Should you follow the Facebook ad examples by other brands or come up with your own best practices?
There are two options: you can go with the flow and follow the crowd, or you can pave your own way and take full responsibility for the outcome.
When starting out with PPC / Pay Per Click advertising, swimming upstream isn’t always the smartest choice. Before you can tell what works and what doesn’t, you’ve lost thousands of advertising dollars and months of time.
It’s always a good idea to start with some research and find out what’s working for other brands.
Before you create your first Facebook campaign, take a look at these awesome Facebook ad examples we’ve gathered for you, and learn from 84 key takeaways. Then, whatever journey you decide to take, you’ll be equipped with the first-rate Facebook ad tips and hacks.
1) CoSchedule – Facts That Nobody Can Ignore
CoSchedule’s ad gets so many things right that it has totally earned its place as the first Facebook ad example.
The ad’s colorful design pops into your eyes right from the News Feed, making CoSchedule’s logo memorable while increasing the brand awareness.
CoSchedule’s Facebook ad gets so many things right
The Facebook ad reads: “20,000+ marketers and bloggers use the CoSchedule editorial calendar to plan ahead and save time.”
Et voila, in this one sentence, they’ve managed to establish trust, target a specific audience, and reveal the benefit of their product.
Key Takeaways:
Numbers and facts work – people are wired to like even numbers. Mentioning the number of people using your product builds instant trust. It’s almost like saying, “We’re already the best-liked product in this category, so you should try it as well.”
Lure in with the benefit – CoSchedule’s ad starts with the question: “Ready to get your marketing organized?” as if they’re stating the obvious: our product will get your marketing organized. By promising a benefit relevant to your target audience, they might be interested to learn more about your offer.
Explain the “how” – People who haven’t tried your product before have no clue how it works. Simply saying, “It’ll save your time” may not be sufficient. You could improve your ad by explaining how your product helps to achieve all the promised benefits. CoSchedule’s ad displays an image of the editorial calendar that’s going to deliver the benefits.
2) FreshBooks – Niche Focused Ads Steal the Show
FreshBooks’ Facebook ad starts by saying: “FreshBooks makes online accounting easy so you can stay focused on running your business.”
With this one sentence, the ad has clearly stated what target audience it’s talking to: people who spend too much time on accounting instead of being able to focus on managing their business. Sounds like small business owners, doesn’t it?
FreshBooks’s Facebook ad has a clear target audience
The other great thing about this ad is the ad image: it presents a setup where people find themselves every day (in their workstation, accompanied by a large cup of coffee), which makes it relatable to the ad viewer.
Key Takeaways:
Speak to a niche audience – Decide who it is that you want to target with your ad and be crystal clear about it. Not only do niche audiences help you choose the right message, tone and language, you’ll also know whom to target with your Facebook ads.
Dare to exclude people – You can’t be liked by everyone. In order to earn a niche audience’s attention, you need to speak directly to them. FreshBooks’ ad headline says clearly: “Online Accounting Software for Non-Accountants”. That’s it, everyone who relates to this title may feel as if the ad is speaking directly to them.
Colors matter – Do you remember the last ad that caught your attention in the Facebook news feed? Chances are that it was brightly coloured and highly contrasted. Research has found that people make up their minds within 90 seconds of their initial interactions with either people or products. About 62‐90% of their assessment is based on colors alone. So, yes, you should probably create more colourful Facebook ads if you haven’t done that already.
Here’s another location-specific ad example by Web Summit. It tells directly whom it’s targeting: Austrian startups.
Web Summit’s Facebook ad uses location-based personalization
3) SumoMe – Show the Results
What could be a better tactic than explaining your product’s benefit in your ads? – Showing it.
Images tell stories, and studies have shown that stories work because our brains are primed to heed their advice.
This Facebook ad example by SumoMe displays a growth chart without any clear explanations – there’s no instantly available information on what this chart signifies.
Yet, people looking at it might deduce it symbolizes growth, and that’s exactly what SumoMe wants: to be associated with success.
SumoMe’s impressive growth chart for their business
Imagine this ad in your news feed. There’s a good chance that seeing a growth chart would make you curious to find out what it is about and click through to their website. Now, that’s what we call smart marketing.
