June 11, 2019

Facebook: how to create an ad that works

Facebook Advertising

Copywriting

The aim of this article is to help you to maximise your chances of getting your target audience on Facebook to click on your ad. Before we get started, though, make sure you’ve read our article entitled Everything you need to know before boosting your posts on Facebook, if you haven’t already.

In this article, we’ll address three themes: the image, the call-to-action and the text in the ad. We’ll then discuss a particularly important detail and then, finally, analyse some examples.

1. The image/video

“A picture is worth a thousand words”. It’s a well-known proverb, but one which is more important now than ever. Facebook is in full agreement with this idea, and will even go so far as to penalise users who overload their image with too much text.

Steer clear, then, of logos hidden in images or overly invasive product descriptions. It’s general practice to keep the amount of text covering the image to 20% or below. Limit yourself to displaying your logo in a discreet manner and using an attractive image to make the user want to click. With Facebook, just like Google, user experience is key. If you use complicated images overloaded with text, you actually run the risk of your ad not being posted.

There is a dedicated text area above the image and a space reserved for your slogan below. Use these. Some marketers will still advise you to put a slogan on the image, however. In any case, before launching your campaign, test your images using Facebook’s free tool.

So, if a picture is worth a thousand words, what about a video? As you might imagine, videos are the best way to engage the users of the world’s most popular social network. Since the 2017 update which allowed videos to launch automatically, you have an even better chance of convincing users through videos. However, videos are more expensive to create and you need to balance the cost with the result. To help you do this, take a look at our article on how to measure your return on investment[MP1]

2. The call-to-action

If you haven’t already read our article on the call-to-action (CTA), now’s your chance! And if you have, here’s a little reminder.

The call-to-action is the clickable button in a Facebook ad. It’s usually found in the bottom right corner, under the image, but in some ads, the button is actually the slogan. This may work, but we recommend that you have a clear CTA button to catch the user’s eye and encourage them to click on the link. Regardless of your choice, when the user passes their mouse (if using a computer) over the title under the photo, its colour becomes slightly darker. This strategy from Facebook should help you to get people to notice your product.

Finally, with regard to the text on the call-to-action button, our preference is, as usual, to keep it short and use a verb, for example “Find out more” or “Download”. On Facebook, however, unlike on your website which you can customise as you wish, you have to choose the text for your CTA from a list provided by the site. So, go for a neutral and informative CTA rather than the traditional “Buy now”. We’ll explain the reasons for this below.

To make your CTA more professional and attractive, go into your ads manager, create a post and, in the “link” section, select the type of CTA you want.

3. The different texts you can write on a Facebook ad

It’s important not to neglect the text. It may be your video or image that attracts your customer’s attention, but it’s your text that may lead them to make a purchase. The text will appear above the image, like in this example:

Copywriting on Facebook is quite different to standard copywriting, whether for your website or an email newsletter for example, because Facebook ads essentially interrupt the experience of a user as they scroll through their news feed. The reader does not, therefore, necessarily have an existing desire to buy a particular product.

This is a key element and one which means that we see far more calls-to-action and texts on Facebook which are less aggressive and less sales-orientated. As we mentioned earlier, it’s vital to respect the user experience. Think about it from your audience’s point of view for a moment: would you always want to be seeing big advertising claims on your news feed? Instead, stick to informative texts and seek to arouse your readers’ interest through an interesting layout.

The main way to create ads on Facebook that convert is to use questions. Whether you use just one or several, the idea is to lead your prospective customer to answer “yes” to the question(s) you’ve written.

With regard to tone, remember that you’re on social media, so everything should remain relatively informal. Use of emoticons isn’t necessarily widespread, so whether you use these should depend on your audience and what your competition are doing. However, flag emojis and others are very frequent today and help to attract attention. The best tip, though, is to use hashtags – they not only allow your post to stand out from the crowd due to the blue colour of the hyperlink, but also allow it to be found by people looking for content linked to the hashtag in question.

When it comes to quantity, you don’t need to write too much in a Facebook ad. Why? Well, if the convincing part of your text ends up being hidden under the “Read more”, chances are that the user will simply scroll past.

4. Wait before making any big changes

This point is slightly removed from the rest of this article but is nevertheless important. According to your targeting, Facebook will show your ad to different people, thus finding out who it has the greatest chance of working on. This refining period is known as the learning phase for Facebook ads, as explained in this article. The effect of this is that ads generally record worse results in the first 24 to 48 hours.

It’s therefore a good idea to leave your ad to get to work for a few days before making any major changes to it. Three to five days should be enough. In this case, you should keep an eye on the conversion rate, that is the number of people who clicked on the CTA divided by the number of people who saw it.

5. A few examples – some good… and some not so good!

On the previous image from “World Nomad”, the text says “Ready for adventure?” So are you? Of course you are. This is a simple but well-made ad. It arouses curiosity from the start, we want to know what’s awaiting these travellers, and to be like them and benefit from the same services. So we click on it!

In the next ad, however, the text is fairly long. Fortunately, the question is written in bold underneath the photo, but this is still something that should be avoided. In this example, it’s hard to know who the company is that’s offering us its assistance, and it’s very likely that the user will simply scroll past the ad. A good point about it, however, is the use of figures, which attracts the eye, being just next to the European flag.

This next ad, for Microsoft Edge, is an example of a good Facebook ad. The image corresponds to the message, to try out Microsoft’s new “car”. There isn’t much text, but it’s enough; the call-to-action is clear and we understand, in just a few seconds, the unique value proposition being made by Microsoft. To top it all off, a hashtag positioned at the end attracts our attention to the ad.

References