Cool. I’ve been doing that a lot recently, too.

That’s because video ads have become an indisputable requirement for any Facebook advertising campaign.

When researching Facebook Ad Library for good examples, I noticed that 80% of the TOP brands’  Facebook ad creatives were videos.

Facebook video ads have become a necessity in 2025. You can’t go on running static ads only.

Read more about social media advertising trends in 2025.

Fun fact: Facebook algorithms deliver static and video ads to different audiences, depending on what a user is more likely to react to. So if you want to reach the people more susceptible to video content, you’ll need attractive video creatives.👀

The #1 obstacle that marketers come across when creating video ads for their Facebook or Instagram campaigns is the lack of skill and know-how.

For additional inspiration, you or check out what we’ve published on this blog – including 180 Best Facebook ad examples and 84 Best Instagram ad examples.

Meta video ad best practices

Before I created my first video ads, I had a number of questions:

• What are Facebook video ads’ best practices?
• How long should the ad videos be and what’s the correct size of Facebook video ads?
• What should the Facebook video ads feature?
• What tools are used to create video ads?
• Do we need an agency to create the ad videos for us?

I’ll do my best to answer all of these questions for you in this article.

Let’s not drag this intro too long and get to the Facebook video ad examples!

Best Facebook video ad examples,  2025 update

I found the following video ads while browsing the Facebook Ad Library – I like to regularly check my selected 100 brands’ ad creatives to keep my creative know-how up to date.

#1: Oreo

I envy whoever produced this video ad for Oreo as it’s perfectly executed, having a high-quality sleek look, fast-paced movement, and eye-capturing shifting patterns.

#2: Deliveroo

Deliveroo is running tens of similar Facebook ads, each featuring various city districts and relevant restaurants. Such automatically customized ads are usually created with a creative automation tool, e.g. Smartly. 

​#3: Spotify

Similarly to the previous ad, this Spotify looks a lot like it’s created using an automated Facebook video duplication tool.

Be it as it may, they have managed to create an engaging Facebook video ad with very few resources: An album cover, mixed colorful elements, and on-point typography.

#4: Restream

Working with Restream, we created a set of Facebook video ads that are essentially an animated version of their static ads. 

Bringing your static ads to life is a good way to get started with video advertising on Facebook. You just need a motion designer who can help to make your existing design assets move.

#5: Airbnb

The first four ads that you saw were all around 15 seconds long or even shorter. In contrast, this one by Airbnb is a brand awareness ad: it runs for 40 seconds and tells an inspiring story.

It is a best practice to use a mix of performance-oriented and brand awareness ads. Both need a slightly different approach:

• Performance ads should direct the viewer to make a purchase or take some other action. These ads usually end with a clear call-to-action.
• Brand awareness ads’ goal is to create… well… awareness about a brand and drive positive brand perception. These ads do not usually ask people to take an action immediately.

#6: Milka

Pardon my French. This ad by Milka is essentially reminding people to be nicer to each other. A simple and on-brand Facebook video ad.

#7: Sephora

This ad looks like it took a lot of work, so it is likely to be part of a big global Facebook campaign. 

You can create a mix of Facebook ads – some that take less time to create and that you run in the short-term + the branding ads that you invest more time and money into and will run for a longer period, e.g. for 3 months. 

#8: Klarna

I am a big fan of Facebook ad creatives that follow closely the brand’s CVI. That’s why I’ve always liked Klarna’s ads – they stay true to their pink color palette and as a result, their ads are easily recognizable in the news feed.

# 9: Snickers

Take notice of how this Facebook ad is pairing filmed video content with colorful background and typography.

By using highly contrasting sections throughout your Facebook video ad, you can assure that it will capture your audience’s attention while they scroll through their Instagram or Facebook feeds.  

#10 Moo

One more Facebook video ad effect to test out is the “endless loop” technique.

Repeating motion effects are especially helpful if you have interesting video content that lasts only a few seconds. To make sure your ad gets shows for the full 15-second story ad length, make it repeat on a loop for 15 sec.

#11: Nars

#12: Mailchimp

#13: Dior

#14: Grammarly

#15:Wrike

Facebook video ad examples, 2020 edition

Below, you will find the Meta ad examples that I collected for the previous release of this article. 

Looking at some of them made me think that we’ve come a long way from the time when only a few brands were able to produce high-quality video content.

I should probably start to learn video editing…

#16: VSCO

The Instagram video ad by VSCO showcases their product features in a simplified 15-second video. Here are some key takeaways for you to consider:

• The first 3 seconds matter most – Notice how the first few frames are using a bright color to lead people’s attention to the the ad copy “transformative tools” and get them hooked to watch the rest of the video.
• Video ads ≠ no copy – In fact, it’s a good idea to keep copy in your ad video to better explain what’s going on.

#17: Facebook

Yeah, Facebook is advertising on their own platform and they’re pretty good at it. Here’s what they’re doing well:

• The ad asks a question – there’s a highly visible question always visible in the ad video that catches the viewers’ attention.
• Video & message match – Notice how the message “Need a push?” matches with the moving car’s message.
• Simplicity – a video ad does not have to be 30-seconds long and take days to create. You can start testing with simple animations that are simple yet catch people’s attention.

#18: Monese

Monese’s video ad explains how their product works and shows their app in action. Here’s what’s noteworthy about this ad:

• Display your product – on the one hand, you won’t need as much new content. On the other hand, people will get familiar with how your product looks and feels. It’s a win-win.
• End with a call-to-action – don’t leave people hanging after watching your video. Tell them what’s the next step to take. In this case, it’s “download the app.”

#19: Squarespace

This Instagram video ad by Squarespace is another nice example of simple video design in action:

• Show small changes – showing small changes such as the growing numbers’ count in this ad is a good trick for catching the viewers’ attention.
• Show you logo – It’s a commonly known best practice to show your logo throughout the video ad (that’s also a suggestion in Youtube’s video ads’ playbook)

#20: Nike

If you’re working with a lifestyle or eCommerce brand, your audience might appreciate more story-focused ads. Nike’s ad would make for a great branding video.

• Make it look high quality – if you plan to film your Facebook video ads, make sure you’re using a high end camera.
• Mix video footage & copy – seriously, having some copy in your video ads makes them a lot more comprehensible and having a powerful impact on the audience.

#21: Web Summit

Here’s another example of a story-specific ad, showing how a conference venue is being set up in the matter of hours (being compressed into a 30-second video).

• Tell a story – our brains are hardwired to look for patterns and follow stories, leading your audience being hooked to your video ad
• You don’t need a fancy agency – Web Summit’s video ad could easily have been recorded by a camera set up by a crew member and edited by another crew member. Easy.

#22: AppSumo

This ad is not really a video ad but a Slideshow consisting of AppSumo’s product reviews. Here’s what I like about it:

• Creating it took 5 minutes max – you can create a similar ad by uploading 3-5 images to Facebook and creating a Slideshow ad.
• Showcase testimonials – third-party testimonials increase trust in your product. This ad could be shown in a Facebook retargeting campaign to nudge people to make a purchase.

#23: Mango

Mango’s Facebook ad is like a tiny movie that combines nice views, a celebrity model and the brand’s products.

• Use video ads for branding – while this ad doesn’t invite you to buy any specific product, it reminds you about the brand.
• Work with influencers – if you’ve got enough cash, having an influencer (that’s loved by your target audience) in your ad videos doesn’t hurt.

#24: Reedeshop

• Animate simple messages – even making a word blink or change color can help increase your ad’s click-through rate.
• Use the right ad formats – when creating video ads for Facebook and Instagram, you can upload ads in multiple sizes. Check out all the current Instagram ad specs here.

#25: The New York Times

This is one of my all-time favourite video ads. Seriously, I think it’s genius.

• Create unique ads – The NYT video ad is unique in that it only uses text to tell a story, But it’s super catchy at that.
• Know your tools – I created a similar video ad for a client by using Photoshop only (creating video ads is easier than you think).

The top 10 Facebook and Instagram video ad examples were my favourites. Up next, you will find more video ads for even more inspiration.

But before you check out the rest, here’s a list of tools that you can use to create video ads:

• Photoshop for GIFs + Illustrator to create icons, etc.
• Sketch + Flinto/Kite
• Adobe After Effects
• Record videos on your own
• Buy video footage on Stocksy or other stock photo sites

#26: BeUnsettled

BeUnsettled’s video ad is quote basic in terms of video content. However, they’ve combined video footage that looks like stock videos with copy, giving it more substance.

The nature-movie-like frames also fit perfectly into anyone’s Instagram feed, which can be a good or bad thing, depending on whether the ad manages to catch the target audience’s attention.

#27: Pelacase

This is another example of a Facebook video ad using average video footage, but using the correct medium to tell the story.

#28: Facebook

Here’s a good Facebook video ad example for marketers with small budgets that want to test our some kind of video animation.

You could basically take a static image and pair it with an animated loading icon – you’re guaranteed to get people look and wait for your ad video to load, without this ever happening. But then again, you’ve already got their attention, so they might as well read the rest of your ad.

#29: Okia

Playing around with text is the easiest way to create video ads. You could do a similar video on Photoshop in around 10 minutes. (+ the hours you’ll spend to come up with a good message and unique value proposition ideas for your ad).

#30: BetterMe

If you saw this ad as a static image v.s. a GIF ad, which one would catch your attention?

Try turning some of your existing static Facebook ad designs into GIFs to find out if it helps to increase the CTR and lower the cost-per-result.

#31: MyTheresa

Here’s an example of an Instagram ad that probably required a high budget to create. This is definitely appealing to a lot of luxury goods buyers.

However, spending tens of thousands of dollars on video creation does not always mean your ad is 10 times more efficient. Make sure to think who your target audience is before buying a video from an agency.

#32: Stuudionahk

For a leather goods brand like this one, creating a video ad to showcase their products makes a lot of sense. However, I would always suggest that you pair your video ads with image ads to see what works best.

#33: DRM Bracelets

This is a completely random campaign by some drop shipping brand. But I have to give it to them – using the country name in the ad is a nice personalised touch.

#34: Trvl

Notice how this Instagram video ad example by Trvl combines images, copy and colorful backgrounds to create a video-like effect. In fact, there’s no video footage in this ad – another proof that you don’t need a large budget to create marketing videos.

#35: Monese

I’ve always been a fan of slightly animated video ads (we also test a lot of them in Taxify). The reason these animations work is that they catch people’s attention but don’t lead the focus away from the ad’s main message.

Alright… We’ve reached the end of our video ad showdown.