Key Takeaways:
Use symbols to your advantage – People are quick to associate your brand with positive or negative feelings. Studies show that people rely on emotions, rather than information, to make brand decisions. By mentioning or showing symbols in your Facebook ads, you’ll establish a link in the brain between the symbol and your brand.
If this, then that – Nope, we’re not talking about the popular productivity tool, but you’re close. SumoMe’s ad text reads, “If you want viral growth you need this tool”. What happens is that people think, “Yes, I want viral growth,” and are immediately presented the solution – SumoMe’s software. First, mention something that you think might be a need for potential target audiences. Then, present your product as the best possible solution.
Add a pinch of social proof – Just like numbers work magic, so does social proof supported by numbers. “Over 175,000 websites grow their traffic with SumoMe” – That may be just enough proof the reader needs to check out the product.
4) 17hats – Make It Personal
As weird as it might sound, people like looking at other people’s faces on the web. When they feel like someone’s gazing at them, they can’t resist but to find out more.
17hats’ Facebook ad uses a hero shot with a happy young lady, creating positive emotions and helping their target audience relate to their offer.
17hats Utilized Hero Shots in Their Facebook Ads
Key Takeaways:
Start with a question – Beginning your Facebook ad copy with a question that truly addresses your target audience is a good place to start. Research by Outbrain showed that article titles ending with a question mark tend to have higher click-through rates than those ending with an exclamation mark or full stop.
Cut right to the problem – 17hats’ ad headline says, “Tame the Chaos of Running Your Business.” By showing that they understand their audience’s pain points, 17hats gets the chance to offer a solution while people are still listening.
Hero shots work – According to research by Psychological Science, seeing a smiling person makes us feel happy, comfortable and safe.
Our brains have developed the Picture Superiority Effect, meaning that concepts are much more likely to be remembered if they are presented as pictures rather than words.
When choosing an image for your Facebook ad, avoid overused stock photos as people may have grown immune to seeing those. It might be worth organizing a photoshoot to collect authentic photos for all future marketing tactics.
5) Safari – Start Doing
Safari’s Facebook ad reads: “Start your free trial today.” … “Read comfortably right on your phone” … “Get personalized recommendations.”
This is one of the most actionable Facebook ad examples we’ve seen. Safari’s ad includes a total of six action verbs:
Start
Gain
Read
Save
Get
Achieve
Calls to action are often placed to drive people to starting engaging or completing an action immediately.
Safari Facebook Ad Includes Many Action Verbs
Key Takeaways:
Action verbs in ad copy – By adding action verbs to your ad copy, you could make it more actionable and energizing for the reader. The decision-making part of our brain also happens to be the most primitive, making it act on simple and actionable words.
Make them remember your logo – People might not remember your brand by its name, but they’re a lot more likely to recall the visual image of your logo. A study by the University of Iowa compared our hearing memory to the visual memory. We’re hardwired to remember things we see many times longer than what we hear.
Make it about them – Did you notice how Safari’s ad addresses the reader: You? Everything they suggest is targeted at the reader, declaring that the single person to get the maximum benefit out of using the product is the person reading, not the brand.
Need more action verbs? Buffer’s put together a massive list of 189 magnetic words that make your copywriting almost impossible to resist.
6) Try The World – Let Them Almost Feel it
Try The World’s ad depicts the moment when someone receives their subscription box full of exotic foods.
You can almost feel the excitement of receiving the mystical box of goodies and opening it as it were a treasure chest or a gift from a secret admirer. People seeing the ad might want to experience similar excitement and joy.
An article in the Wall Street Journal suggests that it takes 20 minutes for the power of excitement to pass. That’s more than enough to lead a happy prospect through your sales funnel.
The products look attractive and desirable, contributing to the decision to get one of these subscription boxes ASAP.
Try the World‘s Facebook ad – the joy of opening gifts
Key Takeaways:
Make it almost graspable – Showcase your product at the most exciting moment of its lifecycle. If Try The World’s ad pictured the subscription box in the post office or left unopened on the table, they’d be missing out on a great opportunity of playing on people’s emotions and outsmarting the rational thinking.
Free extra – The promise made in the Facebook ad’s headline says, “Free Paris Box with your Thailand Box!” If you were unsure about ordering the subscription before, now you’re almost convinced you’re getting a great bargain. When the online store 2BigFeet introduced free shipping for orders over $100, their conversions went up 50%. Free extras represent just the right nudge to help people make the final decision of purchasing the product.
