Introduction
Ads are only displayed on Facebook’s advertising platform and can appear in Messenger and even on non-Facebook apps and websites. They are available in various formats, including a single image, video, slideshows, and more, aimed at specific audiences.
Creating a Facebook ad is not the same as posting on your personal page. Everything about your Facebook ads, from the words you use to when you place them, influences the amount of traffic they drive to your site.
What are Facebook Ads?
Facebook ads are paid messages placed on Facebook by businesses. This gives you the freedom to write in your voice. Furthermore, as explained in the social network’s beginner’s guide, you can reach out to the most important people to you.
The word “paid” is critical to understanding this definition. Anyone can post for free on their Facebook page, but you never know who will see it. A paid ad allows you to target a specific demographic, and you can be as specific or as broad as you want.
Facebook ad campaigns come in a variety of sizes and formats. You can also specify how much money you want to spend, including:
- The total amount
- The daily Budget
- Cost per Result
.
You can even choose which user actions you want to pay for. That doesn’t mean Facebook will only charge you if your ad performs as expected, but you can decide how they bill you, such as the number of views or clicks. Depending on the objectives you set for your ad, you have several options.
Standard AD Formats
A Facebook ad format is the fundamental design of your ad: a single image with text, a video, a full-screen interactive experience, and so on. There are only seven basic ad formats, but these can create many ad types aimed at various advertising objectives.
Image Ad
Image ads are the most basic ad format, with a single image used in various ad types, placements, and aspect ratios.
Image ads are simple to create and can effectively showcase your product or service if high-quality photos are used. This ad format is an excellent choice for almost any stage of your funnel, whether you want to increase brand awareness or promote a sale to increase conversions.
Although image ads are a great all-around option, they can also be limiting because you only have one image to convey your message. A single image format is not the best option when demonstrating how your product works or showcasing multiple products.
Best practices for image ads:
- Take note of aspect ratios so that your final product is not stretched or cut off.
- Make an effort to create high-quality images that stand out from the crowd on Facebook.
- Use only as much text as you need to keep your message focused.
- Use 80% image or more and less than 20% text. Focus on use case of the product/service with image
- Highlight the use case studies/testimonials/reviews in the image
.
Instant Experience Ads
Instant Experience ads (previously known as Canvas Ads) are mobile-only interactive ads that allow users to interact with your content on Facebook. Your target audience members can swipe through a carousel of images, tilt the screen in different directions, and zoom in or zoom out by moving their fingertips with Instant Experience ads. In addition, Instant Experience ads load ten times faster than standard mobile web applications!
Instant Experience ads are a great tool in general, but if you’re new to Facebook advertising, they may take more time than they’re worth. If you aren’t particularly tech-savvy, you might be better off sticking with more basic ad formats.
Best practices for Instant Experience ads:
- Facebook recommends using five to seven components (images, videos, etc.) in your ad as these get more engagement.
- To save time, use a ready-made template.
- Throughout your ad, return to your central theme frequently.
.
Stories Ads
Stories ads are full-screen immersive experiences that appear in the middle of the stories users watch on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or WhatsApp. You can use videos, images, or even carousels to create your Stories.
Stories allow for far more creative expression than traditional video or image ads, as you can use video effects, emojis, and even augmented reality to captivate your audience.
The Stories format is excellent for showcasing your brand, but they aren’t a panacea for advertisers because they aren’t displayed in Facebook feeds. Because the media in Stories requires different formatting than image or video ads, you may be forced to create unique content just for Stories, increasing the overall workload.
Best practices for Stories ads:
- Maintain a quick pace in your Stories by frequently switching between images and videos.
- To improve the viewing experience, use motion and augmented reality tools.
- Optimize your images and videos for full-screen viewing.
.
Video Ads
A video ad is a single video used to market a product or service. Video advertising has a high level of audience engagement, and even small businesses can create simple videos to entertain and connect with their customers.
The only disadvantage of video advertisements is that they take time to create. If your messages are simple, an image or carousel may be more effective.
