoid When Creating Your Facebook Ads
Every ad you create must be compliant with Facebook’s advertising policies.
Even if you make sure you take every measure to see that your ads are compliant, they can still be flagged for customer engagement metrics such as:
- Hide Ad
- Hide all ads from this advertiser
- Hide ad due to repetition
- Report ad
- Landing page bounce rate
- Landing page dwell time
Here’s a high-level breakdown of what you should avoid so your ad is approved from the start.
Sensational content
Exaggerated headlines or instigating a reaction from people to a degree that creates an unexpected experience when people click to a landing page.
Examples of this include images that can shock or scare users.
Adult content
Nudity, images of individuals in suggestive positions, or activities that are overly suggestive or sexually provocative.
Low quality or disruptive content
Ads can’t include any misleading positioning, such as click-bait headlines or prompts for users to inauthentically engage with the ad. Ads also can’t lead individuals to landing pages that contain minimal original content or low-quality content.
Withholding information
Ads can’t withhold information in order to get someone to click a link to understand the full context of something.
Controversial Content
Ads can’t contain controversial political or social issues for commercial purposes.
Misleading Claims
Ads can’t contain deceptive, false, or misleading claims like those relating to the effectiveness or characteristics of a product or service. Nor can they include claims that set unrealistic expectations for users such as misleading health, employment, or weight-loss claims.
Facebook Ad Copy Best Practices
The more aligned your copy is with your customer’s needs the better your ads will perform by solving their problems.
Before getting started with the ad copy – you need to make a list of your product’s features.
Once you have the features all listed out, you then want to name 2-5 benefits each of those features will offer.
Each benefit you list for a particular feature should dive deeper into feeding your customer’s desires.
And there’s an incredibly easy way to do this.
Each time you list a feature, ask yourself, “so what?”
That will provide you with your first benefit, then ask, “so what?” again. The more you as the deeper and more powerful these benefits will become.
Don’t settle for listing your product’s features in the ad, no one will care and no one will click.
The only thing your customers will care about is how the product will serve their needs in any way.
Consumers have a “What’s in it for me?” mentality, and that’s what you need to tap into.
Writing Headlines For Your Facebook Ad
Your headline should literally, and figuratively, stop your reader in their tracks.
And you do that by listing your product’s most powerful benefit right in the headline.
Here’s the catch, you have to say it within 5 words.
Long headlines become convoluted, confusing, and makes your customers lose interest. So by sticking to the optimal 5-word headline length, you effectively grab their attention and get them hooked into reading the rest of the ad.
Pro-tip: Use numbers and special characters. Our eyes naturally react and focus on numbers and images as opposed to regular text. Not to mention, numbers focus on the specifics which are more effective than generalities.
Crafting Your Ad’s Body Copy
When it comes to writing the body copy for your Facebook ad, there are a few guidelines you want to stick to.
Guideline 1: Write as if you’re addressing a single person
When writing to your audience, you don’t want to make it seem like you’re speaking to a group.
You should centralize your message around addressing a single person.
When your copy sounds like its addressing a group, it dilutes the power behind your messaging and becomes unaligned with the individual reading the ad.
Guideline 2: Keep your copy on track with the headline
Your body copy should focus on, and strengthen, the main benefit in the headline.
Just as the headline leads your readers into the body copy, your body copy should lead your customers to the call to action.
Guideline 3: Keep it short and value-packed
You should say what you need to say in the shortest way possible.
More precisely, in about 25 words.
I’m not going to lie, this will be tough – but the more you put it in practice, the better you’ll become.
When you shorten your message and pack it with a punch, your copy becomes more clear and actionable.
The Call To Action
Stay focused with one strong, actionable call to action.
Shop Now is the most powerful call to action – if your ad lands in front of the right person and is coupled with persuasive copy, then there’s no reason they won’t click that little command.
Your Facebook Ad Creative
Your copy may be powerful, and your headline will probably grab some attention, but to make your ad as powerful as it can be – you need to pair it with an attention-grabbing image or video.
These 3 components will synergistically paint a picture in your customer’s mind, a powerful picture that will lead them to buy.
As I mentioned earlier in this post, the best way to grab your customer’s attention is by using your own original content.
I strongly urge you to purchase the products you’re selling to make custom images and videos that you can use to separate yourself from your competition.
If you’re truly unable to purchase your products for custom content, then you can always settle for editing the photo’s your suppliers provide. However, you will still have to spend money on designers for assistance.
Image Ads
Use vibrant imagery while constructing your imagery.
Your product should be the image’s main focus. You can even overlay your product on a contrasting backdrop to really make it burst out of the page.
And when it comes to choosing colors to place in your ads, tests have shown that primary colors work best at attracting attention.
Video Ads
It’s no secret that video ads can outperform regular image ads, almost every single time.
Videos effectively grasp your audience’s attention with the constant frame bursts as compared to a single framed photo.
Your video ads should be anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes, and you want to place the most valuable parts of the content within the first 5-10 seconds of the video itself.