Exclamation marks FTW – Did you notice the exclamation mark at the end of the ad headline? That’s no coincidence – exclamation marks make us more alert and attentive towards the message. That being said, be careful not to abuse the exclamation marks. As the New York Magazine’s The Science of Us writer Melissa Dahl pointed out, “The exclamation mark, once reserved for expressing joy or excitement, now simply marks baseline politeness .”
Hacks only work until you overexploit them.
7) Nike – Don’t Be Afraid of Contrast
Nike’s Facebook ad is so colourful that it reminds me of a colorful oasis in the desert of dull everyday Facebook posts.
A study by UsabilityTools showed that using highly contrasting landing page call-to-actions resulted in 75% higher click-through rate, compared to a low-contrast CTA.
Nike’s Facebook Ad Is High on Contrast
High-contrast websites, ads, and other marketing materials help to draw people’s attention to your offer. However, you need to support your colorful image with a worthy ad copy; otherwise, all your effort has gone to waste.
Key takeaways:
Use contrasting color combinations – Higher contrast may help to draw more attention to your ad. It’s not only the red and pink that might be contributing to Nike’s ad success, it’s also the white font and background that form the perfect harmony of colors. A study looking at consumer preferences by Science Direct discovered that while a large majority of consumers prefer color patterns with similar hues, they favor palettes with a highly contrasting accent color. Use a color wheel to determine which colors match the best.
Include a link – While your entire Facebook ad is clickable, there might be people who are unaware of it. Nike has included a website URL in the ad copy – it’s a potential call-to-action to click on, and people will remember the link longer after seeing it.
Create carousel ads – A report by Kinetic Social revealed that carousel ads have up to 10 times higher click-through rates compared to static sponsored posts on Facebook. When using carousel ads, you’ll have the chance to display up to 10 products/offers instead of a single one — so there is a better chance at least one image will resonate with the viewer.
8) AdStage – Use the Glory of Influencers
AdStage’s Facebook ad for their upcoming webinar not only names the titles of two marketing experts, but it also displays their images as a form of social proof that they actually exist.
According to KISSmetrics, people are more likely to be persuaded by others similar to them.
AdStage’s main audience seems to be marketing professionals, so it makes a lot of sense to use industry experts for building trust and brand recognition.
AdStage includes influencers in Facebook ad campaigns
When involving influencers in your marketing campaigns, make it a win-win deal for both parties.
For AdStage, organizing a webinar means higher brand awareness among marketers. For the two experts, it’s a chance to establish themselves as authorities in a given field.
Key Takeaways:
Strike the deal with influencers – Including influencers in your marketing campaigns gives your brand a touch of their glory and fame. According to some resources, sharing branded content via influencers results in 3x-10x higher conversion rates.
Bring hashtags to Facebook – While Twitter is the Grand Master of hashtags, Facebook also supports the use of hashtags. Did you know that as you search for a hashtag on Facebook, you’ll see the feed with all the related images and posts?
Start with low-threat offers – Every time you ask people to sign up for a subscription or buy something from you, you’re asking them to take a chance on you. Before you can ask people to spend money on your products, you need to earn their trust. Not all offers match with your target audience’s familiarity with your brand and the PPC channel temperature. Asking people to join a webinar is by far less binding than asking them to use your product. When advertising to cold audiences, keep your offers helpful and non-binding. For example, share blog articles, offer free eBooks or give away a free monthly subscription.
9) Soylent – Eliminate Doubts
You may have heard of Soylent. You also might have heard stories about its horrible taste — but do you know what it actually tastes like?
Soylent’s ad starts by proclaiming the most popular question asked from them: “But what does it taste like?”
That’s a smart move and shows their marketing team’s genuine interest in what customers are thinking about.
Soylent Facebook Ad – What Does it Taste Like?
Right after grabbing people’s attention, the Facebook ad offers a solution: Order Soylent and find out what it really tastes like.
Key Takeaways:
Address doubts and possible counterfacts – Soylent covers the possible objection: “I’ve heard that Soylent tastes bad” by hinting that it might taste like cereal milk, almonds or Graham crackers. Moreover, it offers a solution to the question.
Talk to a friend – The tone and voice of Soylent’s Facebook ad are friendly and familiar, addressing the reader – you. Instead of praising their product and talking about the benefits, this ad focuses on talking to the person reading it.
