What are the best ways to market a SaaS product on Facebook?
Is Facebook even a good channel for SaaS marketing?
When I started managing Facebook ads for SaaS startup Scoro, I didn’t know the answer to either question.
However, after a few months of A/B testing different ad layouts and audiences, we started seeing a positive ROI from Facebook ads.
It turns out we weren’t the only ones.
Many popular SaaS brands are advertising on Facebook.
When I asked some of the top SaaS marketers to share their Facebook advertising hacks, many had great examples and tips to share.
And that’s exactly what this article’s about: the best practices and examples of SaaS Facebook ads.
We’ll start with a quick overview of three most important SaaS Facebook marketing best practices. Then, we’ll proceed to 29 awesome SaaS Facebook ad examples and hear how the best marketers set up their campaigns.
SaaS Facebook marketing tip #1:
Understand your conversion funnel
When we started testing Facebook ads with our SaaS startup, we focused on targeting a cold audience by using Facebook Saved Audiences.
We targeted people living in the UK who were interested in our competitors’ brands, and matched the demographics of our buyer personas.
The goal of our campaigns was to get people sign up for a free 14-day trial.
We failed quite miserably.
While the ads got quite a few likes and clicks, they failed to convert.
Why?
Because we were blindly targeting people who had never heard of our product, asking them to sign up immediately.
So, we tried a different approach.
Instead of targeting Facebook Saved Audiences, we started to retarget our landing page visitors. These people had already seen our product and were at least slightly interested in it.
The result? – We started getting leads from Facebook advertising.
Understanding our conversion funnel and different Facebook ads’ place in it was crucial to the success of our campaigns.
As an article on KlientBoost’s blog explains, different audience temperatures call for a different messaging and ad strategy.
So my first and foremost advice to any SaaS brand looking to advertise on Facebook is this:
Understand your conversion funnel and craft different ads and messages for every stage of the funnel.
And once you divide your Facebook audiences into multiple groups, everything will change.
Key takeaway: Cold audiences, lukewarm leads and warm prospects all need to be targeted with specific Facebook ads and offers. As a result, you’ll get more results at a lower Facebook ads cost.
SaaS Facebook marketing tip #2:
Create advanced audiences
While creating Facebook Saved Audience is incredibly simple and effortless compared to setting up Custom and Lookalike Audiences, don’t make the mistake of limiting yourself to the former.
There’s research showing that 98% of B2B website visitors don’t convert on their first website visit. Most of SaaS website conversions also happen during the following visits to the site.
The most successful SaaS Facebook campaigns I’ve seen almost always target remarketing audiences.
That’s why you should install the Facebook Pixel on your website and start creating Custom Audiences. You’ll be able to reach people who have either visited your website or are already using your SaaS product.
If you’d like to learn more about Facebook Custom Audiences, you can find an in-depth guide I wrote for KlientBoost’s blog here.
Tip: One thing I’ve noticed about Facebook remarketing campaigns is that the leads keep converting even when the ad frequency’s getting super high.
Even if one of our SaaS remarketing campaigns’ frequency reached 12+ points, the conversions kept coming.
As you look at a campaign’s results, the CTR and CPC only increased at the very end of the campaign, when the ad frequency exceeded 15 points.
Key takeaway: Install the Facebook Pixel on your website and start creating advanced Facebook audiences that have significantly higher conversion rates.
SaaS Facebook marketing tip #3:
Don’t just sell. Create value.
You can’t expect someone to buy your product on their first encounter with your landing page.
SaaS sales can take some time.
To earn your prospects’ attention and trust, you first need to deliver value and prove you’re the industry’s leading expert.
According to Demand Metric’s research, 82% of consumers feel more positive about a company after reading custom content and 90% of consumers find custom content useful.
Many B2B brands are seeing success on Facebook when promoting their blog articles, eBooks, case studies, and other types of original content. (You’re about to see many awesome examples)
In fact, the Content Marketing Institute found that social promotion is B2B marketers’ preferred method of paid content promotion with 84% of B2B marketers using social media to promote branded content.
Once again, think about your conversion funnel and how to turn cold audiences into paying customers.