Here are some key takeaways to remember:

• You need to test video ads – there are brands whose audiences love video ads. But there are also Facebook and Instagram advertising campaigns where image ads work best.
• Creating video ads doesn’t have to be expensive – many of the examples above could have been made in just a few hours. With help from one of the many great unlimited video editing companies, you can keep production fast and affordable. Expenses do not equal results in the case of Facebook ads.
• There are many video ad hacks – from catching the attention in the first 3 seconds to ending the video with a clear call-to-action, there’s a lot you can do to double or even triple your video ads’ conversion rate.

P.S. if you’ve got some cool Facebook or Instagram video ad examples, send them over and we’re happy to include them in this list.

The post 35 Facebook Video Ad Examples – 2025 Update appeared first on Marketing Fix blog.

You could either…

1. Create a personal Instagram account and start seeing ads
2. Browse online ad galleries
3. Read this article with 80+ Instagram ad examples

While browsing various ad examples, you will eventually reach another question: What makes the best Instagram ads so good?

There are several aspects:

1. Your Instagram ad design must catch the viewer’s eyes.
2. It’s best to follow Instagram ad size and specs best practices and create ads with the size of 1080×1080 px.
3. Create a different ad for your Facebook and Instagram campaign (1200×628 px vs. 1080×1080 px).
4. You must find a strong unique value proposition (USP).

As marketing legend David Ogilvy put it:

“If your advertising fails to get the message to the heads of people, your money’s wasted. And this is happening to millions of advertisers every day.”

So how can you create Instagram ads that won’t fail? – Check out the 84 ad examples in this article to get tens of new ideas for creating irresistible Instagram ads that will increase your sales.

How to use this article:

The first 10 ad examples come with an explanation of what makes them work – so that you can get a better overview of Instagram ad best practices.

While browsing all these examples, analyze:

• What makes the ad’s design good?
• What copywriting hacks could you copy?
• How to apply these best practices to your campaigns?

If you’re in B2B business, you might want to check out these 100+ LinkedIn ad examples by fast-growth brands.

Ok? Let’s roll!

#1: The Economist

What makes this ad good?

The Economist’s Instagram ad example showcases their magazine covers, letting the viewer immediately know what the product is. But instead of just showing the image, they have used ½ of the ad space to include a headline and a pricing point, making the ad more informative.

Key takeaways:

• Showcase your product – people will immediately grasp what it is that you’re selling.
• Add copy in your ad image – Consumer Acquisition found that images are responsible for 75%-90% of ad performance. It makes sense to add your USP in the image.
• Don’t make your ad too text-heavy

#2: HubSpot

What makes this ad good?

HubSpot’s Facebook ad is super simple – You could create it in under 1 minute by using Paint or Photoshop. However, the bright colours and copy will catch many people’s attention in the Instagram newsfeed. Think about it – the newsfeed is full of photos. This makes this ad example with simple background shine out.

Key takeaways:

• Use bright colours – People’s brains are wired to notice bright colours and associate them with positive feelings.
• Use simple ad design – In the crowded Instagram newsfeed, simplicity is often the key. Test ads that include only background + copy.
• Use the correct ad size – We can’t help but wonder how much more efficient this ad would be when created as a square image… It would take up more space in the newsfeed, and draw even more attention.

#3: New York Times

What makes this ad good?

This NYT Instagram ad is similar to the previous example in that it features a monochrome background with copy. However, this ad has taken a couple of steps further, playing with typography and including the brand’s logo. Also, the ad size is 1080×1080 px, which is perfect for Instagram ads.

Key takeaways:

• Use interesting typography – If you’re planning to include a lot of copy in your ad image, use eye-catching fonts to bring your ad to life.
• Include your logo in the ad image – It will help to create higher brand awareness at no extra cost. Moreover, your logo can serve as a design element.
• Use contrasting font colours – When using the background + copy ad design hack, make sure your background colour and font colours contrast each other. Otherwise, it will be difficult to read your ad’s copy.

#4: MeetFrank

What makes this ad good?

MeetFrank’s Instagram ad example uses a simple custom design which is highly efficient when it comes to Facebook and Instagram advertising. Moreover, the ad design features a growth curve which immediately draws the viewer’s attention. Not to mention showcasing numbers – another element that’s guaranteed to get more eyes on your Instagram ad.

Key takeaways:

• Use symbols in your ad design – Including positive symbols such as a growth curve in your ad design will make your audience remember you with positive emotions.
• Include numbers in your ad design – Research shows that by starting your headline with a number, you’re 36% more likely to have people click on your ads. Numbers draw attention.
• Address your users in the ad – By asking “UI/UX DEsigner” in the image, MeetFrank’s ad gets the attention of everyone who feels themselves addressed.

#5: Rains

What makes this ad good?

Being an apparel brand, it’s increasingly important for Rains to show their product in the best light. To showcase their products, Rains has created an Instagram carousel ad that features 3 different images (notice the three blue dots under the ad image). Moreover, the ad image’s size is in an interesting format, resembling a portrait photo rather than square image.

Key takeaways:

• Create Instagram carousel ads – Include more than one image in your ad to show multiple products within a single ad.
• Use professional photographs – If you’re planning to advertise a photo ad image, make sure these look professional. You can hire a photographer to help you out.
• Test portrait images – Instagram allows advertisers to set up ad images in portrait formats. Use this option to take up more space in the newsfeed.

#6: Zaful

What makes this ad good?

This Instagram ad example by Zaful caught our eye due to the original way of dividing the ad image into several pictures, creating a mosaic effect. That’s a smart idea to showcase different sides/elements of your product in a single ad image. You can also use it as a Facebook advertising hack.

Key takeaways:

• Test mosaic images – If you want to show multiple aspects of your product, test dividing your ad image into multiple image blocks.
• Combine mosaics with carousel ads – You could use the mosaic-style image as the first card in your Instagram carousel ad, and then include each mosaic image in a closeup as individual carousel ad images.
• Use hashtags – Instagram is all about hashtags. Did you notice the #FreeShipping hashtag in the ad text? Using hashtags will make your ad feel more like it belongs on Instagram.

#6: The Dots

What makes this ad good?

The Dots’ Instagram ad combines a colourful background image with in-image value proposition. While the in-image copy is a little bit difficult to read due to low contrast, it looks sleek and in balance with other ad elements.

Key takeaways:

• If you use stock photos, use good ones – Sometimes, it pays off to use a stock photo in your Instagram ads. However, do not include an overused free stock photo. Make sure people haven’t seen your ad image before.
• Mention your customers – Listing your well-know business customers’ names in the ad copy helps to increase trust in your brand. Note that this tactic requires the approval from your clients.
• Select the right call-to-action – Instagram allows you to select between several CTAs. Use the call-to-action that’s closest to your goal (if you want people to buy something, use the “Shop Now” CTA, etc.)

#7: The Kooples

What makes this ad good?

Here’s another Instagram ad example featuring apparel. Notice how the photographs have been taken by a professional photographer, showing the clothes in good light. Moreover, the ad copy lets the viewer know that there’s a SALE going on, increasing the ad’s click-through rate.

Key takeaways:

• Use emojis – Include emojis in your ad copy to make your ads more interesting. Read how to use emojis in your Facebook ads.
• Add up to 10 carousel cards – Do not limit yourself to 2-3 carousel ad cards – you can add up to 10.
• Add a different link to each image – When setting up your carousel ads, you can make each image to direct to a different link. Use this option to direct people to the correct product’s landing page.

#8: 8fit

What makes this ad good?

8fit’s Instagram ad image looks like it’s taken directly from a health blogger’s Instagram page. That’s the key to their potential audience’s hearts. If you’re advertising a lifestyle brand, use images that showcase your product in normal settings, so that people can imagine themselves using it.

Key takeaways:

• Copy successful Instagram accounts – No, we’re not suggesting that you copy their posts one-to-one. That would be plagiarism. But do copy them in terms of style.
• Write actionable ad copy – Use words like “Use,” “Get,” “Start,” etc. to indicate that people are supposed to take action on your Instagram ad.

#9: MindTitan

What makes this ad good?

This Instagram ad example by MindTitan is not here to sell – it’s focused on attracting talent and getting them to join the company. Instagram is a great platform for advertising your job offers – an opportunity that’s often overlooked by companies. Moreover, the ad states a question in the ad image, nudging people’s minds to answer “Yes” or “No,” and getting them engaged in the first few seconds.

Key takeaways:

• Test Instagram ads for hiring – In addition to promoting your product on Instagram, you can use it to reach talented people.
• Ask a question in the ad image – This will get more people hooked to your Instagram ad, and they will also read the rest of your ad copy.
• Use branded ad design – If you want your ads to be associated with your brand, it’s a good idea to create Instagram ad images that use your branded colours and design elements.

#10: Facebook Audience Network

What makes this ad good?

Instead of trying to sell you anything, this Instagram ad starts with a content marketing offer – an informative article. Facebook Audience Network is using the Instagram ad to keep their customers – marketers – informed about the upcoming features and changes.

Key takeaways:

• Use Instagram ads for promoting content – Especially in B2B sales, it’s important to start with a soft sell, and slowly turn your leads into paying customers.
• Mix icons and symbols – An easy way to create a custom Instagram ad design is to download some free icons and symbols and use Illustrator or Photoshop to mix them together into a good-looking ad image.

If you want to learn more about Instagram advertising, check out this in-depth guide: Instagram Advertising – Always Up-to-date Guide (2018 Edition)

#11: UsabilityHub

#12: Airbnb

#13: Blinkist

#14: Poketo

#15: Brooklinen

#16: Foreo

#17: Cofounders Lab

#18: Squarespace

#19: Deloitte Baltics

#20: The Dots

#21: Kickstarter

#22: Facebook Marketing Developers

#23: Workplace by Facebook

#24: Ohheygirl Store

#25: Folsom & Co

#26: Freefly Systems

#27: Getdesignrr

#28: Gurushots

#29: Harvard Business Review

#30: Hisuperhi

#31: H&M

#32: Hyatt

#33: Inch2

#34: Jason Squire smm

#35: Jon Loomer

#36: British Journal of Photography

#37: Aceroix

#38: Architonicag

#39: Asanarebel

#40: Alex la Rigato

#41: Udemy

#42: Alexander Wang NY

#43: Azalea’s Boutique

#44: LIFT99

#45: Makery

#46: Masterclass

#47: Flachsmann Watches

#48: Gagosian Gallery

#49: Nortal

#50: Nosto

#51: Olive Clothing

#52: Onelive

#53: Cbyloredanapinasco

#54: Origin

#55: Out in London

#56: Paradise Amsterdam

#57: Parts of 4

#58: Pelacase

#59: Pexel Photos

#60:Black Mirror Fans

#61: Rains

#62: Reserved

#63: Rise of the Kings

#64: Scoro

#65: Frontrow

#66: Shopify

#67: STAC

#68: Stitch and Story

#69: Studio Living

#70: Bold Tuesday

#71: Sugar and Cotton

#73: Taxify

#74: Tentree

#75: The Horse

#76: Trvl

#77: Two Dots

#78: Udemy

#79: Venngage

#80: Vidcon

#81: Mvmforher

#82: Web Summit

#83: Wizzair

#84: Your Plug Clothing

Conclusion

Now that you’ve quickly scrolled through all the Instagram ad examples in this article, you definitely have some great new ideas.