Play with people’s curiosity – By framing your product to sound like an unsolved mystery, you’ll make people anxious to find out the answer to the puzzle. A study from Caltech has shown that curiosity increases to a point as knowledge increases and then drops off. You’ll want people to know part of the mystery, but leave the full story for them to discover.
10) Shopify – Offer Something WorthWhile
Shopify’s ad asks: “What kind of person do you say you are to the world?”
People have the natural wish to be praised and valued by the traits they themselves consider the most important. Spotify hints that with the help of their product, you can be the person you’ve always wanted to be.
Helping someone shape their life is a strong (and bold) selling point.
Shopify’s Facebook ad offers to change your life
Key Takeaways:
Ask a personal question – If you’re able to get people thinking about the course of their lives, you’re onto something big. As someone starts to think about your proposed question, they might be more likely to consider the possible benefits of your product.
Remind people of a possibility – Shopify’s ad motivates people to reconsider their chosen life path by asking, “What’s your next move?” It reminds of the fact that there’s always an opportunity to change and offers the means to do it (Build Your Store on FB!).
“Sign Up” call-to-action – While most Facebook ad examples use the “Learn More” CTA, Shopify has chosen to be straightforward and ask people to sign up at once. While A/B testing Facebook ads, Scoro discovered that the ad with the “Sign Up” CTA outperformed the ad with the “Learn More” CTA by 14.5%. When creating Facebook ads, don’t lose sight of your final goal – conversions. While people are more likely to click on the “Learn More” call-to-action, they’ll convert at a higher rate after having clicked the “Sign Up” CTA.
11) Surface – Compare Yourself to Competitors
Surface’s Facebook ad example includes the text, “Surface Book comes with Pen, touch and nearly 2 million more pixels than a MacBook Pro 13.”
This is why adding the statement could be considered a smart move for the brand.
For once, Surface says that it has considerably more pixels than its main competitor: MacBook Pro 13.
By mentioning the MacBook in their ad, they take advantage of their competitor’s fame.
Simply describing the number of pixels in their PC wouldn’t tell most ad viewers a thing — but comparing the number to the well-known MacBook Pro establishes a strong anchor point for the comparison.
Surface has 2 million more pixels than a MacBook Pro
Key Takeaways:
Outshine your competitors – Studies show that our brains prefer recognizable brands. If your product is better than those of famous competitors, don’t be afraid to say so. Just so you know: This hack only works if your products truly are better than those of your biggest competitors, which is subjective.
Show your product – When in doubt of what to showcase on your Facebook ad image, including your product might be a good idea. People will get a glimpse of how it looks and – if they like what they see – are more likely to try it out.
Offer savings – Offering savings could be the final nudge that people need to complete your desired action. Even better, if you add a time limit to your offer, making it more tempting to claim the offer.
12) KlientBoost – Get the Black Belt in Emojis
At KlientBoost, we’re a complete fan club of emojis. I mean, who could resist a Santa emoji winking from the Facebook news feed?
SaaS startup Scoro ran a small A/B test to see how emojis affect Facebook ads’ click-through rate. They discovered that the ad with a red flag emoji in the headline had the CTR of 0.846%, while the ad with no emoji had the CTR of 0.351%.
As you might have noticed, our fave emoji is
Key Takeaways:
Use more emojis – Emojis are a great way to spice up your ad copy, and also help to increase the CTR of your Facebook ads. Use Emojipedia to find a copy all the awesome emojis you need.
Text on the image – If you’re careful enough not to double cross Facebook’s rule against text-heavy ad images, it can work well in your advantage. Advertising legend David Ogilvy commissioned research into the use of images, and discovered that first, people look at the image. Then, they scan the headline. Using text on ad image could help to make more people notice your message.
Test fun ideas – It’s safe to say that our holiday calendar of marketing gifographics was the first of its kind. People love novelties, and you can use this knowledge to your advantage by putting your effort into creating high-quality content to share on Facebook. Testing new ideas might be a good way to earn people’s attention and drive more traffic to your website.
13) Asana – Product = Benefit
Asana’s ad message: “Get Asana. Get Results” cuts straight to the point.
In four words, the ad states that Asana = Results, making the readers associate the product with a great outcome.