Try to advertise offers that resonate with each stage of your SaaS product’s marketing funnel.
Key takeaway: Don’t just advertise bottom-of-the funnel sales offers. Combine the BoFu offers with soft sells and top-of-the-funnel content such as free eBook downloads and promoted blog posts.
Alright…
These were the most important things every SaaS marketer should know about Facebook marketing.
But that’s not all…
Because now, we’re going to share the very best Facebook ad examples and best practices from some of the top SaaS marketers.
29 inspiring SaaS Facebook ad examples
As there’s no better way to reveal all the SaaS Facebook marketing best practices than exploring the examples from successful brands, let’s jump right into the next section: 29 SaaS Facebook marketing examples.
When compiling this article, we talked with some of the world’s top SaaS marketers to reveal what are their most successful Facebook ads and target audiences.
We’ll start with their answers.
Example #1: Ahrefs
It’s all about quality content
When we asked Tim Soulo, Head of Marketing at Ahrefs to share their best’performing Facebook ads, he sent us two ad examples.
Both Facebook ads feature high-quality content, one containing original research and the other sharing a thought leadership article.
What strikes me about these ads is the number of likes the ads accumulated over time. Which is a perfect proof that SaaS Facebook ads and content marketing can work really well together.
In fact, Ahrefs isn’t using any other type of Facebook ads.
According to Tim:
“We don’t do FB ads that lead people directly to our product. We only promote our content on Facebook, because we want to give value first and people are then much more likely to sign up.”
Moreover, the team over at Ahrefs are sure that there are a ton of ways to measure “success” of FB ads, but they believe the most important metric to be cost-per-lead.
Key takeaways:
- Provide value to your audience – Instead of advertising sales messages, offer value and the leads (and sales) will follow.
- Share high-quality content – Make sure all the blog articles, eBooks, and other types of content you share are highly relevant and worth your audience’s time.
- Measure the right metrics – Keep in mind that link clicks won’t bring any revenue. It’s the final purchase you should be after.
Example #2: Autopilot
Show your Saas product with GIFs
Facebook recently added the support for ads in GIF format. And Autopilot was fast enough to keep up with the trend.
Autopilot’s Facebook ad features a visual overview of their product in 15 short seconds. Anne Fleshman, Director of Marketing – Demand Generation at Autopilot, explains:
“In our initial tests, using auto-play animation commands more attention while scrolling in the News feed compared to static images.”
Consumer Acquisition found that images are arguably the most important part of your ads — they’re responsible for 75%-90% of ad performance.
Key takeaways:
- Test GIF-format ad images – Using moving images helps to draw the news feed visitors’ eyes on your ad.
- Use strong words that capture attention – Autopilot’s Facebook ad text starts with the word “WARNING” that immediately catches attention.
- Use a clear call-to-action – The headline “Start Your Free Trial Now” lets the reader know they’ll be led to a landing page with a free trial offer. When running a Facebook App Installs campaign, use a CTA that’s relevant to that particular audience: Install Now, etc.
- Be trustworthy – Autopilot’s ad mentions that over 40,000 marketers are using their product.
Example #3: Clanbeat
Create noteworthy ads
If you want to learn how to advertise your SaaS company’s content on Facebook, you should learn from Clanbeat.
Their Facebook ad had the CTR of 3.81% and the CPC of $0.07, helping to drive traffic to their website and increase brand awareness.
So what makes this SaaS Facebook ad so successful?
We asked Clanbeat’s storyteller Kadri Märtin and here’s what she said:
“We used an intriguing headline and the timing was right as well (end of the year performance reviews get many people down – managers and employees alike).”
Clanbeat’s ad follows a set of additional best practices that you can apply to your Facebook ads as well.
Key takeaways:
- Use custom creatives – Branded ad designs get noticed more often compared to stock images.
- Place a CTA in the ad image – Placing a call-to-action button right in your ad image hints that the ad’s clickable.
- Write provocative headlines – Fascinating headlines help to create a curiosity cap and make people click on your ads to find out more.
As Kadri said:
“Normal is boring, and boring will be the death of you in social media.”
Word.
Example #4: AdEspresso
Increase the click-through rate with video ads
According to Adobe, shoppers that watch videos are 1.81 times more likely to make a purchase than non-video viewers.