If you want to learn even more about creating efficient Facebook and Instagram ads, check out this guide: 215+ Best Facebook Ad Examples (2025 Update)

The post 80+ Best Instagram Ad Examples (2025 update) appeared first on Marketing Fix blog.

Open up your newsfeed, scroll for a few minutes, and you’ll see that they are.

Should you also fall for the promise of quick wins while risking with ads that are borderline cliché?

No way?

Well… Following popular Facebook ad templates actually has its perks:

• Template layouts make the best use of ad space – Facebook’s 1200px – 628px ad format is quite limiting, so knowing the best layouts will help you quickly create ads that look nice in the newsfeed.
• They’re proven to work – Brands don’t use the same ad designs over and over again without a reason – some layouts simply work better than others.
• They’re easy to create – Universal ad templates can easily be filled in with your branded content and messaging, without you having to spend days designing your Facebook ads.

Find out all you need to know about various Facebook ad types and formats here: Facebook Ad Specis & Size (Always Up-to-date Guide)

Personally, I like to create 80% of ad designs following my go-to templates and treat the remaining 20% as tiny art projects, testing something new.

Where to find Facebook ad templates?

There is no online “Facebook ad templates” gallery that you can browse.

The best way to acquire a set of safe-for-work templates in to browse Facebook ad examples and see what layouts other brands are using.

Which I recently did, resulting in 18 ad ideas that you can apply to your campaigns as well.

Looking for Facebook ad specs? Read about Facebook ad dimensions in 2020.

While the following infographic is dividided into 3 parts – Universal, SaaS and eCommerce – most of the featured ad templates can be used for any kind of Facebook or Instagram campaign.

+ Scroll to the bottom of the infographic to see real Facebook ad examples for each use case. 👇

1. Image + centered text

This Facebook ad template works well with any kind of messaging, whether you want to mention your value props, a discount offer or a one-liner about your company.

All you need is a stock photo (check the above infographic for best free stock image sites) and a strong value proposition.

2. Image + left- or right-aligned text

This is another go-to Facebook ad template for most campaigns. Adding the call-to-action to your ad image can potentially increase your ad’s click-through rate, resulting in higher Relevance score and lower Facebook ad cost.

3. Image + text inside a circle

This format works best if you plan to feature some specific number, e.g. the pricing of your product or a discount rate.

Suggestions:

• A/B test various colours on the circle to uncover what catches most people’s attention.
• Make sure that the text and its background circle have a high colour contrast, so that the copy is easily readable (e.g. avoid placing white copy on light background)

4. Image + text inside a square

Use this Facebook ad template in brand awareness campaigns and place your logo inside the square in the centre of your ad.

You can also test a similar layout when promoting a blog article on Facebook, adding the article’s title on top of the background image.

5. Image + text + CTA button

When using a lot of copy on your Facebook ads – which you are when adding both a value proposition + CTA button in the image – make sure to use the Facebook Text Overlay tool to ensure that your ad is not too text-heavy.

6. Plain image + logo

If you’re wondering what’s the most beloved Facebook ad template of lazy marketers, this is it. However, this is not to say that this layout doesn’t work. Test it out!

7. Showcase your product

When it comes to Facebook ads for SaaS, it’s always a good idea to create some ads that showcase your product.

Showing people what your product looks like is beneficial for several reasons:

• It will catch the attention of people interested in software products
• The viewer can immediately tell if they’d like to use your product (you’ll get higher-quality leads)
• And, naturally, all you need to do is take a screenshot and do some Photoshop magic – easy.

8. Product image + value proposition

One step forward from the previous ad template with product image would be adding a value proposition on top of it. You can run a split test to see which results the ads with a simple product screenshot v.s. an additional value proposition deliver.

Combine product image with some copy

9. Product image aligned to the right

When working with SaaS companies, this is usually our go-to Facebook layout. Somehow, having the copy on the left and a product image on the right makes the image easy to understand and read.

10. Visualize a specific benefit

Does your product help teams to grow? Be more efficient and save time? Show it in your Facebook ads. To make things even more graspable for the viewer, make sure that your Facebook ad copywriting also revolves around the same benefit.

11. Visualize text with icons

If you’re looking for a good alternative to stock photos, find some high-quality icons and find various ways to organize them in your Facebook ad designs.

Tip: You don’t need to create the icons from scratch, there are many good websites for finding ready-made icons. (Check the infographic for suggestions)

12. Share a customer testimonial

You probably have plenty of positive customer testimonials on your website. Copy-paste them to your Facebook ad images, add a picture if a real customer (no stock photo), and you’ve got yourself a high-conversion ad.

13. Centered product + logo

This is a good Facebook ad template for any retail brand. You can also add a value proposition to your ad image to emphasize your product’s benefit.

Tip: Go an extra mile to get professional product photos as the first impression of your product will decide whether someone buys it or not.

14. Limited-time or discount offer

If you have a possibility to make a discount offer and promote it on Facebook, do it every time. This is especially relevant for Facebook retargeting campaigns, where you need to give people some additional incentive to buy your product.

15. Compilation of products + centered logo

Got a lot of products? Why not show them all in a single Facebook ad. You can also apply the same layout to your Instagram ad design where having catchy and colourful ads is the key to increased sales.

Read more: Instagram Ad Specs and Size in 2018 – The Complete Guide

16. Multiple products + colourful background

This layout is a good option when you’ve tested a lot of other ad templates already and want to introduce some new designs to your campaigns.

Tip: Don’t just repeat a single product, but find ways to show it from different angles, different colours, etc.

17. Carousel ad with multiple products

There are many ways to create a Facebook carousel ad that features multiple products:

• You can showcase simple product photos
• You can have an image or text as the first slide of the carousel ad
• You can have some copy on each slide throughout your ad

Or… You can test them all and see what works best.

18. Simple image + overlay + logo

Applying a colour overlay on top of your Facebook ad image is an easy way to make it more colourful and aligned with your branded colours. I personally like to use Sketch for designing ad images, but you can also do it on Photoshop or Illustrator.

That’s it guys. Have a go-to Facebook template that wasn’t mentioned in this article? Point it out in the comments.

Want even more inspiration? Check out this eBook with 200 Facebook ad examples. 👇

The post 18 All-rounder Facebook Ad Templates With 45 Examples From Top Brands appeared first on Marketing Fix blog.

Sometimes, the only way to find out about new Facebook features is to spot the blue “New” sign next to an updated feature.

But how can you find all of them?

For instance, did you know that…

• You can set up an ad with multiple creatives and copy; and Facebook will determine the best combination.
• You can dynamically optimize the language of your ads.
• Facebook is looking to restrict like-to-win posts’ reach.
• You can now customize your ad creatives based on placement.

You had no idea these features exist?

Well, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. In the past three months, Facebook has made many updates to its advertising platform.

Here are the 12 most important Facebook updates in Q1 2018 that could have a huge effect on your results and ad cost:

1. You can create Facebook ads with a Dynamic Creative to find top creatives.
2. Facebook ads now have dynamic language optimization.
3. Facebook now has a Creative Split Testing feature.
4. You can verify your domains on Facebook and keep editing link previews.
5. You can now customize your creative assets by placement.
6. There are new multicity and multicountry targeting features.
7. Facebook is clamping down on engagement bait.
8. You can customize the Thank You screen of your Lead Ads.
9. Facebook is launching Sound Collection – a set of free video sounds.
10. Facebook is testing a new type of Messenger ads.
11. Facebook is adding click-to-WhatsApp messaging ad buttons.
12. You can now invoice buyers via PayPal’s Messenger extension.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these updates, and see how you can benefit.

UPDATE: On January 9, Facebook launched its latest new feature: Campaign Budget Optimization. Check it out!

1. You can create Facebook ads with Dynamic Creative

Have you ever run a Facebook ads A/B test to find out which ad image works best?

Maybe you also wanted to test some ad copy variations alongside your ad images. As a result, you had 10+ ad variations in a single ad set.

That’s a little bit messy.

Luckily, you can now have Facebook’s algorithms find you the best combination of ad images, headlines, and main text.

This feature is called the Dynamic Creative

Dynamic Creative allows you to create a single Facebook ad that includes up to 30 creative assets. After you publish the ad, Facebook will mix and match your ad to find what performs best.

In addition to the overall limit of 30, Facebook caps the number of individual creative variations that can be submitted.

You can include up to…

• 5 headlines
• 10 images or videos
• 5 texts
• 5 link descriptions
• 5 CTA buttons

Note that you can’t submit images and videos to the same Dynamic Creative ad.

How to set up Dynamic Creative ads

To create an ad set with Dynamic Creative ad, you’ll have to use the Facebook Power Editor or updated Ads Manager and select the Quick Creation workflow. (Not the Guided Creation workflow)

Currently, the new Facebook feature is available for three campaign objectives only:

• Conversions
• App install ads
• Traffic

As you’re setting up your new ad set, look for the Dynamic Creative box and turn on the option.

After you’ve made all the selections in the ad set phase, move on to your ad and upload all the different creative elements you wish to test.

FYI, here’s a list of supported ad placements for Dynamic Creative ads:

• Facebook Newsfeed on desktop and mobile
• Right hand column
• Instagram feed
• Audience Network classic
• Audience Network In-stream video
• Audience Network rewarded video

As you’re creating your Facebook ad, you should see the “+ Add” button and be able to add several variations of images, headlines, and copy.

After you’ve added all the ad element variations you need, it’s time to publish your new campaign.

Up next, Facebook will start to show people different variations of your Dynamic Creative ad, learning what people prefer. Note that you won’t be creating multiple ads, just one ad with Dynamic Creatives.

After a while, you’ll be able to see in your campaign reports which images, text, headlines, etc. performed best in various combinations with other tested elements.

To see how your dynamic creatives performed, click on the “Breakdown” menu at the top right of your ad reports and select “By Asset.”

Running some Dynamic Creative ads will help you easily find out what your best-performing ad creatives and headlines are.

Tip: You need at least 20 conversions per creative to draw meaningful test results. That’s why, it makes sense not to submit 30 different elements, but test up to 10 elements per ad. I personally prefer testing ad images and the main ad copy, as these two Facebook ad elements make the highest impact.