Asana uses an eye-catching slogan in their Facebook ad
Key Takeaways:
Use a clear slogan – Often, a good slogan delivers a clear message rather than pretty words. When doing copywriting for your Facebook ad campaigns, only make promises that you can keep.
Keep it short – Asana’s ads link description says only 5 words: “Free for teams of 15.” The message doesn’t overshadow the ad’s headline while delivering highly important information – your team is free to test it out!
Improve the current situation – Show your audience that you know where they stand and their main pain points. Then, offer to improve their current situation. If you look at the ad copy of Asana’s Facebook ad example, that’s the exact tactic they’ve applied.
Here’s another ad example by MailChimp that shows how their product works:
MailChimp’s Facebook ad shows exactly how their product works
14) AdEspresso – Explain Your Product with Video Ads
AdEspresso’s Facebook ad shows a brief 1-minute video describing their product’s benefits and features.
Instead of clicking on the ad to go to the product’s landing page, people can get a complete overview of AdEspresso’s features without leaving Facebook.
AdEspresso’s Facebook ad uses a captioned video
According to Adobe, shoppers that watch videos are 1.81 times more likely to make a purchase, compared to non-video viewers.
When analyzing the ROI of video ads, Kinetic Social found that video ads have the lowest eCPC, with an average eCPC of $0.18.
If you’ve got an introductory video of your product, create an A/B test where it’s used in place of your Facebook ad image The results might surprise you.
Key Takeaways:
Replace images with videos – Video ads are just as easy to create as the regular image ads. Simply go to Facebook Ads Manager, create a new campaign, and upload a video instead of the image.
Keep the videos short – After analyzing millions of videos, Wistia discovered that on average, people watch more than 80% of a video shorter than 30 seconds. However, as the video length increases, the engagement drops. Get to your strongest selling point in the first 20 seconds, so that people won’t pause your ad too soon.
Always add captions – Each video in the Facebook news feed is soundless by default. To get your message to the people, add captions to all the videos shared on the social media platform. According to Facebook, captioned video ads increase video view time by an average of 12%. In one study of Facebook video ads, 41% of videos were almost meaningless without sound.
15) Neil Patel – Build on Your Personal Brand
Neil Patel’s one of the top marketing influencers. He’s built up 4 multi-million businesses and advised tons of startups.
His Facebook post says: “Not only have I helped grow companies like Amazon, NBC, GM, HP, and Viacom, I’ve…”
Now, here’s a guy who knows what he’s talking about, and he makes it clear that everybody values his experience.
Neil Patel’s Facebook ad uses his personal brand
Key Takeaways:
Use your personal brand – According to Fast Company, creating a strong personal brand establishes you as a natural leader and opens doors. If your company’s CEO is a publicly known expert, reflect their halo to your product. Build on your CEO’s personal brand until your product takes off on its own.
Use facts to build trust – As previously mentioned, the best way to establish your brand or yourself as an influencer is to support the statement with facts. Neil Patel lists all his achievements to prove to readers he really knows what he’s talking about.
Deliver the expertise – Noticed how Neil lists his achievements before he asks you to join his webinar? By doing so, he’s offering to share information that by now, you’re considering to be invaluable expertise. On top of that, it’s completely free.
According to a behavioral scientist Robert Cialdini, we prefer to say “yes” to those we know and like. Building on an influencers’ personal brand makes people more ready to accept your offer.
16) Unbounce – Simplify the Process
Unbounce’s Facebook ad hints that they can deliver conversions in five simple steps.
The simplicity of the process is there before you, loud and clear, marked by five colourful icons.
Unbounce’s Facebook Ad Brings a Refreshing Simplicity
Key Takeaways:
Simplify – If your ads are too complicated to be understood in a few seconds, people give up as quickly as they were drawn into reading the ad copy. Sometimes, it makes sense to leave some ideas unmentioned in the ad and explain everything in-depth on your landing page. A study showed that 59% of people actually never read more than the headline of a Facebook share, so yes, you do want to be brief.
Icons give more structure – The five icons used on Unbounce’s ad draw attention and help to structure the ad’s message. As KISSmetrics puts it: “Icons help give users a point of reference – particularly when navigating a site or when scrolling and scanning over a page.”
Promise a quick win – If there was an easy 5-step way to double down on leads, every marketer would jump on it. Although we all know that there are no such shortcuts, we still like to hear the promise of an effortless achievement.