If you’ve got a cool SaaS product with great UX that you’d like to show in action, video ads are one of the best to do it.
For example, AdEspresso’s Facebook ad is using video to show how their product works, step by step.
Tim Chard, Marketing Director at AdEspresso told us that:
“We use this video ad to retarget the people who have visited our Pricing, Tour, or Join pages but didn’t sign up for a free trial.”
The remarketing video also acts as a “qualifier” based on how long someone has watched it. People who view a large part of the video could be moved to the next remarketing funnel stage.
Key takeaways:
- Test video ads – Facebook video ads are a good way to show your SaaS product in action (and these ads also tend to have a higher CTR compared to static ads). P.S. video ads also work great in Facebook App Install ads – test videos when you need to promote a mobile app for your SaaS product.
- Caption your Facebook video ads – According to Facebook, captioned video ads increase video view time by an average of 12%.
- Create a multi-step remarketing funnel – Set up a remarketing campaign flow, so that more qualified leads keep moving towards the sales phase through multiple remarketing offers.
Example #5: Pipedrive
Display your SaaS product in ad images
People hate to buy a pig in a poke, especially if they’ll have to work with the product for months to come.
That’s why you probably have a screenshot of your SaaS product on the landing pages.
Pipedrive‘s brought the first encounter between a prospect and the product one step earlier by showcasing their product in the Facebook ad image.
According to Ott Ilves, Digital Marketing Manager at Pipedrive, continuous A/B testing has shown that for direct response ads, displaying the product on the ad image works best.
A close second is using real testimonials on ads.
Ott also shared a Facebook audience targeting tip:
“The best performing audiences are layered audiences where we combine a lookalike, based on our customer base, with interest-based targeting.”
Key takeaways:
- Display your product in ad image – It’s a good way to immediately show what your ad is about and get people interested in your offer.
- Use layered targeting – Combine Facebook Saved Audiences or Lookalike Audiences with interest-based targeting to reach high-potential prospects.
- Choose the right ad placement – Analyze your Facebook ad results by breaking them down by ad placement to see what works best. If your SaaS product has a complex sign-up process, you might get more conversions on Desktop.
Example #6: Leadpages
Develop a clear value offer
Leadpages’ Facebook ad gets many things right.
The ad’s headline features a strong value proposition: “Increase Conversions.”
That’s both relevant and helpful to their Facebook target audiences as it says clearly what’s the tool’s main benefit.
According to Zach Grove from Leadpages, this ad is shown specifically to folks who have visited the Order page but not converted.
“These people are at the very bottom of our funnel — they’re closer to buying than any other audience we have.”
While straightforward sales pitches do not usually work on cold audiences, these offers can excel when targeting hot leads.
Key takeaways:
- Include a clear value proposition – Let people know how your product will improve their life or work. Place your UVP in the ad’s headline or in the image.
- Align your Facebook ads and website design – Leadpages’ Facebook ad uses the exact same header image as their homepage, being easily recognizable to all past website visitors.
- Create remarketing audiences – Use Facebook Custom Audiences to specifically target people who have taken action on your website.
If you’re also interested in Instagram advertising, here’s a guide you should read: Instagram Ad Design and Copy – The Beginner’s Guide (2017 Update)
Example #7: Scoro
Create highly specific remarketing campaigns
When working on Scoro’s Facebook ads, one of our most successful campaigns was a remarketing campaign targeting specific landing page visitors.
We created several different ad messages and ad sets to retarget people who had visited our landing pages related to:
- Project management
- Budgeting
- Productivity
The reason these ads worked so well is that people were already familiar with Scoro and interested in project management software.
That’s why we also used a straightforward headline: “Project Management Software”
Notice that the CTA button says “Sign Up.” We also tested the “Learn More” CTA but while it resulted in higher CTRs, it resulted in higher cost-per-lead.
As you can see, we also ran a Facebook ad A/B test to see which ad designs work best.
Key takeaways:
- Create specific remarketing campaigns – Don’t put all your high-value remarketing audiences into one bucket. Set up campaigns with super targeted offers.