2. Facebook ads now have dynamic language optimization

Note: This Facebook feature is still in beta, and will be gradually rolled out to all advertisers.

However, it’s a really helpful feature, making many Facebook marketers’ life easier and also lowering the Facebook ads cost.

Here’s how it works:

If you’re advertising to people in several languages, Facebook’s dynamic language optimization allows you to deliver multilingual ads to the right audiences.

Instead of having different ad sets with translated ads for different languages, you can create one ad with up to 6 different language versions, and Facebook will auto-optimize your campaign budget to deliver your ads in the right language to the right people.

This is highly beneficial when:

1. Advertising in a single country to people speaking multiple languages
2. Promoting your product to a group of countries, regions or worldwide

How to set up a Facebook ad with multiple languages

Step 1: Create a new Facebook ad campaign.

Use the traffic, mobile app installs or conversions campaign objective.

Step 2: Set up your new ad set.

Note that this Facebook feature only supports ads placement in Facebook Newsfeed (web and mobile), Instagram and Audience Network.

Step 3: Set up your Facebook ad with multiple languages.

To create your ad in more than one language, click the “Create in Different Language” button under Multiple Languages.

Step 4: Select your Default Language.

Choose a default language that you think will be the most spoken language in your target audience.

The ad in the default language will also be served to people who don’t match any other languages your ad includes. Next, add a headline and text for your default ad.

Step 5: Add additional languages.

Up next, you can add up to five more language options to your ad. Add the headlines and copy for your ads in other languages.

Tip: If you are using the website clicks and website conversions objective, you can also include language-specific website links.

After you’ve added all the language variations you need, hit the “Create” button to publish your new language-optimized ad.

Tip: When showing a Facebook ad in a specific language, you should also make sure that your landing page is in the same language to avoid a high drop-off rate.

3. Facebook now has a Creative Split Testing feature

Facebook Ads Manager has had a built-in split testing feature for almost a year now.

This feature allowed advertisers to A/B test different delivery optimizations, ad placements, and audiences to see what works best.

As a recent update, you can now also split test your ad creatives.

(Do not confuse this with Dynamic Creatives that we covered in step 1. With Creative Split Testing feature, you will create more than on Facebook ad while there’s only one dynamic creative ad.)

For example, if Google wanted to A/B test what background color works best, they could set up a creative split testing campaign in the Ads Manager.

How the Creative Split Testing feature works:

Previously, when you wanted to A/B test your Facebook ad copy or images, you needed to create multiple ad sets that contained all your ad variations.

This meant multiple ad sets, all targeting the same Facebook or Instagram target audience.

This was a bit messy and most definitely time-consuming.

Moreover, people in your target audience saw all the variations of your Facebook ad. This could get annoying pretty quickly.

One of the main benefits of Facebook Creative Split Testing feature is that it helps to avoid the audience overlap – the same people won’t see multiple different versions of your Facebook ad.

To set up a creatives split test in the Ads Manager, create a new ad set and let Facebook know you want to A/B test your ad creative.

Up next, you can select your ad placements and set up the Facebook ad bidding.

Note that your split test has to be running for at least three days. This is required so that Facebook can get the minimum sample size necessary to determine a winner. The maximum duration of a Facebook split testing campaign is 14 days.

You can also ask Facebook to complete the split test once it has enough results to draw conclusions. Simply tick the box.

To set up all tested ad variations, create your first ad as you normally would with image, link, headline, text, link description, CTA button, etc.

When you click the “Test Another Ad” button, Facebook will copy your ad and you can create a slightly different variation of it.

You can split test up to five different creative variations.

After you’ve hit the “Publish” button, Facebook will create several ad sets with your ad variations.

The good thing about this Facebook update is that the audience members for your split test’s ad sets won’t overlap – something you couldn’t achieve when setting up a regular A/B test.

4. You can now verify your domains on Facebook

At the beginning of 2017, Facebook marketers were able to edit the link description of every link they published on their Facebook page.

These golden days are long gone.

Now, when adding a new link to Facebook, you won’t be able to edit the headline nor link description (text under your post’s headline) – it’s just static and Facebook takes it from your link’s meta description.

And sometimes, it’s super annoying.

Luckily, Facebook only recently added a new feature – Domain Verification.

By verifying your domain ownership on Facebook, you can edit the link previews of your website links again. Thank god.

What is Facebook Domain Verification?

Domain Verification provides a way for you to claim ownership of your domain in Business Manager.

This ownership allows you to control editing privileges of your links and other content to prevent misuse of your domain and to keep bad actors from spreading misinformation. Basically, it’s a new feature to fight fake news and other faulty content.

How to add a new domain to your Facebook Business Manager

Step 1: In Business Manager, click on the Business Settings button.

Step 2: In the Business Settings, make sure you are in the People and Assets tab, and select Domains from the left side navigation list.

Step 3: Click on the Add New Domains button, and enter your domain in the Add a domain pop-up dialogue.

Step 4: To implement domain verification, you can choose between two different methods:

1. Add a DNS TXT entry to your DNS record to confirm that you own the domain
2. Upload an HTML file provided by Facebook to your web directory and confirm domain ownership in Business Manager.

Personally, I find the second option easier.

1. Download the HTML verification file.
2. Upload the file to the root directory of your website. You will be able to see that it is uploading at the link provided in the HTML File Upload tab.
3. Once it is done, click the Verify button at the bottom of the HTML File Verification tab for the selected domain.
4. Leave the HTML verification file in your website’s root directory as it may be checked periodically for verification purposes.

You can also associate multiple Facebook Pages with your verified domains. Here’s a step-by-step guide by Facebook.

Key takeaway: By verifying your domain in the Business Manager, you can edit your domain’s link previews on Facebook.

Read more: How to Promote Your Blog in 2018 With Facebook Ads

5. You can now customize your creative assets by placement

First of all, what is a creative asset?

Well… A creative asset it’s your ad image, text, headline, link description or CTA button.

Now, let’s take a look at all the different ad placements provided on the Facebook ad network.

Facebook:

• Desktop Newsfeed
• Mobile Newsfeed
• Instant Articles
• In-Stream Videos
• Right Column
• Suggested Videos

Instagram:

• Feed
• Stories

Audience Network:

• Native, Banner and Interstitial
• In-Stream Videos
• Rewarded Videos

Messenger:

• Home
• Sponsored Messages

The problem with som many different placements is that they all have slightly different ad formats and image sizes.

For example, the ads in the Mobile Newsfeed have the measure of 1200px x 628px.

However, on Instagram, your ads size can be 1080px x 1080px, making your ad image a square instead of a rectangle.

So what should you do? Create multiple ad sets for different placements?

In the past, this was the only option to optimize your ad creatives based on placement. Not anymore.

Now, you can simply use the new Facebook feature that lets you add multiple ad creatives for different placements – all in a single ad.

How to customize your creatives based on placements

You can currently customize creative assets for the following placements:

• Facebook Desktop Newsfeed
• Facebook Mobile Newsfeed
• Instagram Feed
• Instagram Stories
• Audience Network (Native, Banner, and Interstitial)

As you upload a new image to your ad, you will see an option to add different creatives for additional placements.

By uploading different creatives for all your ad placements, you can optimize the size and font size of your ad images, making them a better match for each ad placement.

I personally like to create different visuals for Facebook and Instagram advertising – this way, you can have larger square images show up in people’s Instagram feeds.

 Tip: When creating placement-based creatives, make sure to follow the aspect ratios for all Facebook ad placements:

• Facebook News Feed: 254 x 133px minimum (1.91:1 aspect ratio)
• Instagram Feed: 500 x 262px minimum (1.91:1)
• Instagram Stories: 500 x 889px minimum (.56:1)
• Audience Network Native, Banner, and Interstitial: 254 x 133px minimum (1.91:1)

6. New multicity and multicountry targeting features

Many Facebook advertisers are showing ads across the world.

For example, if you’re running an eCommerce or SaaS (Software as a Service) business like Asana, you can serve the very same ad across borders.

For advertisers looking to expand their ads’ reach to new horizons, Facebook recently added two helpful features:

1. You can create multicountry Lookalike Audiences
2. You can create multicity audiences

Let’s take a closer look.

Multicountry Lookalike Audiences

Previously, when creating a new Lookalike Audience, you had to select one country to target. That’s not the case anymore.

However, note that if you’re targeting countries with different populations, the distribution of audience members may not be equal between the countries you’re targeting.

Multicity targeting

Often, advertisers want to target people living in cities as they’re more likely to be interested in specific products.

Now, you don’t need to type in all the cities in a specific country. You can simply select the multicity targeting option.

And it keeps getting better. You can also target cities based on their size, meaning that you can only reach people in small or big cities if you’d like.

Tip: Use this feature when entering a new country to uncover all the largest cities. You can break down your ad reports by city to see where your most engaged audience lives. Moreover, you can use multicity audiences to create Facebook retargeting campaigns that reach several cities at once.

7. Facebook is clamping down on engagement bait

As reported by TechCrunch, Facebook will soon start to limit the reach of posts that ask people to like, share or comment in exchange for a chance to win something.

“A new tweak to the Newsfeed algorithm will mean “stricter demotions” for Pages, and/or individual, who adopt engagement bait tactics. Starting in a couple of weeks, offenders will have the total reach on all of their posts reduced if their content is begging or baiting users to interact.”

Facebook did specify that there are some exceptions to this clampdown, including examples like a missing child report, raising money for a cause, or asking for travel tips.

8. You can customize the Thank You screen of your Facebook Lead Ads

If you’re regularly running a Facebook Lead Ads campaign, here’s good news: you can now customize your Thank You screen that users see after submitting their contact details.

Here’s an example by Jon Loomer of how the new feature works:

9. Facebook is launching Sound Collection

Facebook is launching video editing tool Sound Collection for inserting into Facebook and Instagram clips “songs, vocals, noises, and instrumental tracks spanning genres like hip hop, pop, jazz, country, and more.

According to Facebook, the Sound Collection gives you access to thousands of high-quality audio tracks and sound effects from all over the world to spice up your videos.

These sounds are owned by Facebook, and are free and clear to use in any videos you create and share on Facebook and Instagram.

So basically, the Facebook Sound Collection is a set of free audio files that you can add to your ads running on Facebook and Instagram.

Check it out!

10. Facebook is testing new Messenger ads

As reported by TechCrunch, Facebook is developing and internally testing a new ad product called Messenger Broadcast.

Messenger Broadcast is a self-serve mass-messaging interface that lets businesses send marketing messages to users.

Once this Facebook update goes live, brands could send Messenger messages to thousands of people. This could look similar to the push notifications marketers can send to app users.

However, users will still have to opt in before brands are able to message them directly.