An effective video ad shows the product in use, this paints a vivid picture in the minds of your customers. It allows them to imagine themselves using the product.
You could also use the power of storytelling.
Humans are more likely to remember something that’s in the context of a story.
If you can effectively create a video ad with text overlay narration, then your in to win some purchases.
Powerful Retargeting Tool
One way to align your retargeting copy and creatives with your audience is to use a simple tool that you’re equipped with from the moment you set up your business manager…
… The Facebook Pixel!
You can track your customer’s journey through your store and serve up some powerful retargeting copy and images/videos to visitors who didn’t make a purchase.
You can use discount codes, testimonials, or more enticing imagery to convert those who are on the fence on making the purchase.
Ad Specs And Requirements
Images in the Facebook Feed
Design Recommendations
File type: jpg or png
Image ratio: 1.91:1 to 4:5
Resolution: upload the highest resolution available
Images that contain more than 20% of text can experience reduced delivery
Text: 125 characters
With Link
Image ratio: 1.91:1 to 1:1
Resolution: at least 1080 x 1080
Headline: 25 characters
Link Description: 30 characters
Video for Facebook Feed
Design Recommendations:
Use the highest resolution source for your video. Make sure there’s no pillar boxing, aka no black bars within the frame. Facebook also recommends an H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan, and stereo AAC audio compression at 128kbps+.
Video Ratio: 9:16 to 16:9
File Size: 4GB Max
Video Length Minimum: 1 second
Video Length Maximum: 240 minutes
Video Captions: Optional but highly recommended
Video Sound: Optional but highly recommended
Text: 125 characters
Video thumbnail images that consist of more than 20% text may experience reduced delivery
Vertical videos with aspect ratios taller than 4:5 may be masked to 4:5
With Link:
Headline: 25 characters
Link Description: 30 characters
Carousel for Facebook Feed
Design Recommendations:
Carousels can show up to 10 images or videos within a single ad – and each image or video can contain its own link. Best to use if you want to display different products, show multiple selling points for a single product, or tell a brand story.
Minimum Number of Cards: 2
Maximum Number of Cards: 10
Image File Type: jpg or png
Video Maximum File Size: 4GB
Video Length: up to 240 minutes
Image Maximum File Size: 30 MB
Recommended Resolution: at least 1080X1080
Recommended Ratio: 1:1
Text: 125 characters
Headline: 25 characters
Link Description: 20 characters
Images that consist of more than 20% text may experience reduced delivery.
Collection for Facebook Feed
Design Recommendations:
Collections make it easy for people to discover, browse and purchase products from their mobile devices in a completely immersive way. Collection ads include a main cover image followed by multiple product image thumbnails to scroll through.
Image or Video: the cover image or video will use the first media asset from the instant experience. Vertical images or videos may be masked to a max 1:1 ratio in the feed.
Headline: 25 characters
Text: 90 characters
Profitable Facebook Ad Examples
The best way to stay on top of advertising trends is by studying what your competition, and even those outside of your niche, is doing.
Take advantage of the Facebook Ad Library to search for well-known brands, small competitors, and everything else in between.
The Ad Library is a database of a comprehensive collection of ads that are currently running across all of Facebook’s platforms.
Below are 5 profitable ad examples I got from a simple search in the Ad Library.
Cocofloss
Cocofloss captures text narration perfectly with its simple and effective ad.
They use vibrant, contrasting colors in the image which does a great job of catching viewers.
Note how the text takes up less than 20% of the image but gets the point across clearly and concisely.
Aside from the visuals, their copy game is on point.
They make great use of the fear element without going overboard.
They even top it off with a precise numerical discount, so their customers know there’s a sweet deal before they even land on the page.
Purple
Purple has always been known for its creative ads.
And while the Harmon Brother’s may not have had their take at directing this ad…
Purple did not disappoint with their imaginative use of carousel ads.
Additionally, they are direct with their copy but still play on their words with the phrase, “elect comfy for presidents day”
BABOON
BABOON is a great example of a company who knows how to position their products to get customers excited to shop with them by framing their message all around the adventure vs the product.
They make great use of contrasting colors which easily grabs attention.
Additionally, their copy mentions their unique selling position, warranty, and they finish off strong with their headline & subheadline.
hims
hims does a great job of making what would typically be a sensitive subject, easy to address and talk about with their witty copy making it easy with the reader to align with the message.
Once again, the common factor here with the rest of the ads previously mentioned is the use of contrasting colors to catch the attention of the person scrolling past.
Their headline also provides 2 easy promises, $0 co-pay and the reader’s access to getting the medication from the comfort of their home.
Tying It All Together
Writing powerful copy and composing the right imagery is fully dependent on knowing your audience and what they desire.
The most effective strategies for setting up your creatives are:
- Create original content
- Stay compliant with Facebook’s ad policies
- Unpack your product’s benefits to tap into deep desires
- Research what works with the Facebook Ad Library
You’re almost ready to launch!