- Best practices for video ads: Make your videos as short as possible (Facebook suggests less than 15 seconds).
- Begin with a bang and engage your audience.
.
Slideshow Ads
Slideshow ads are three to ten images or a single video playing in a slideshow. These ads are video’s little cousin because they use five times less data and are intended to be used in markets where internet access is generally limited.
Slideshow ads can also be a good starting point for people who don’t have any video-making experience but want to catch the reader’s attention with the movement and sound that makes video ads so effective.
The following are the best practices for slideshow advertisements:
- To make an impression, use high-quality images and videos.
- Play some music (that you have the right to use).
- Use slideshow versions of your best images to target slow-internet areas.
.
Carousel Ads
Carousel ads allow readers to scroll through multiple images or videos, each with its headline, link, or description. Carousels are useful for introducing readers to various products because each image in the carousel can have its landing page.
The carousel format can also be used to effectively tell a story or explain a process by dividing each section across different sections of your carousel.
Carousel ad best practices:
- Create distinct headlines, CTAs, and descriptions for each section of your carousel.
- To pique your audience’s interest, show the best-performing images or videos first.
- For a more personalized experience, link to various landing pages.
.
Collection Advertisements
A Collection ad is similar to a mobile window-shopping experience in that readers can scroll through your product lineup with a single tap. Collection ads are identical to advanced carousel ads in that they both showcase your product lineups, but Collection ads are more customizable and full-screen.
Collection ads are perfect for large online stores, but for companies that sell a limited number of products or services, there are probably better options for you.
Best practices for Collection ads:
- Let Facebook algorithms decide which products from your catalog are included for each user.
- Fill your catalog with a variety of products that Facebook can choose from.
- Pick an eye-catching image to draw people into clicking on the ad.
.
What are Facebook Ad Placements?
The average person sees about 6,000 to 10,000 ads every single day. As a result, it should be no surprise that only a tiny percentage of these advertisements are remembered. It’s all about making sure your ads appear in the right place at the right time.
Ad placements or the websites where your ads appear and the overall effectiveness of your ad campaigns can be significantly improved by taking a more targeted approach. By optimizing your display and placements, you can lower your ad costs while increasing your chances of reaching an audience relevant to your business.
Facebook defines placements as all the different places your ads can run, and the Ads Manager groups placements based on how people interact with your ads across other platforms. The most popular platforms are Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network.
Facebook currently offers 19 different placement options, so they have been grouped based on how they will be experienced across various platforms. Simply check the boxes next to the placements you want your ad to appear in to select them.
FEED PLACEMENTS
Facebook News Feed
Your ads will appear in users’ desktop or mobile Facebook Feeds, including the Facebook app and Facebook web app on mobile.
Hovering over the Facebook News Feed placement will show you what your ad might look like if you choose this placement.
The News Feed was one of the first placements, explaining why it has become so popular and successful. However, it can be pretty costly in terms of CPM.
The following objectives are available for Facebook News Feed placement:
- Brand Awareness
- Reach
- Traffic
- Engagement
- Page Likes
- App Installs
- Lead Generation
- Conversions
- Catalog Sales
- Store Traffic
.
Instagram Feed
Now we have the Instagram feed placement. Similar to Facebook, these ads appear in desktop and mobile feeds. There are currently 1.074 billion Instagram users worldwide, so it is the second most popular placement Facebook offers.
Using this placement alongside the Facebook Feed placement can be useful to see which placements are most effective and generate the best results.
What objectives are available for this placement?
- Brand Awareness
- Reach
- Traffic
- Engagement
- App Installs
- Lead Generation
- Messages
- Conversions
- Catalog Sales
- Store Traffic
.
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace placement is a relatively new placement, and these ads are shown on the Marketplace homepage, and they are also shown on the Marketplace in the app. You can’t show ads on the Marketplace without them being shown in the Facebook News Feed, so it is useful to bear this in mind when posting ads on Facebook Marketplace.
Marketplace placement is an excellent option for eCommerce businesses because they target specific audiences looking for deals that offer products or services at middle to low prices.
