With every small business out there already having understood how essential Facebook advertising has become, getting noticed with a Facebook ad is really hard. This is especially true if you work on a crowded field, where an ad like these can be easily ignored. Don’t want to waste money in an ad that will be overlooked? You don’t have to – we can show you how to create a great Facebook ad! Just follow these tips.
1 – Learn to pick images
Images are one of the keys to grab the users’ attention by the neck and drag them into your ad. But not every image serves that purpose – you have to choose the perfect one. And which one is that again? First and foremost, one that’s somehow related with what you’re advertising. But there also other things you should consider. For instance, people react more positively to photos with people on them. Additionally, people showing positive emotions are the best for advertising.
Want more? Pick images with visually appealing colors (especially red) and apply some nice Instagram-like filters to make them more beautiful. Picking the right image is the first step towards a great Facebook ad. Of course, you can’t forget to…
2 – Always include a CTA
Call to actions are one of the most basic elements in the Web – and for a good reason. People actually act when called properly. We aren’t saying that people will jump on your ad simply because it has a CTA. But having one will make the conversion much easier. When clicking your ad, the user knows what to expect on the other side, simply because you used a Call to action informing what that ad’s all about. This doesn’t mean you can’t use “cool wording” or “enigmatic” taglines to make your ad more seductive. But always include the CTA – it makes things clear and your target audience will thank you for that. Since we are on the subject…
3 – Be sure to use the magic words
Though you have all the freedom in the world to create the copy you’ll include in your ad, there are certain words that have proven magical in the past – and that you should definitely use. These group of words might be considered magical because they have been incredibly effective in drawing people’s attention. These words are you, free and new. There might be more, but those 3 are simply the best ones you can include in your ad.
You allows the user to position themselves as the object of the action, as if the ad was talking to them. Free is the best thing in the world, isn’t it? Something free doesn’t cost anything for the target audience, and in turn makes it think “yeah, I’ll try it, why not? It won’t cost me”. Finally, there’s new – while we can all agree that most of us are very comfortable within the confines of the things we know, new things are always exciting and have an adventurous vibe. That’s why the word new is so effective – it draws the adventurer in all of us. Be sure to use these words in your ad and you’ll get those benefits! Of course, you can always…
4 – Test every one of your ads
Have you finished designing your ad? It looks perfect and amazing, right? Well, don’t just publish it yet – it might not be as perfect as you think. Creating just one ad and rolling it out in the open is always a risk because you may be missing the opportunity to develop an even better ad. How’s that? When creating only one option, you are making a lot of decisions with the images, the copy, the CTA. But you can never know for sure if the options you’ve chosen will work better than the ones you didn’t choose.
So, the best thing you can do is use the old practice of testing. Create two, three or even four versions of your ad. Change the images, the colors, the copy and take them out for a spin. See which one performs better and you’ll get a glimpse at how digital marketing works. However, don’t take anything for granted – you’ll learn a lot of things by testing, but not enough to stop testing altogether. What you can actually learn for good is how to…
5 – Nail the ad’s location
Now that you have the Facebook ads and are willing to get them online, it’s time for yet another critical decision: where will you put them? Facebook offers you several placement alternatives, so be sure you’re using the right one. Thus, the Desktop Newsfeed will be best for a text-heavy ad while the Mobile Newsfeed will work better with shorter and to-the-point texts. Finally, the cheaper Desktop Right Column is the place for retargeting, so you won’t fail here if you use elements your audience already knows about your brand.
Don’t be fooled by people that have recipes for the perfect Facebook ad – there isn’t such a thing. The closer you can get to perfection here is develop a great ad but the only way to get that is to get to work and test, test, test. Don’t forget it the next time you are about to launch a Facebook ad!