11. Facebook is adding click-to-WhatsApp messaging buttons

If you’re running Messenger ads in a country where WhatsApp’s the most popular chatting tool, here’s a recent update you should know about:

Click-to-WhatsApp messaging buttons are now rolling out in Facebook ads.

This new feature is not yet available everywhere. Facebook started to roll it out starting first with North and South America, Africa, Australia and most of Asia.

12. You can now invoice buyers via PayPal’s Messenger extension

With thousands of eCommerce stores popping up every day, there war a significant pressure on Facebook to make the buying experience on their platform ever more pleasant.

The new PayPal chat extension allows a seller to create and send their invoice without leaving their conversation, so the buyer can act on it immediately.

Like other PayPal transactions, those taking place over Messenger are covered by PayPal Purchase Protection for Buyers.

Now that you’re aware of all the latest Facebook updates, head on to the Ads Manager, and put your new insights into good use.

Note: We’ll be updating this post as new Facebook features are launched on a quarterly basis, so keep coming back for more news!

The post TOP Facebook Updates in Q1 2018 Every Marketer Should Know appeared first on Marketing Fix blog.

Those are the words of advertising legend David Ogilvy, right out of his book Ogilvy on Advertising first published in 1985.

Lately, I’ve been spending some time on reading the advertising classics and discovered that what the agency gurus told 40 or 50 years ago is still relevant today. Even more so, it seems like many modern marketers have forgotten some of the core principles of great advertising.

According to R. Reeves, out of 78 biggest package-goods advertisers in the US, some ads were recalled by 78% of people while others by a mere 2%.

If your advertising fails to get the message to the heads of people, your money’s wasted. And this is happening to millions of advertisers every day.

Having worked through two cult marketing books – Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy and Reality in Advertising by Rosser Reeves, I feel like I’ve been to the best marketing conference of my life – there are so many applicable takeaways.

All the best practices, research findings, and recommendations by the two advertising legends are still relevant today. Even more so, many marketers seem to have forgotten the core principles of marketing.

Just take a look at these 18 golden rules of advertising and remind yourself how to create ads that do not fail.

1. You need to know your USP

USP, a term coined by Rosser Reeves, signifies the Unique Selling Proposition. Both Ogilvy and Reeves believed that having a strong USP is the key to successful advertising.

According to Ogilvy, writing a good advertisement starts by studying the product – you need to know what makes it beneficial to its users and different from the competition.

Reeves explained that your USP has three parts:

1. Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer.
   Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: “Buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit.
2. The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer.
   It must be unique – either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.
3. The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass of millions.
   Your advertisements should pull over a large number of new customers to your product.

For example, the ad above proposes a clear value offer: Save money by shopping at Sears.

So how can you find the best USP?

2. Research your product and users

The way Ogilvy came up with the advertising copy for Sears was by researching what people thought about the company.

When research reported that the average shopper thought Sears Roebuck made a profit of 37 per cent on sales, Ogilvy headlined an advertisement Sears makes a profit of 5 per cent.

This specific number was more persuasive than saying that Sears’ profit was “less than you might suppose” or something equally vague. Sometimes, it’s worth mentioning specifics.

With all the modern surveying tools, asking for your users’ feedback is easier than ever before. Use that opportunity to learn what makes people buy your product.

3. If you don’t have a strong USP, do this

Most advertisements have interchangeable parts – you could just as well insert a competitor’s name in your ads.

This means that you don’t have a USP that’s limited to only your product.

If that’s the case, Reeves suggested two solutions:

1. The product could be changed/improved to have a USP.
2. If the product can’t be changed, it’s possible to tell the public something about that product that has never been revealed before.

Here’s one of the advertisements that Ogilvy created for the Campbell’s – it’s showing the product from a completely new side.

Do not forget that your Unique Selling Proposition has to be relevant to the audience.

Sometimes, a cool product feature that seems amazing to you does not appeal to your customers.

You could argue that Ogilvy’s ad is focused on an irrelevant USP. However, if you give it some more thought, the USP is not that the soup can be served cold. The core USP of the advertisement is that the product’s easy to consume – and that’s relevant to millions of consumers.

4. Your advertisement needs one big idea

I recommend that you read the following quote at least twice.

“Be cautious, in the course of adding secondary claims, that a distraction claim does not suddenly crystallize, i.e. a second claim which sucks power away from your USP.”

– R. Reeves

A consumer tends to remember just one thing from an advertisement – one strong claim, or one strong concept.

If you’re advertising more than one benefit, chances are that people don’t either remember any of them or develop their own reaction.

As Reeves put it:

“The advertisement may have said five, ten, or fifteen things, but the consumer will tend to pick out just one, or else, in a fumbling, confused way, he tries to fuse them together into a concept of his own.”

So instead of listing three or more product benefits, find the one that truly matters to people and advertise the hell out of it.

5. How to recognize a strong USP?

How to tell a strong USP from a week one?

For one, a strong USP will sell your product times more than any irrelevant message.

Ogilvy also suggested that your advertisement has to contain a big idea. Ask yourself:

• Did it make me gasp when I first saw it?
• Do I wish I had thought of it myself?
• Is it unique?
• Does it fit the strategy to perfection?
• Could it be used for 30 years?

For example, the legendary Lucky Strike ads used USP “It’s toasted” – and used it in consecutive campaigns for many years.

However, don’t focus on minuscule differences. Reever called this “The Deceptive Differential.”

Another interesting fact about “It’s toasted” message is that back then, Lucky Strike wasn’t nearly the only cigarette company selling toasted tobacco.

Which leads us to the next point…

6. You can “acquire” any general USP

According to R. Reeves, the advertiser to first use a Unique Selling Proposition will own that USP.

“Can those USPs be stolen by competitors? – No. Studies of great numbers of brand histories show that the first big advertiser can pre-empt the USP. He is the pioneer, and, protected by his penetration bulwark. Thus, the USP becomes his property.”

R. Reeves

Lucky Strike owned a general USP. And so did Colgate with their ads saying “Cleans your breath while it cleans your teeth.”

Some time later, one of Colgate’s competitors ran an advertising with the message “Freshens your breath while it cleans your teeth – because it has a special mouthwash built in!”

Here’s what happened:

Now may also be a good time to reflect on your advertising messages and think whether they truly belong to your brand or you’re just repeating your competitors’ USP.

7. If you find a USP that works, keep repeating it

If you’re lucky enough to write a good advertisement, repeat it until it stops selling.

According to Reeves, research shows that the readership of an advertisement does not decline when it is run several times in the same magazine.

Readership remains at the same level throughout at least four repetitions. “You aren’t advertising to a standing army; you are advertising to a moving parade.”

In fact, changing your USP too often can have a damaging effect on your brand recognition and sales.

Take a look at the case study below.

Look at this way: You shouldn’t change your USP while it’s working, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t change your advertisements.

You can create different ads, both in design and copy, until they all reinforce your core USP.

8. Your competitors using a consistent USP will outgrow you

According to Reeves, three great basic principles of advertising reality emerged from their research:

1. Changing a story has the same effect as stopping the money, as far as penetration is concerned.
2. Thus, if you ran a brilliant campaign every year, but change it every year, your competitor can pass you with a campaign that is less brilliant – providing he does not change his copy.
3. Unless a product becomes outmoded, a great campaign will not wear itself off.

“Recently, we watched the drama of an advertiser who had 65% penetration on a powerful, sales-winning theme. Then he changed campaigns. In eighteen months his hard-won 65% penetration had dropped to 2.2% – in other words, had almost vanished entirely.”
R. Reeves

If the campaign has really worn itself out, one of two things will happen:

• People’s awareness of your USP will drop.
• The public would cease to respond to the message, and your sales volumes will fall.

Often, when a new brand with a strong USP enters the market, leading competitors panic and start changing their own campaigns. That’s the worst idea.

9. There’s only so much room in people’s heads

Or, if you wish, there’s only so much love in people’s hearts for brands in the same vertical.

Reeves’ research team found that as your branded message becomes increasingly known, the USPs of your competitors fade from people’s minds.

“There is a finite limit to what a consumer can remember about 30,000 advertised brands,” Reeves said. Today, there are hundreds of thousands of brands advertising.

“It’s as if he [the consumer] carries a small box in his head for a given product category. This box is limited either by his inability to remember or his lack of interest.”
– R. Reeves

10. Ogilvy on creating great advertisements

According to Ogilvy, the easiest way to get new clients is to do good advertising.

Easier said than done.

Here are some key takeaways from Ogilvy’s research into what makes some advertisements succeed while others fail.

• Images of finished dishes consistently attracted more readers than photographs of the raw ingredients. In a study of 70 campaigns whose sales results were known, Gallup did not find a single before-and-after campaign that didn’t increase sales.
• Images with an element of “story appeal” were far above average in attracting attention.
• The kind of photographs that work hardest are those which arouse the reader’s curiosity.

• Create ads that people can relate to. When you show a photograph of a woman, men will ignore your ad.
• Most copywriters believe that markdowns and special offers are boring, but customers don’t think so. They are above average in recall.

READ MORE: 12 Hidden Facebook Features 95% of Marketers Don’t Know

11. Make your ads effortlessly readable

One of the golden rules of advertisement design is: Don’t capitalize your headlines.

If you look at the ads in the magazine next to you, you’ll be surprised how many marketers mistake against this rule.

A professor at Stanford established that capitals retard reading – capitalized words tend to be read letter by letter.

Here’s another important rule: Don’t put a period at the end of headlines – they’ll stop the reader from reading more.

Don’t set your copy in reverse type – with white letters on a black background. It’s more difficult to read.

Black type on a white background is easier to read than copy set in reverse type. So think twice before you set your ad copy on a colourful background.

12. Make your product the hero of your advertising

Often, advertisers make the mistake of creating a vampire video – a video that takes away attention from your USP.

According to Reeves, “One wrong picture can steal a hundred words.”

Here’s a best practice that applies to all types of advertisements: Make sure your message and visuals match.

If the message says: “This tablet dissolves into 10,000 tiny bubbles,” show the tablet dissolving into 10,000 tiny bubbles. Make sure your videos interpret your USP.

Do not create ads that steal the attention from your USP.

Here’s another interesting takeaway from Ogilvy: Advertisements with testimonials by celebrities tend to underperform.

Viewers will know the celebrity has been bought and they will remember the celebrity instead of the product advertised.

Here’s another important thing to keep in mind: Do not advertise your competitor’s USP, not to spean of their brand names.

If there’s a comparison with the competitor, they do not mention their name, but say “another leading detergent,” etc.

13. Headline is the most important part of your ad

A Harvard professor used to begin his series of lectures with a sentence that took his students by the throat: “Cesare Borgia murdered his brother-in-law for the love of his sister, who was the mistress of their father – the Pope.”