Objectives for Facebook Marketplace placement:
- Brand Awareness
- Reach
- Traffic
- Video Views
- Lead Generation
- Messages
- Conversions
- Catalog Sales
- Store Traffic
.
Facebook Video Feeds
This placement option is quite interesting. It appears in the Video Feed, specifically the Suggested Video Feed and Facebook Watch feed.
Video feed placements could become the future of marketing because they allow advertisers to connect with audiences in a format that is easy to connect with. In addition, this placement is cost-effective because you can build audiences that you can remarket to in the future.
Video Feed placement objectives:
- Brand Awareness
- Reach
- Traffic
- Engagement
- Page Likes
- Video Views
- Lead Generation
- Messages
- Conversions
- Store Traffic
.
Facebook Right Column
This option is probably the least used placement because it is only accessible when using a desktop. But it is great for remarketing, so don’t dismiss it so quickly.
Bear in mind that this is a desktop-only placement, and the majority of the reach you get is on mobile, so you will find that it won’t get that much compared to the feeds on mobile.
Objectives for Facebook Right Column:
- Traffic
- Conversions
- Catalog sales
.
Instagram Explore
This placement is a great way to increase the number of customers interested in products or services similar to yours. Explore allows people to discover accounts, posts, people, and businesses that they wouldn’t necessarily have seen by simply clicking on the magnifying glass icon on their Instagram home page.
After interacting with a post on the Explore page, your customers will begin to see ads as part of their browsing experience. This is great for advertisers because they can use this placement as a surface to deliver their ads.
Instagram Explore objectives:
- Brand Awareness
- Reach
- Engagement
- App Installs
- Video Views
- Lead Generation
- Messages
- Conversions
- Catalog Sales
.
Messenger Inbox
The last Feed placement is the Messenger Inbox, which is a placement that allows your ads to show in your audience’s Messenger home tab between conversations. Once people click on your ad, they will be taken to a detailed view, which will display a CTA button that will link to your website.
This placement, however, can be a little more intrusive than others, which is why a lot of people are hesitant to use it. But, the best part about this placement is that it allows you to connect with potential or existing customers and promote your campaign objectives and goals.
Objectives for Messenger Inbox placement:
- Traffic
- App Installs
- Messages
- Conversions
- Catalog Sales
.
Story Placements: Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger
These placements allow you to tell a story with captivating and enjoyable ads. This is a relatively new feature on Facebook and Instagram, but the organic use of stories grows daily, with almost 500 million people watching and interacting with them. They are so great because they allow your audience to feel as though they are right there with you, which leads to increased engagement.
Instagram stories are the most popular of all three platforms because the stories feature originated. The full screen and vertical format allow your business to share photos and videos.
Story placement objectives:
- Brand Awareness
- Reach
- Traffic
- App Installs
- Video Views
- Lead Generation
- Messages
- Conversions
- Catalog Sales
- Store Traffic
.
In-Stream Placements: Facebook In-Stream and Instagram IGTV
Facebook launched Watch and IGTV when they saw how popular video content was. When watching these videos, you feel captivated by what you are seeing. These placements can drive higher engagement and, even better, use audience feedback, such as poll ads, for your campaign strategies.
The In-Stream placement allows you to deliver 5-15 second video ads, which is more than enough time to create videos that promote a message and are attention-grabbing.
In-Stream placement objectives:
- Brand Awareness
- Reach
- Traffic
- Engagement
- App Installs
- Video Views
- Lead Generation
- Conversions
- Catalog Sales
.
Facebook Search Results
Ads using this placement will appear on search results pages on Facebook. Specifically, your ads will also pop up when someone searches for keywords related to your ad.
This placement will help your business increase its visibility as people are always searching on Facebook. –> many people search for businesses, products, services, etc., on FB, and you can increase the chances that they find you.
Search placement objectives:
- Brand Awareness
- Reach
- Traffic
- Engagement
- App Installs
- Video Views
- Lead Generation
- Messages
- Conversions
- Catalog Sales
.