- Test using your product description in the headline – Stating clearly what your product is about will catch the attention of people truly interested in your offer.
- Always be A/B testing – Every time you create a new ad campaign, experiment with one ad element, audience, or optimization method.
Example #8: Venngage
Follow design best practices
Your ad design can make or break the Facebook campaign.
That’s why Venngage tested over 25 Facebook ad designs to learn what works.
According to Nadya Khoja, Director of Marketing at Venngage, here’s their best-performing ad Facebook ad:
Nadya explained that:
“The darker colors stand out well against Facebook’s light grey and white background. The white text is also very easy to read against the black background.”
Moreover, the Facebook ad’s image includes a few extra design elements such as a custom red call-to-action button that pushed the audience to click.
Key takeaways:
- Test using dark-coloured ad creatives – Venngage’s experiment showed that dark images outperform all others.
- Mention the FREE part – Make sure to mention your downloadable content’s free to increase the click rates.
- Include text in the ad image – Your ad creative is the first thing people look at. Place your most important offer where it’s most visible.
Read more: 25 Facebook Ad Design Hacks to Create Perfect Ad Creatives
Example #9: Sleeknote
Market your SaaS product with case studies
In a survey conducted by Dimensional Research, as many as 90% of respondents said that positive online reviews influence their buying decisions.
Case studies also serve the goal of educating your target audience about your product.
So why not include these in your Facebook ads.
Sleeknote’s Facebook ad does just that, emphasizing the results a customer has received by using their product.
Isabella S. Rasmussen, Online Marketing Specialist at Sleeknote told that this Facebook ad is the first one in their remarketing flow. (Notice that Sleeknote has set up a Facebook ads remarketing flow, which is super smart)
“As a SaaS company with a product a little more complicated than others, we find it important to market our product using case studies.”
Moreover, Sleeknote’s Facebook ad copy’s easy to read as the text has been organized into bullet points with the “?” emoji.
Key takeaways:
- Create and advertise case studies – It’s the perfect way to increase trust and show your product’s benefits.
- Include images of people – According to research by Psychological Science, seeing a smiling person makes others feel happy, comfortable and safe.
- Use emojis in your ad copy – Emojis catch attention and help to increase your ad’s CTR. Learn how to use emojis in Facebook ads.
Example #10: Buffer
Build an online community
Buffer’s Facebook page’s feed is full on fun images and helpful content.
Mostly, they’re sharing blog articles and other quality content offers with the Facebook audience. Sometimes, Buffer’s social media team also shares the fun findings from the web. For example, the image below.
This Facebook post received almost 7k likes, 2,5k shares, and 279 comments.
Brian Peters, Marketing & Social Media Manager at Buffer shared with us some secrets behind Buffer’s success on Facebook.
Buffer does not use the “real” Facebook ads (words used by Brian). They only share articles and images and frequently boost their reach with Facebook’s paid promotion.
Here’s Brian:
“In terms of audience, we usually boost our posts to audiences in two different buckets:
1) Traffic to our website and our blog based on the Facebook Pixel traffic.
2) Interests such as “Social Media Marketing” , “Social Media Examiner” , “Social Media Today” , “Online Marketing” , etc.
Key takeaways:
- Put your audience first – Think how you can provide value to your audience and only share content they’re interested in.
- Build a community around your SaaS product – Buffer’s put a lot of effort into building strong community of fans and customers. Many of them have also become brand advocates.
- Show your personality – To build meaningful relationships with your social media audiences, your SaaS brands needs a strong voice.
Example #11: Asana
Don’t be afraid of bold colours
Asana’s branding is full of playful colours. So are their Facebook ads.
Research has discovered that people make up their mind within 90 seconds of the initial interaction with either people or products. About 62‐90% of their assessment is based on colors alone.
Key takeaways:
- Create brightly coloured Facebook ad images – Strong colours can be easily noticed in crowded news feeds.
- Keep your ad copy short – Asana’s ad headline “Free for teams of 15” is short but sweet. Moreover, their 3-word link description won’t steal the attention away from the rest of ad copy.
For additional inspiration, check out these Facebook ad examples from the world’s leading brands.