– A passage from Ogilvy’s book

On average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy.

Unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90% of your money. The headlines that work best are the ones that promise the reader a benefit.

If you have any news to tell, don’t hide it in the body copy. Say it in the headline.

Include your brand name in the headline – otherwise, 80 per cent of people who won’t read your body copy will never know what product you’re advertising.

According to Ogilvy, some copywriters write “tricky” headlines – double meanings, puns, etc. This is counter-productive. Your headline should telegraph what you want to say.

Moreover, your ad copy should be written in the language people use in everyday conversation. Avoid analogies as they are often misunderstood.

14. Use the right advertisement layout

Ogilvy’s research showed that readers first look at the illustration, then at the headline, then at the copy.

So put these elements in that order – illustration at the top, followed by bu the headline.

On average, headlines below the illustration are read by 10 per cent more people than headlines above the illustration.

Here’s another interesting takeaway from Reeves:

Two-spread magazine ads cost twice as much as single pages, but seldom get twice the readership, or pull twice as many coupons.

You could double the reach or frequency of your campaigns by using single-page ads. So think twice before creating two-spread magazine ads.

15. How to create video ads that sell

In his book, Ogilvy has devoted an entire chapter to video advertisements.

Here are the key takeaways from his years of practice and research:

• When doing video ads, mention your product multiple times to make people remember it.
• Show the packaging and the product. Commercials which end by showing the package are more effective in changing brand preference than commercials which don’t.
• Try to grab the viewer’s attention during the first seconds of your ad.
• Research shows that it’s more difficult to hold your audience if you use voiceover. It is better to have the actors talk on camera.

16. How to succeed in B2B advertising

If you’re in the B2B marketing space, you’ll love the following guidelines:

• Promise what is important to the customer – a supplier of computer software was proud of the size of his company and wanted to make it the feature of his advertising, but research found that his customers were not interested in size. They were looking for responsiveness, support, service – and a good product.
• Make your promise specific. Instead of generalities, use percentages, time elapsed, dollars saved.

• Testimonials work well, as long as they come from experts in reputable companies.
• Even if you think your product boring, it’s not boring to your potential buyers – there’s no need to advertise irrelevant images.
• Don’t be afraid of long copy – if that’s what it takes to explain your product.

Fun fact: Ogilvy was running content marketing ads to get new customers. 60 years ago!!

17. How to advertise like TOP consumer brands

Here are Ogilvy’s key takeaways from analyzing big advertisers’ campaigns, e.g. Procter & Gamble.

There’s a lot you can learn from them.

• They always promise the consumer one important benefit.
• They believe that the first duty of advertising is to communicate effectively, not to be original or entertaining.
• They measure communication in three stages: before the copy is written, after the commercials are produced, and in test markets.
• All their commercials include a “moment of confirmation.” E.g. a demonstration how a cleaning product absorbs more liquid.

• Their commercials talk straight to the consumer, using language and situations that are familiar to them.
• Often, they also show their users some emotional benefit derived from the product – “You’ll be more appreciated if you use Dash.”

18. How to reach the largest audience for your budget?

Is it better to reach a smaller audience, yet reach it more times? Or is it better to reach a bigger audience – yet reach it less often?

Here’s Reeves’ answer – buy dispersion. Try to reach more homes, not the same homes.

Reach your audience less often, but make it as large an audience as you can. (This is especially relevant for consumer products that have a wide potential user base.)

This also applies to digital advertising – e.g. try to reach a wider audience with your Facebook ads rather than show the same ad to the same people for more than 3 times.

Final takeaways

Here are five more amazing quotes from Ogilvy and Reeves that you should remember whenever creating new advertisements.

Don’t create ads that are window dressers – the ads that merely show your product without the USP. – R. Reeves

If the product does not meet some existing desire or need of the consumer, the advertising will ultimately fail. – R. Reeves

If it doesn’t sell, it’s not “creative. – D.Ogilvy

The most dangerous word in advertising is… originality. – R. Reeves

Advertising is the art of getting a unique selling proposition into the heads of the most people at the lowest possible cost. – R. Reeves

– – – – – – –

Ogilvy’s book was first published in 1983 and Reeves’ even sooner, in 1961. It is amazing how the best practices in use back then have made their way into modern advertising.

Everything you read in this article can be applied to your Facebook advertising campaigns, Instagram ads or email marketing funnels. So take one hour and go over all your current advertisements, looking if they have a clear USP and whether they follow the basic best practices.

You might be surprised by your findings.

The post 18 Golden Advertising Rules by Legendary D. Ogilvy and R. Reeves appeared first on Marketing Fix blog.

However, many of these “hacks” are really just tips and basic advice, not actual hacks to bring you better Facebook ad results.

That’s not very helpful, is it?.

The real Facebook advertising hacks are what differentiates the advanced marketers from the crowd, helping them get 10x higher ROI out of their Facebook ad campaigns.

The 28 hacks covered in this article will help you to:

• Create engaging Facebook and Instagram advertising campaigns that bring results
• Optimize your campaigns for lower ad costs
• Reach even more high-ROI audiences
• Lower your cost-per-acquisition
• Get more sales without breaking your budget

Want to create successful Facebook advertising campaigns? Find out all the hacks and best practices used by the pros.

We’ve divided the Facebook ad hacks into three different categories. Click on them to move to the right section:

Facebook campaign optimization hacks
Facebook audience targeting hacks
Facebook copywriting & design hacks

Facebook Campaign Optimization Hacks

In the first part of our guide, we’ll start off by learning some of the more technical Facebook advertising hacks that can bring the highest surge in your advertising ROI.

Once you’ve applied a couple of these tactics to your campaigns, you’re gonna feel like…

So what are these magical hacks we’re talking about?

1. Get Your Ad Campaigns Deliver Fast

I like to call this Facebook advertising hack the FTO – Fast Take-Off.

The FTO method helps to accelerate your ad delivery, especially at the beginning of your campaign.

Here are the top three benefits of accelerated ad delivery:

• You’ll get results at a faster rate
• You’ll collect more ad data in order to start optimizing your campaigns
• You’ll quickly find out whether a Facebook ad campaign succeeds or fails

Ok, so here’s how the FTO hack works…

1. When launching a new Facebook campaign, assign Daily or Lifetime budgets that exceed your planned budget by 200%-500.
2. Do not select the “Accelerated Delivery” option as Facebook will then focus on the speed of ad delivery over quality and cost

3. After your ads have 10,000+ impressions, you can start measuring the results and decide whether your campaign’s delivering the results you were hoping for.

Instead of waiting for 5 days for the results to come in, you should get them in 48 hours or less.

After the initial campaign take-off, you can change your campaign’s budgets back to match your planned total budget.

Important: You should always give Facebook at least 24 hours to optimize your campaigns before drawing any conclusions. The algorithms need some time to work their magic.

2. Always Optimize for Conversions

Speaking of Facebook’s AI-powered algorithms, they’re really really good at delivering your ads to the people most likely to be interested.

That’s why, there’s really no need to be playing around with your Facebook campaign objective to try and lower your advertising costs.

Campaign objective is the first selection you’ll make when setting up your Facebook campaigns.

For best results, I recommend that you select the campaign objective that’s closest to your ultimate advertising goal. Most of the time, it’s sales.

That’s why, usually, you should select one of these campaign objectives:

• Conversions
• App installs
• Product catalog sales

Naturally, you can also run brand awareness campaigns and share blog content.

But if you’re advertising a sales-oriented offer like Prezi or The Economist, make sure to optimize your ad campaign for Conversions.

Tip: Unsure what to optimize your Facebook campaigns for? Set up two ad campaigns with the same offer and audiences but with a different campaign objective and ad delivery optimization.

Read more on this topic: How to Set Facebook Ad Goals for Phenomenal Results

3. Optimize Your Facebook Ad Likes and Shares

Have you ever seen a Facebook ad with hundreds of likes and shares and wondered: “How on earth do they get so many likes?”

Naturally, one way to get many likes is to show the same Facebook ad to hundreds of thousands of people.

But what if you want to use the same ad copy and design in multiple ad campaigns, so that you can change the audiences and bids?

If you re-enter the same ad elements across multiple campaigns or ad sets, Facebook will still count all of them as separate ads.

Not if you use the “Use Existing Post” option when setting up your Facebook advertising campaign!

By using the “Use Existing Post” option, you can gather all the campaigns’ post engagements under a single ad.

The easiest way to set up multiple ad campaigns using the same Facebook post is to first publish the post on your company’s Facebook Page.

Next, you can select it whenever setting up a new campaign in the Facebook Ads Manager.

4. Optimize Your Facebook Ad Bidding

When setting up your Facebook ad campaign, you’ll be presented with lots of different options and tools.

What are you to make with all of these manual and automatic bidding options?

In my experience, there’s not a huge difference in whether you use automatic or manual bidding.

However, if you know how much a conversion is worth to you, you can set the manual bid that’s slightly under your anticipated ROI.

The good thing about Facebook advertising is that there’s no danger of overbidding. This means two things:

• You’ll often be charged for less than your initial bid
  Even if you bid a lot more than needed for winning the auction,
• Facebook will only charge you for the amount it takes to beat the competition.

5. Set Up a Custom Ad Schedule

Chances are that your Facebook ads aren’t relevant to yo your audience 24/7.

For example, it’s rather unlikely that someone will create a free trial of your B2B product in the middle of the night. Rather, they might sign up for Netflix or order a pizza.

Take a look at your Facebook ad reports to learn which days and hours bring you the most conversions at the lowest cost.

To do that, go to Facebook Ads Manager and break down your campaign reports by Time.

Now, you’ll get an overview of how your ads perform at different weekdays and hours. You can use this data to set up a custom ad delivery schedule and show your ads to people only at specific dates and time of day.

Note that you need to use a Lifetime budget (instead of a Daily budget) to be able to use the custom scheduling option.

6. Lower Your Ad Frequency With Smart Scheduling

My personal favourite use case for custom ad schedules is slightly different.

Sometimes, when working with large-scale ad campaigns that are set to run for multiple weeks, you must be prepared to fight the ad fatigue.

Ad fatigue happens when people have seen your Facebook ads for many times and grown tired of it. This can be avoided by using multiple Facebook ad designs that are displayed at different weekdays.

So for example, you could create 3 different Facebook ad images and place them in 3 different ad sets that are delivered on different weekdays.

How to pull off this Facebook ad hack:

Set up a Facebook ad campaign with one ad design and schedule it for Mondays and Thursdays (you can change the days as you wish).

After publishing the campaign, duplicate the ad set and add two more ad sets that include a different ad design and are scheduled for different days.