17) Wrike – Get the Benefit Without the Problem
Wrike’s Facebook ad asks: “Getting dozens of new work requests without the details you need? Then, it offers a simple solution: Simplify the way you manage and prioritize work requests.”
This ad’s text implies that they can deliver the benefit without the problem.
Wrike’s Facebook ad shows they understand the reader’s problem
Key Takeaways:
Describe the problem – Find your target audience’s greatest pain points and offer the medicine to their problems. Wrike’s Facebook ad shows that they understand the struggle of getting too many work requests, which makes them more qualified to offer a solution to this problem.
Pop in some uncommon words – Wrike’s ad asks, “Your team is bombarded with new requests?” People aren’t used to seeing peculiar words like bombarded in Facebook ads, so they look like a novelty and help to catch people’s attention.
Find a compelling UVP – Your Unique Value Offer is your strongest selling point, the one you’d recite during a 30-second elevator pitch. Your UVP should convince people that they need your product and its benefit.
According to CXL, a good value proposition:
explains how your product solves customers’ problems or improves their situation (relevancy),
delivers specific benefits (quantified value),
tells the ideal customer why they should buy from you and not from the competition (unique differentiation).
18) Marketo – Enter New Leads into Your Sales Funnel
Marketo’s ad isn’t a regular Facebook ad; it’s a Facebook Lead Ad.
Lead Ads give people a quick way to opt into things like newsletters, quotes, and offers without leaving the Facebook news feed.
All you need to do is enter your contact details in exchange for the goods.
Use Facebook Lead Ads to collect new leads like Marketo
As someone clicks anywhere but the Download button, they’ll land on Marketo’s lead generation landing page. In a way, Facebook Lead Ads could potentially let you double down on the chances of getting new prospects.
Do Lead Ads work? AdEspresso ran an experiment and discovered that compared to regular eBook promotion campaigns, lead ads had a slightly higher cost-per-lead ($0.93 vs. $0.95).
Key Takeaways:
Collect emails with Lead Ads – If your goal is to get more leads to your sales funnel, start a Facebook Lead Ads campaign. You can either promote a free guide, email course, webinar or other helpful materials.
Share timely content – The ad’s headline starts with the year 2016. This assures people that the guide is relevant and timely, including the latest trends and hacks.
Repeat your call-to-action – Marketo’s Facebook ad says Download three times: in the ad image, on the call-to-action button, and in the link description. The Rule of 7 states that a prospect needs to “hear” the advertiser’s message at least seven times before they’ll take action to buy that product or service. While seven repetitions are clearly too much for a Facebook ad, three could be the golden formula.
19) SurveyMonkey – Everybody Loves Prizes
SurveyMonkey wants you to take their surveys. — and in return, they’re offering a chance to win a $300 Playstation Gift Card or other high-value prizes.
Giving away rewards works in multiple ways. First, they’ll get people to answer surveys uploaded by others in need.
But there’s another hidden goal: whenever someone takes a survey, they’ll remember SurveyMonkey as a go-to tool for creating online polls.
SurveyMonkey’s Facebook ad offers a prize
Key Takeaways:
Offer a good prize – When dealing with cold audiences, offering a nice prize may be the key to their attention. Also, test prize offers in remarketing and low-commitment campaigns.
Don’t set the bar too high – It is natural that if you’re giving something away for free, you expect to get something in return — but if you ask people too big of a commitment, they just won’t do it. If SurveyMonkey asked people to take 30 surveys for a chance to win a prize, few would do it — but as they keep the number of surveys low, people will look at it as a fair bargain.
Display the prize – If you want to nudge people in the direction of your wished goal, let them see the prize in your Facebook ad image. Visual cues stay on top of mind longer than any messages. What’s more, contests may help to get people excited and more ready to share the Facebook post with their friends.
20) Ahrefs – Gamble with Curiosity
Do you know how long it takes for a new page to rank in Google Top10?
We do, because we clicked on this ad by Ahrefs and read the entire study.
Alright, we’ll tell you: Only 5.7% of all newly published pages will get to Google Top10 within a year.
Ahrefs’ Facebook ad is hard to resist
Ahrefs’s Facebook ad presents an original case study, telling a story, which people love. Check the likes counter below the post.