Example #12: Segment
Ask a question
Segment’s Facebook ad headline asks: “Tired of building third-party integrations?”
That’s smart for several reasons:
- It speaks to their target audience by mentioning a common pain point.
- Our brains are hardwired to look for answers to any questions around us.
Moreover, Segment’s Facebook ad looks more like a promoted blog article than a sales offer. This might help them to earn the ad viewers’ attention and get people to read about the offer.
Key takeaway:
- Ask questions that resonate with your target audience – Research by Outbrain has shown that article titles ending with a question mark have higher avg. click-through rates than those ending with an exclamation mark or full stop.
Example #13: Zendesk
Offer a free demo
Instead of jumping right to the sales pitch, Zendesk’s Facebook ad offers a free product demo.
The ad copy also explains the core benefits of booking the demo: “See how you can empower and engage your customers”.
Key takeaways:
- Offer a free demo – Demos are a great way to introduce more complex SaaS products to potential buyers.
- Use the “Book Now” CTA – The “Book Now” call-to-action allows you to get the lead’s email address without them leaving Facebook’s platform. It’s easier for both parties.
Example #14: FreshBooks
Know your buyer personas
FreshBooks’ Facebook ad is a perfect example of how a well-defined target audience can contribute to ad copywriting.
The SaaS brand’s targeting specifically small business owners and so is their Facebook ad copy emphasizing the solutions to the accounting problems an SMB owner might have.
Moreover, the Facebook ad’s colourful image is sure to catch many prospects’ attention.
Key takeaway:
- Know your customers – Before you set up any Facebook ad campaigns, make sure you know your buyer personas. This way, you’ll be able to write the ad copy that speaks directly to the potential customers.
Example #15: Slack
Tell stories with carousel ads
Slack’s Facebook ad uses a specific ad type – Carousel ads – that let you add up to 10 consecutive slides in a single ad.
A report by Kinetic Social revealed that carousel ads have up to 10 times higher click-through rates compared to static sponsored posts on Facebook.
However, take this with a grain of salt. As we recently tested the carousel ads with one of my SaaS clients, these ads resulted in 3x higher cost-per-clicks compared to regular Facebook ads.
Notice that there’s no ad copy under the carousel’s images. Facebook actually allows advertisers to include ad copy under each slide. However, Slack’s decided to pass on the offer for increased clarity.
Key takeaways:
- Experiment with new Facebook ad types – Test new ad formats such as carousel ads to find new methods to reach new audiences and lower your cost-per-acquisition.
- You don’t need to use all Facebook ad copy placements – While Facebook offers plenty of options for adding more copy to your ad, you can test whether simplistic ads work even better.
Example #16: Shopify
Introduce new features and products
From time to time, your SaaS product gets new add-ons in the form of updated features. Maybe you’ll even launch a new product.
Naturally, you should share the good news with both the existing customer base and prospects.
For instance, Shopify’s Facebook ad announces a new product Shopify Pay.
The ad’s headline includes the new product’s main benefit (Accelerate Checkout) and the ad image showcases the new product in action.
Key takeaways:
- Promote your product announcements – Use paid advertising to ensure your latest product news reach your existing customers and people considering the purchase of your product.
- Showcase your product in the ad image – Use a screenshot of your SaaS product in the ad image, so that people can immediately see it.
Example #17: Salesforce
Increase sales with limited-time offers
An article in the Wall Street Journal suggests that it takes 20 minutes for the feeling of excitement to pass.
If you give people too much time to consider your offer, their initial curiosity might pass and they’ll never sign up for your SaaS product’s free trial or other offers.
That’s why Salesforce created a Facebook ad with an additional incentive to try their product Quip – a limited-time -50% discount.
Also, pay attention to the “Contact Us” call-to-action button. Once a Facebook user clicks on the CTA, they can leave their contact details so that Salesforce’s sales team can contact them.
Key takeaways:
- Promote limited-time offers – Make your Facebook ad offer limited by time to nudge people to sign up faster.
- Offer discounts – Provide small discounts to first-time users, so that they’ll have to risk with smaller budgets to test your product.
Example #18: SaneBox
Include well-known logos
Studies show that our brains prefer recognizable brands. If your product has integrations with other popular tools or you collaborate with a well-known brand, show it in your Facebook ads.