Et voila! You’ve got yourself a Facebook ad campaign that delivers different ads on changing weekdays.

7. Optimize Your Facebook Ad Placements

According to AdEspresso’s data on Facebook ad costs, the cost-per-click can vary by more than 550%, depending on your ad placement.

However, a cheap cost-per-click does not mean a cheap cost-per-conversion.

As you look at the Campaigns A and B and compare their results in terms of CPC, it’s easy to conclude that Campaign A outperforms Campaign B by over 105%.

However, the tables turn as you compare the click-to-conversion rate. In this case, Campaign B has a significantly higher return on investment.

Here’s the key takeaway: Always measure the cost-per-result and avoid getting misguided by vanity metrics such as the cost-per-view or cost-per-click.

Currently, there are nine different Facebook ad placements available in the Ads Manager:

• Facebook Desktop Newsfeed
• Facebook Mobile Newsfeed
• The Right-hand Column
• Facebook Instant Articles
• Facebook In-Stream Videos
• Facebook Suggested Videos
• Instagram Feed
• Instagram Stories
• Facebook Audience Network

To uncover your top-performing Facebook ad placements, log in to Facebook Ads Manager and use the Breakdown menu to break down your campaigns by Placement.

After you’ve discovered and works and what doesn’t, you can edit your Facebook advertising campaign’s placements in the Ads Manager.

Read more: Facebook App Install Ads – 114-point Guide for More Installs

8. Set Up Auto-optimization Rules

Have you heard about Facebook Automated Rules?

If you’re using the Facebook Ads Manager to setup and manage your campaigns, chances are you’ve been missing out on this cool feature.

Automated rules help to keep your Facebook ad campaigns under control by automatically updating some campaigns or sending you notifications.

You can set up four different consequences if the conditions have been met:

• Turn off the ad campaign, ad set or ad
• Send notifications to the ad manager (that’s you)
• Adjust budgets (increase/decrease daily/lifetime budget by…)
• Adjust manual bids (increase/decrease bid by…)

To set up an automated ruleset, select a campaign, ad set or Facebook ad in the Ads Manager and go to the editing panel. Here’s you can click on the “Create Rule” button to apply ruleset.

Here are some ideas for automated rules:

• Be notified if your ad frequency reaches 3 points
• Turn off an ad campaign if its cost-per-conversion gets too high
• Increase the budgets for campaigns with good results

9. A/B Test Your Facebook Ads

One of the best ways to find out which ad designs, call-to-actions, ad placements, audiences, and campaign objectives work best is to experiment.

There are SO many Facebook advertising campaign elements that can be split tested:

• A/B test your Facebook ads’ value proposition
• A/B test your Facebook ads headline
• A/B test your Facebook ads copy
• Experiment with different bidding methods
• Split test your Facebook ads landing pages
• Split test different campaign objectives
• A/B test your Facebook audiences
• A/B test your Facebook ad types
• Split test your Facebook ads images
• Split test stock photos vs.custom illustrations
• Split test images vs. videos
• Split test your Facebook ad placement

However, not all A/B tests are worth conducting, and some might even damage your campaign results.

Head on to read this guide before!! you set up any Facebook experiments: 10 Crucial Rules for Facebook A/B Testing

10. Avoid Over-optimization

Like with many things in life, there’s a certain breaking point when too much good stuff gets overwhelming.

And while you’re thinking that you’ve just optimized all your Facebook campaign details to perfection…

You may actually be losing out on big opportunities as you’ve limited your ads’ reach.

If you set your ad budgets too low and segment your campaign audiences into narrow groups, you might damage your campaigns’ reach.

Without a proper set of data, Facebook’s unable to optimize your ads. You may also lose the chance to get high relevance scores when spreading your individual ads’ reach too thin.

Instead of creating 8 different ad campaigns that target a similar audience, create 1-2 campaigns and A/B test one ad element at a time.

Also, remember to give Facebook at least 24 hours before making any new changes to your campaigns – the updates won’t have an immediate effect on your ad results. In Facebook advertising, staying patient is often the key.

11. Install The Facebook Pixel

As you might have noticed, most of the Facebook advertising hacks mentioned in this article require some extra work and effort.

That’s what makes them so efficient – the extra work that will separate you from your competition and other marketers bidding to reach the same audiences as you do.

Before you even start to advertise on Facebook, it is critical that you install the Facebook marketing pixel on your website.

The pixel is beneficial in several ways:

• You can track conversions on your website, not just on Facebook’s platform, making sure your Facebook ads are bringing results
• You can retarget all your website visitors
• You can see additional Facebook ad reports and metrics based on the actions people take on your website

Here’s the official guide from Facebook that will help you to get the pixel installed.

12. Track Standard Events to Get More Insights

In addition to tracking your website visitors, you can also track nine different Standard Events.

This is incredibly helpful for evaluating your ad campaigns’ performance as well as later retargeting people who completed a specific action on your site (e.g. added things to cart but didn’t complete the purchase).

To track the Standard Events, all you need to do is add an additional line of code to your Facebook pixel’s main code on the pages where the Standard Event occurs.

Here’s how the code will look:

1. Your website’s original code: Paste the Facebook pixel code between the <head> and </head> tags of your web page.
2. Your Facebook pixel base code: what you installed in the previous step of this guide
3. Your standard event code: Within your Facebook pixel code, above the </script> tag, paste the Standard Event code. You’ll need to add the Standard Event’s code to every page you want to track.

Tip: If you want to track EVEN MORE specific events, you can set up some Custom Events. Here’s Facebook’s guide that shows how.

Facebook Audience Targeting Hacks

Your Facebook target audience is arguably THE most important part of your ad campaign.

If you advertise to the wrong people, they’re not going to be interested in your offer.

So you should take extra care to set up advanced Facebook audiences to reach the audience that will fall in love with your product. Or at least says…

Up next, I’m going to share with you my personal TOP Facebook targeting hacks that have helped many startups improve their Facebook advertising ROI.

13. Create Advanced Facebook Audiences

Usually, when marketers start advertising on Facebook, they’re going to target people based on their demographics and interests.

Creating Facebook Saved audiences is not a bad strategy per se.

However, if you limit yourself to only these basic audiences, you’ll be missing out on the more profitable Facebook ad campaigns.

Facebook allows advertisers to create three types of audiences:

1. Saved Audience – Facebook audience that you can define by choosing people’s interests location, age, gender, used devices, income level, etc.
2. Custom Audience – Facebook retargeting audience that lets you reach people who have engaged with your Facebook ads or posts, visited your website, or belong to an email list you manage
3. Lookalike Audience – audience that includes people similar to your existing customers or other Custom Audience types.

Include all of these audience types in your Facebook targeting mix to reach new potential customers, nurture the leads, and keep your current customers engaged.

14. Target These High-ROI Audiences

If you’re unfamiliar with all the targeting possibilities available on Facebook, here’s a list of audiences that help to improve your ad results.

• All your website visitors (Custom Audience)
• Pricing page visitors (Custom Audience)
• Shopping cart abandoners (Custom Audience)
• Existing customers and past purchasers (Custom Audience)
• Specific landing page visitors (Custom Audience)
• Email list subscribers (Custom Audience)
• Blog readers / readers of particular articles (Custom Audience)
• Free trial and freemium users (Custom Audience)
• People similar to your customer base (Lookalike Audience)
• People interested in your competitors’ brands (Saved Audience)
• A wide audience of people interested in your industry (Saved Audience)

Note: Use the last one (11.) only when optimizing your campaigns on conversions, so that Facebook’s auto-optimizations algorithms can deliver your ads to people most likely to convert.

If you’d like to learn more about creating these audiences and how to advertise to them, read this article I wrote for AdEspresso’s blog: 9 Facebook Audiences With Extremely High ROI

15. Segment Your Retargeting Audiences

After you’ve installed the Facebook Pixel, you can start retargeting the people who have been on your website.

The most common way to do remarketing is to target all your past 30-90 days website visitors.

However, targeting your blog readers, visitors from paid advertising, and let’s say referrals with the same ads and offers is highly inefficient.

If you keep repeating the same message that’s largely irrelevant to all targeted audience segments, people won’t click on your Facebook ads.

That’s why you need to start segmenting your Facebook retargeting audiences.

But how should you segment them?

Use this approach: Segment your audiences to the extent that you’re able to deliver everyone a relevant offer. At the same time, you shouldn’t create audiences smaller than 500 people as it’s not worth your time to craft highly specific ads for a smaller audience.

For example, you could segment your retargeting pay-per-click audiences based on the topic of the landing page they visited. Or place warm yet doubtful leads into another audience and make them a discount offer they couldn’t possibly refuse.

16. Think In Terms of the Conversion Funnel

Another way to think about your Facebook (retargeting) audiences is to consider your Facebook ads conversion funnel.

Cold leads should be targeted with low-threat offers, e.g. blog articles, and other types of helpful content.

Your top of the funnel Facebook advertising goal should be creating brand awareness and creating interest in your product.

For example, BuzzSumo’s promoting an original research article.

As people have already visited your website and are familiar with your brand, things get spiced up. In the Prospecting and Converting stages of your marketing funnel, it’s time to introduce sales-oriented messages and prompt people to complete a purchase / sign up.

For example, you could remarketing to your online store visitors with a limited-time discount offer. Here’s a perfect example by Happy Socks.

17. Exclude Converters From Your Campaign

One of the keys to successful retargeting on Facebook is moving people from one ad campaign audience to the next as they convert.

For example, after a person has clicked on your brand awareness campaign or read a couple of blog articles, they could be moved on to the next stage advertising campaign and be targeted with a sales offer.

To move people who convert on your Facebook ad from one audience to the next, use the EXCLUDE function.

For example, you could exclude the people who have already read a particular blog article from this article promotion’s target audience. AND you could set up another ad campaign targeting that blog article’s readers, offering a product/service related to that blog article.

You should also exclude all of your current customers from the campaign targeted at cold leads.

There are a lot better offers and content to be advertising to your existing clients than brand awareness messages. Take a look at these 142 Facebook ad examples for inspiration.

18. Frequency Cap Your Remarketing Campaigns

I guess almost everybody has seen a remarketing campaign that keeps following them across the web and shows up tens of times across multiple weeks.

That’s just annoying.

If you do not want your Facebook retargeting campaigns not to bore people to death, you should deliver the remarketing ads at sensible intervals.

Here’s how I like to set up highly specific remarketing campaigns (Targeting up to 10,000 people):

• Use the Reach campaign objective as you don’t really need Facebook auto-optimization algorithm’s help, you want to reach all the people in your retargeting audience.
• Optimize your ad delivery on Daily Unique Reach, meaning that Facebook will show your ads max 1 time per day to every audience member.
• If you want to create a remarketing campaign that targets people for longer than 15 days, set up a custom ad schedule, so that your ads are delivered every other day or even more rarely.