Key Takeaways:
Share blog content – Facebook ads can be used for many purposes, from gathering leads to earning your prospects’ attention. Blog promotions are low-threat campaigns that tell people who you are, and convince them that you’re the expert in whatever you’re doing.
Create fascinating articles – Not every 800-word copycat article will make it through the noise. Consumers are smart enough to tell a gem from a pile of junk. When you share noteworthy stuff on Facebook, it’ll distribute organically via the likes and shares of your target audience. And according to a Nielsen study, 83% of people say they trust the recommendations of friends and family.
Use a cliffhanger – A cliffhanger is an information gap that people can’t resist but explore. The recipe to an effective cliffhanger is simple: Tell people a cool story, but leave the best part untold. That’s exactly what Ahrefs does by leaving their study’s answer uncovered until you click and find out.
Gerard Zaltman, the author of How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market, found that 95% of cognition happens outside of our conscious brain and inside our subconscious, emotional brain.
Thinking of a story lights up our emotional brains, which is where we make our buying decisions.
21) Blue Apron – Before and After
Blue Apron’s Facebook ad presents two versions of their product – the before and after.
The image on the left displays one of their subscription boxes–and the image on the right, the result of cooking the box’s ingredients.
Your mind will put together the rest of the story, adding the perceived joy of cooking and spending time with friends.
Blue Apron’s Facebook ad shows ingredients and the result
Blue Apron has put some real effort into the images as they know: Delicious-looking fresh food is one of their most important selling points.
Key Takeaways:
Show the before and after – If your product needs to be unpacked or prepared in some way or another, it makes a lot of sense to let people see both of these phases. Showcasing a closed subscription box or a pile of Legos could potentially arise a lot less powerful feelings than displaying the final result – a delicious meal or a Star Wars Lego ship.
Make the first order free – Blue Apron offers $30 off the first delivery. By doing so, they eliminate of one of the biggest objections: “I don’t know if I like the product and I’m unsure whether to spend money on it.” By offering the first product/order for free, you’ll cross the barrier and start a conversation with your audience.
Get them to say “Yes” – Once a person has said “Yes” to you once, they’re more likely to continue doing so. The first “Yes” will start a sequence that’s harder to breaks than continue. Getting people accept your free offer is a powerful first step to converting them to paying customers. As explained by CopyBlogger:
“We are driven to remain consistent in our attitudes, words, and actions. So, when we are led to make a commitment of some kind, to go on record or take a stand or make a decision, there is an urge to remain consistent with that original commitment later on. “
22) 99designs – Money-Back Guarantee
99designs removes a huge possible threat when mentioning the money-back guarantee in their ad copy.
If the customer doesn’t like the result, they’re free to turn it down and get back their money.
That’s potentially a smart move by 99designs as what it does is say: “We’re so sure that our product is great and you’ll like to results. So, we’re okay with taking the risk.”
Test a money-back guarantee like 99designs
99designs’ Facebook ad is also a great example of including the product’s full price in the ad. $499 for a logo + working website seems like a bargain.
Key Takeaways:
Promise a money-back guarantee – According to ConversionXL, “Guarantees eliminate or reduce the perceived risks your prospects might have.” 99designs’ money-back guarantee assures people that they’re in good company. However, be careful not to shoot your own leg with the money-back guarantee – if you can’t afford it, don’t do it.
No link description – If you want to emphasize your ad headline, leave the link description unfilled. There’s another good reason for that – people may not be willing to commit their time to reading your ad, so it makes sense to only include the core message and shout it out loud and clear.
Reveal the price – As you already know, people love to see the numbers. Adding pricing information to your Facebook ad makes your offer more straightforward, telling people exactly what to expect. As someone clicks on 99designs’ ad, they’re probably happy with paying $499 for the deal.
Ash Maurya, a startup entrepreneur, published an article on VentureHacks, ran a few pricing experiments with a photo sharing service:
He tested a single, straightforward $49/yr offer vs. two plans ($49/yr and $24/yr) vs. three plans (added a freemium plan). The result? The single price offer won.
People prefer hassle-free and simple pricing to complex formulas.
23) Dollar Shave Club – Join Our Club
“Our genius members figured out the smarter way to shave. They get Dollar Shave Club razors delivered for just a few dollars.”
The Dollar Shave Club text above tells a story about an exclusive set of members who enjoy the benefits of using the service–and this story makes you want to belong.