For example, SaneBox’s Facebook ad image features Apple’s iMail icons that are easily recognizable to most people.
Key takeaway:
- Include well-known logos in your ad image – If your SaaS product’s fairly unknown, you can take advantage of the halo effect of popular brands by including their logos in your ad image. However, be careful not to infringe any copyright laws.
Example #19: Infusionsoft
Collect leads with Facebook Lead Ads
Facebook Lead Ads permit advertisers to collect the prospect’s email addresses.
Mostly, they offer some kind of downloadable content in exchange.
For instance, Infusionsoft’s Facebook ad offers 27 downloadable email templates.
Moreover, the Facebook ad keeps repeating the “Download” call-to-action across the an copy, making it more loud and clear what’s the next step.
Key takeaways:
- Collect new leads with Facebook Lead Ads – Set up Facebook Lead Ad campaigns to turn cold audiences into warm leads and enter them into your marketing funnel
- Make your content worthy of a download – If you offer low-value content, people won’t be willing to share their emails with you.
- Be repetitive – If your want a specific message to reach your target audience, insert it in multiple text parts of your Facebook ad.
Example #20: Heap
Create trust by mentioning your customers
If your SaaS product’s used by several well-known customers, you might want to share this information with a larger audience.
Heap’s Facebook ad does just that, mentioning their top customers right in the headline.
Seeing the names of some well-known brands creates a feeling of recognition, making people associate your brand with a positive emotion.
Another nice thing about Heap’s Facebook ad is the main text – it tells exactly what the product’s about while using emotionally loaded words such as “painless.”
Key takeaways:
- Mention your customers – If you have some well-known companies using your product, you could mention it in your Facebook ads.
- Use emotionally loaded words – When writing your ad copy, use powerful words to make people more interested in your offer.
Buffer’s put together the ultimate list of 189 magnetic words that make your copywriting almost irresistible.
Example #21: Xero
Place the free trial offer where it’s most visible
Free trials are highly popular in the SaaS industry.
After all, it makes sense that people want to test your product before they make a large monetary commitment.
The free trail offers are also widely used in SaaS Facebook ads. For instance, Xero has placed the offer of the 30-day trial period in the ad’s headline, making it easy to notice.
Another nice hack in Xero’s Facebook ad is including the logo in the ad image, making it memorable and increasing brand awareness.
Key takeaways:
- Place the free trial offer in a visible place – Test offering the free trial in your Facebook ad’s headline or in the ad image.
- Showcase your logo – If you have some extra room in your ad creative, include your logo, so that your Facebook ad not only brings new leads but also increases the brand awareness.
- Create interesting ad designs – Xero’s Facebook ad image immediately catches the eye as it’s colourful and features a fascinating message.
Example #22: CoSchedule
Experiment with side-project marketing
Side project marketing is a tactic where you create a free side product that’s relevant and helpful to your target audience.
For example, CoSchedule’s main product is a content marketing calendar. However, they’ve also created a free headline analyzer tool that’s helping thousands of marketers daily.
And they’re also sharing the free headline analyzer with their Facebook audience.
Launching a side project could take less time and effort than writing a blog post or guest blogging for top blogs, while returning a 10x more efficient outcome.
Side project marketing can be especially beneficial to SaaS brands as you can even take an existing product feature and build it into a free side project.
Key takeaways:
- Try side project marketing – The free stock image site Unsplash started as a side project by SaaS startup Crew. It saved their startup from failing.
- Promote and share your side projects – If you’ve already spent a significant amount of time creating the side product, you should also give it the attention it deserves, ensuring it’s discovered by your target audience.
Example #23: Wrike
Bring your customer testimonials to Facebook
If you’re able show that regular customers are happy with your SaaS product and enjoying its benefits, it sends a clear positive signal.
Wrike uses a testimonial from a well-known customer in their Facebook ad copy to prove their product’s trustworthy.
Wrike’s also applying the copywriting hacks of posing a question to catch people’s attention.
Key takeaway:
- Include client testimonials in your Facebook ads – If you want to appear more trustworthy (especially when selling to enterprise-level companies), make your Facebook ads more trustworthy by incorporating a testimonial.