19. Trust Facebook’s Auto-optimization

I’ve been mentioning Facebook’s auto-optimization algorithms a couple of times over the course of this article. That’s because I believe they’re doing a darn good job at improving your campaign results.

Facebook’s algorithms have two simple goals:

1. Creating value for advertisers by helping them reach and get results from people in their target audiences
2. Providing positive, relevant experiences for people using Facebook, Instagram or Audience Network

Put simply, Facebook wants advertising to be a win-win situation for both brands and customers.

Here’s an example. AdEspresso ran a Facebook ads experiment to see which Lookalike Audience returns the best results:

They targeted 1%, 5%, and 10% Lookalike Audiences of people similar to their existing customer base. Note that 1% Lookalike Audience includes the 1% and 10% Lookalike Audience includes 10% of a country’s population that Facebook considers the most similar to the existing client base.

Basically, the 1% Lookalike Audience is where Facebook’s auto-optimization algorithms are supposed to excel the most.

After analyzing each campaign’s results, here’s what AdEspresso found:

• The 1% Lookalike Audience had the cost-per-lead of $3.748
• The 5% Lookalike Audience had the cost-per-lead of $4.162
• The 10% Lookalike Audience had the cost-per-lead of $6.364

The experiment showed that Facebook is pretty good at guessing who is most likely to convert, and was able to deliver the ads to the right people.

Here’s a simple way to make the auto-optimization work for you:

Create a Facebook marketing campaign that targets a wide audience of 200,000+ people and optimize the campaign for conversions.

Then, let Facebook’s algorithms learn which audience members are the most likely to convert, and deliver your ads to the right people.

20. Check Your Ad Reports to Uncover Top Audiences

Once you’ve applied the previous Facebook ad hacks and let Facebook to auto-optimize your way to audiences that convert, you can check your ad reports to see who belongs in that top-performing audience.

By using the Breakdown menu, you can find out:

• Which age groups converted on your Facebook ads
• Where are your top audiences located
• Which mobile/desktop devices they’re using
• Many additional insights

Important! You need a fair share of ad results before these insights become statistically valid.

You can’t conclude that 25-year-olds like your product just because 10 people have bought it.

I’d recommend that you collect at least 500 conversions per ad campaign before tracking down the best-performing audiences.

21. Optimize Your Facebook Posts’ Audience

Did you know that Facebook has an Audience Optimization tool that let’s you choose who should see your Facebook posts?

This advanced option is located in your Facebook page’s New Post sharing box.

As you click on the tiny icon, you can specify the interests that are most relevant to your posts. This way, you’ll be telling Facebook whom to show your Facebook post first (this is particularly useful to brands/publishers with thousands of Facebook fans interested in various topics and news).

You can also restrict the audience of your Facebook post. This is helpful if you want your post to only reach the people speaking a particular language or located at a specific location.

If your Facebook page has more than 5,000 likes, the Audience Optimization has already been activated.

If your page has fewer than 5,000 likes, click the “Settings” tab in the top right corner of your Facebook page. From the “General” tab, you’ll see a row for “Audience Optimization for Posts.”

Click on “Edit” and check the box to activate the Audience Optimization. The, hit the “Save Changes” button.

According to Facebook, optimizing your Facebook post’s audience helps to slightly improve the ads’ reach and relevance to their audience.

Facebook Copywriting & Design Hacks

In the part of this guide, we’ll be exploring what makes a good Facebook ad in terms of the design, ad type, and copywriting.

Believe me, there’s a huge difference between a good and a bad Facebook ad layout. And a bad-looking ad could end up costing you thousands of dollars of your advertising budget.

So what can you do to ensure your Facebook ads are awesome and engaging?

I’ve already shared my TOP Facebook ad design hacks in this post here: 25 Facebook Ad Design Hacks to Make People Click

However, there’s so much more that you can do to increase your Facebook ads’ ROI.

22. Think What Would Make YOU Click

It is easy to start thinking about the people you’re advertising to as a huge crowd of incognito faces. After all, you’re targeting your ads at thousands if not millions of people.

But that approach is just plain wrong. It makes you publish ads that no real human would never ever click – boring ads that carry no value to a user.

The best litmus test for a good Facebook ad is to ask yourself: Would I click on this ad if I were in the shoes of my target audience?

• Would the Facebook ad catch my attention in the newsfeed?
• Would I consider the ad image attractive?
• Is the offer so good that I’d feel that I need to get this?

The best Facebook ads make you answer YES!! To all of these questions. However, 80% of the rest would not.

For example, this ad by Google nails it, being well-designed, having a clear (and attractive) offer, and indicating what’s the next step (with a Sign Up call-to-action button).

So what are the top commandments for creating a Facebook ad that good? It all begins by understanding what matters to your target audience.

23. Offer Something of Value

The first and foremost reason people use your products is that it brings value to them and they’re willing to give their money and time in return.

Money and time… Those are the two most carefully kept resources each of us has. And surely we wouldn’t give them away on every random request.

So here’s the rule: Your Facebook ad offer needs to be so good that people are willing to spend their time clicking on it.

Simply asking people to check out your product or Facebook video without explaining how it will benefit them is useless. Nearly nobody will click on your ad.

Here’s how you can make your ads more value-oriented:

• Explain how your product will benefit the customer
• Make sure that the benefits include something they can’t get elsewhere
• Offer a discount or a limited-time free trial

Even if you’re marketing an software tool like AdStage, you can tell people how your product will improve their work life.

What you shouldn’t do:

• Don’t expect people to be interested in case studies unless they’ve already shown interest in your product (e.g. visited your website)
• Don’t expect people to be excited about poor-quality videos of your product (that’s like THE most boring type of video one can watch)
• Don’t brag about your product’s features that seem amazing to you but irrelevant to your target audience.

24. Test Different Ad Copies

We already discussed that you shouldn’t promote the same Facebook ads to everyone – the offer and messaging depend on a person’s place in your conversion funnel.

Here’s another tip: you can test different ad copies for the same offer.

For example, Intercom’s testing a slightly different ad copy for their offer.

Don’t limit yourself to testing the ad’s copywriting also try different lengths of copy or leave one text placement (e.g. the link description) completely unfilled.

25. Catch Attention With the Ad Copy

If you thought that your Facebook ad image is the only way to catch people’s attention, you’re on the wrong track.

There are ways to make your ad copy noteworthy as well.

One way is to include multiple numbers in your ad copy.

A case study published in Moz blog found that by starting your headline with a number, you’re 36% more likely to have people click on your ads.

Here’s a nice example by Inkbox, using three numbers across the Facebook ad.

Here’s another tip: Use emojis in your Facebook ads.

In addition to making your ads more fun and engaging, emojis can also be used to structure your ad copy and make it easy to read.

Here’s an example by Soylent, using emojis as bullet points. That’s just genius!

Read more about emojis + Facebook ads here: How to Use Emojis in Facebook Ads – The Complete Guide

26. Experiment With Facebook Ad Types

For someone starting out with Facebook advertising, the range of options might be overwhelming at first:

• Single Image
• Single Video
• Carousel
• Slideshow
• Canvas
• Collection

And then there are the different variations of each of these ad types:

• Link Click Ads
• Video Ads
• Boosted Page Posts
• Multi-Product (Carousel Ads)
• Dynamic Product Ads (DPA)
• Facebook Lead Ads
• Canvas Ads
• Collection Ads
• Page Like Ads
• Page Post Photo Ads
• Page Post Video Ads
• Event Ads
• Offer Claims
• Local Awareness Ads

It’s crazy, right?!

Here’s the complete guide that gives you an overview of ALL the Facebook ad types we published in collaboration with AdEspresso: Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Ad Types

Why do the Facebook ad types matter?

When managing the Facebook ads for SaaS startup Scoro, we tested a carousel ad vs. a regular image ad.

Here’s an example of one of our regular ads:

Here’s an example of the carousel ad, featuring the sign-up process and explaining the product’s benefits:

What do you think, which Facebook ad typed performed better?

While there are many articles explaining why carousel ads are a better option, truth is that the regular image ad performed A LOT better.

The regular ad had a higher relevance score, a lower cost-per-click, and delivered more conversions at a lower cost. However, we would have never known this unless we tested both ad types.

That’s why I recommend that you experiment with at least three different ad types. The easiest ones to get started with are:

• Single image ad
• Video ad
• Carousel ad

27. Check Your Ads’ Relevance Score

Facebook ad relevance score is a 1-10 metric that shows how relevant your Facebook ads are to their target audience.

And it’s a super important campaign metric.

When AdEspresso analyzed 104,256 Facebook ads to see what’s the average relevance score, they discovered that it’s a perfect indicator of your campaign’s success.

If you have a high Facebook ad relevance score, the cost-per-click and cost-per-conversion will be significantly lower.

You can check your Facebook ads’ relevance score in the Facebook Ads Manager reports by selecting the “Performance and Clicks” standard report.

Tip: The best time for checking your Facebook campaign’s relevance score is around 48 hours after publishing or after a Facebook ad has collected at least 2,000 impressions.

That’s when Facebook has enough data to tell how people react to your ads.

If your ads have a low relevance score of 1 point, it’s best to pause your ad campaign ad take steps to fix it:

• You can change the campaign’s target audience to reach people to who your offer’s more relevant.
• If your ads’ offer is unattractive, you should try to improve it by adding a discount or another type of engaging offer.
• If you’re promoting a blog article or other types of content, you could test rewriting the ads’ copy to make it more engaging and clickable.

28. Learn With the Facebook’s Pages to Watch Tool

Pages to Watch is a tool available to all Facebook pages with 100 or more fans. The tool allows you to effortlessly keep your eye on the competition.

You can find it by navigating to your Facebook page Insights and scrolling down on the page.

Facebook suggests a few pages that might be relevant to you. However, you can add other pages by simply typing in their names.

After you’ve added some brand pages to your watchlist, you can see the following stats:

• Total page likes (and the % +/- change from the previous week)
• How many times a page has posted to Facebook this week
• Their total engagement count for the week

But it keeps getting better. As you click on a particular brand’s icon, you’ll be able to see all their past week’s Facebook posts, filtered by engagement (from the most engaging to the least engaging).

You can use the Pages to Watch tool to follow your competitors, partners, influencers, and other industry-related pages. I also like to follow some inspiring brands that make awesome Facebook posts – just for inspiration.

Use these insights to spot new trends and learn what’s working for other Facebook marketers.

Over to You

Naturally, I’m curious about learning about your top secret Facebook advertising hacks as well.

What are the tactics and tricks that made the most difference to your campaign results?

Leave a comment!

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