According to an article in Psychology Today, the need to belong is a fundamental human need to form and maintain at least a minimum amount of lasting, positive, and significant interpersonal relationships.
We all want to belong, and Dollar Shave Club knows it.
This Dollar Shave Club’s Facebook ad makes people want to belong
Key Takeaways:
Make them want to belong – Create the sense of a community around your product, and make all the members feel like a part of something bigger. This has worked for Apple with iPhone users, and it works for this Facebook ad by Dollar Shave Club. People will want to be part of an exclusive community.
Turn your service into a story – Did you notice that the Dollar Shave Club’s ad copy sounded just like a customer testimonial? What it really did was to masterfully describe how their subscription service works through the eyes of a customer.
THE words – When writing your Facebook ad copy, use strong words with the personality that you want to be associated with your brand. This example uses words like “genius” and “delightful”, making people feel more positive towards the product.
24) Google – It’s All About YOU
Google’s Facebook ad emphasizes that their offer is about you – not them, not your potential clients, but you:
The ad looks at every benefit through the prism of your benefit:
New domains that tell your story
Get your domain today
Find a domain name for your story
The ad leaves no doubt that it’s here to serve you as best as it can.
Google’s Facebook ad is all about you
Key Takeaways:
Use the word you – Performance coach Tony Robbins has named the feeling of being significant to be one of the six basic human needs. Make your customer feel important by letting them know you actually care about them–and talk directly to them, not everyone at once.
Mystery riddles – Google’s ad starts with words: “The perfect ending to every beginning.” This makes the readers hit the pause button to stop and think about its meaning. People hate unsolved riddles, so they’re willing to spend more time on figuring out your message.
Make the choice simple – Google talks about their product without mentioning any benefits or features. They simply state that the customer can get a domain to tell their story. By leaving out all the specifics, Google’s ad eludes the possible thoughts the client might get otherwise. Without mentioning any features, they’re basically saying, “It’s good and you don’t need to worry about the specifics.”
Intercom’s Facebook ad has taken an approach similar to Google’s. They address their customer like they’d be talking with an old friend, making suggestions to improve their results.
Intercom’s Facebook ad addresses you as a friend
25) GetResponse – Do it NOW
When appearing in the messy Facebook news feed, GetResponse’s sky-blue ad draws all the attention to itself.
It’s so colorful that it’s almost impossible to ignore.
GetResponse’s Facebook ad uses words like “Now” and “Today”
Another reason we like this ad is the headline: “Start Your Free Trial Now!”
It states a clear command that the brand wishes people to make, and leaves no room for doubt.
Key Takeaways:
Ask them to do it NOW – Now, today, right away… all these words contribute to the sense of urgency and nudge people to take action without thinking it over too many times. Applying urgency on a landing page helped an entrepreneur increase sales by 332%.
Simple design – The clearer and simpler your ad design, the more eyes it will potentially draw. Facebook news feeds are full of amateur photography and stock photos. A simple and colorful animation that you can mix up with basic Photoshop skills will work wonders.
CTA and motivation match – Why would anybody click on your call-to-action? What will they get by doing so? Your call-to-actions should match with the prospect’s motivation and expectations. GetResponse’s ad doesn’t say “Learn More” as people may not be interested in simply learning more. They might instead want to test the product and see it for themselves.
Michael Aagaard has been doing multitude of button tests for the past four years. After seeing test after test, he has come up with two questions that help you with writing the copy of the all important CTA button:
What is my prospect’s motivation for clicking this button?
What is my prospect going to get when (s)he clicks this button?
26) Groupon – The Time’s Running Out
When confronted with scarcity and urgency, people start to make irrational decisions.
People just can’t seem to resist a good offer when the time’s running out.
Groupon’s 4-hour flash sale leaves literally no time for second guessing, making people claim the bargain right away.
Groupon sets a clear end time to a limited-time offer
Key Takeaways:
Use urgency to your advantage – Promote limited-time offers, flash sales, limited-stock items, etc. If you’ve ever missed a flight by 5 minutes, you’ll know the horrible feeling of losing. When confronted with a limited-time offer, people won’t think of the possible objections they’d consider otherwise.
Set the exact time frame – If your Facebook ad says, “Sale ends in 24 hours”, it’s pretty much saying that “you still have 24 hours to make get the discount.” But if your ad states that “The sale ends at 5 PM EDT”, people will know that th