Example #24: Canva
Show what your SaaS product can do
There’s a saying that an image speaks a thousand words.
As there’s no way to write a 1000-word Facebook ad copy, you should make sure your ad images aren’t just placeholders but contribute to your campaign’s overall success.
Canva’s Facebook ad image showcases an illustration created with their SaaS product – the Free Mind Map Maker.
You can also take screenshots of your product and use these as Facebook ad creatives – it will save you some time and gives your audience a sneak peek at your product.
Key takeaway:
- Show what your SaaS product can do – Take a screenshot of something created with your software and use it as your Facebook ad image.
Example #25: Shopify
Use high-quality stock images
The good thing about stock images is that they take almost no time to find and use.
However, should you decide to use any stock images in your Facebook ads, make sure they’re not the free ones.
People are tired of seeing the same images in their newsfeed over and over again. And they’ve surely seen the popular free images before.
Shopify’s Facebook ad features a high-quality stock image that’s not as widely used as its free alternatives.
The ad image also matches with the ad copy and the promoted guide.
Key takeaways:
- A/B test custom images vs. stock images – If you’re unsure which ad images work best, include a stock photo in your A/B tests.
- Avoid using free stock photos – If you’re short in time or don’t know a designer to create your ad creatives, make sure to buy stock images that haven’t been used many times before.
Example #26: Contently
Use color overlay to brand your ad images
Another quick hack to turn stock images into branded ad creatives is to apply a color overlay to every image.
For example, Contently’s Facebook ad creative features a regular stock image that’s been coloured with a branded blue tone.
Moreover, the blue background and white fonts create a contrast that makes in-image text highly readable.
A study by UsabilityTools showed that using highly contrasting landing page call-to-actions resulted in 75% higher click-through rate, compared to a low-contrast CTA.
Key takeaways:
- Align your Facebook ad images with your branding – Look for quick ways to give your Facebook ads a branded look, e.g. by using colour overlay.
- Use high colour contrasts – Whenever you add text in your ad images, make sure it’s easy to read and doesn’t blend into the background.
Example #27: Squarespace
Offer additional perks
If you’ve been marketing your SaaS product for a while, some features might start to seem like nice-to-haves. However, they may be critically important to some target audience members.
The same rule applies to small add-ons.
Squarespace’s Facebook ad offers a free year of Google Business account to all new customers.
Adding small perks to your SaaS product offer can help to nudge people sign up on your offer.
Key takeaways:
- Offer extras to convert more people – Make your SaaS product’s Facebook ads even more compelling by adding extras that your target audience may be interested in.
- Match the extras with your product – When offering extra perks for first-time users, make sure these also help to improve their product experience.
Example #28: ConvertKit
Introduce your SaaS product on webinars
Webinars aren’t usually the SaaS marketers’ first choice when it comes to increasing brand awareness and collecting new leads.
However, this content format allows you to show your product in action while also sharing lots of helpful tips with your audience.
ConvertKit’s Facebook post promotes a free webinar that teaches marketers to get 1,000 email subscribers in 30 days or less.. Sounds like a good (almost too good) deal to me…
Notice how ConvertKit’s using the power of numbers to get people’s attention. That’s a smart move as people are wired to like even numbers.
Key takeaways:
- Explore new content formats – Test promoting your webinars, case studies, eBooks, etc. to see what your audience likes most.
- Use numbers in your Facebook ad copy – A blogger studied his articles’ engagement and discovered that posts that had a number in the headline received 2.5-8 times more traffic.
Example #29: Yahoo Mail
The weirdest software ad
I just had to share with you this ad by Yahoo Mail that surfaced when researching examples for this article.
Hi Mom. Send emails that bloom…
That’s just a weird way to advertise a product.
Conclusion
So, should you spend more time on marketing your SaaS product on Facebook.
Quite possibly so.
Start by providing valuable content and running some remarketing campaigns to bring warm audiences back to your marketing funnel. Then, proceed to building a strong online community around your brand.
If you’d like to share your experience with SaaS marketing and Facebook, we’d love to hear about it in the comments.
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