Messenger Sponsored Messages
It’s important not to confuse this placement with the Messenger Inbox because they have different functions. Messenger Sponsored Messages involve creating message ads sent directly to people who have existing chats with you.
This placement can only interact with those who have previously engaged with you, which means that you will only target a specific audience.
The objective for Messages placement:
- Messages
.
Facebook Instant Articles
What’s great about this placement is that it is less expensive than other placements, and it still does the job. What is this placement exactly? Well, it allows you to create engaging articles within different social media platforms.
Facebook users open 52% more articles when published as Instant Articles instead of a mobile web link because they bring your stories to life with a captivating reading experience.
In-Article placement objectives:
- Brand Awareness
- Reach
- Traffic
- Engagement
- App Installs
- Video Views
- Lead Generation
- Conversions
.
Apps and Sites – Facebook Audience Network
Apps and Sites refer to Facebook Audience Network placement to extend your advertising beyond Facebook. This way, you can reach more users, even those who aren’t on Facebook. You can choose between three options:
- Native, Banner, and Interstitial ads: Your classic display placements are similar to Google’s Display Network (GDN).
- Rewarded Videos: This means that your ads appear as videos, and people can watch them in exchange for a reward in the app in which they appear.
- In-Stream Videos: These ads are delivered as 5-15 second videos to people already watching Facebook videos on their mobile devices.
This placement, however, does not have as high of a conversion rate compared to the other placements because apps and sites tend to have less traffic than other platforms.
Objectives for Apps and Sites placements:
- Reach
- Traffic
- App Installs
- Video Views
- Conversions
- Catalog Sales
.
DIFFERENT FACEBOOK ADS FOR DIFFERENT FUNNELS
With Facebook marketing, as with any other marketing, it’s important to think about how your campaigns move people through the three stages of the buying cycle:
Awareness – Cold Audiences
This is the stage that people become aware of your product or service for the first time. You want to target cold audiences who have never heard of you or seen your product at the awareness stage. The goal here is to get them to interact with your brand and develop an emotional interest or desire for your product.
To reach your Cold Audience, you can target based on interests, demographics, or other online behaviors. If you want to go even further, you can create a Cold Audience of just those people who have, for example, already become a customer, visited your website, or have even watched 95% of one of your videos. This process relates to Look-a-Like Audience, which we will take a deeper look into in another video.
You want to be doing when you’re reaching the Cold Audience by giving before asking. You can do this through thoughtful Content Marketing. So, think about the problems your potential customers have and how you can give them free and useful information to educate, build the trust of your brand, and ultimately build loyalty between yourself and the client. This way, when they become a Warm Audience, you’ve already gained their trust, and you’ve got some credibility.
And, of course, you’ll also want to start getting some conversions here as well.
Consideration – Warm Audiences
The Consideration stage is when you nurture people who have already engaged with your brand or product and start convincing them to buy. At this stage, we want to provide “logical” reasons to help the customer justify purchasing your product. Remember that most people are more emotional than logical about their purchases. But they want to justify their purchases with logic.
So this is where we give them reasons to logically justify that purchase with benefits like customer reviews, free shipping, discount codes, free returns, etc. We also want to show them the product again because sometimes people just need to see something a few times before buying.
The Warm Audience is people who have engaged with your page in some way or become a fan. In this case, they could have watched more than three seconds of a video (which can be a rarity), liked your page, or commented and engaged on a post or advertisement.
What you want to be doing with this specific audience is educating them more about the product or service that you offer. Once they visit your website or supply you with their contact details, you can now shift your focus on them and create your Hot Audience.
Conversion – Hot Audiences
At the Conversion stage, it’s time to target those who have been on the fence about making a purchase and push them over the edge to convert.
For your Hot Audience, you’ll want to try to overcome some common objections or challenges they might have before using your product or service. For example, if they’ve visited your website or had them as a potential lead (you have their contact details, but they’re not yet a customer). Change your mindset to discover why they may not be converting from a lead to a customer. You could offer a promotion or a value-add for your services if it’s price. You could also put a case study in front of them to highlight how you can better what they are looking for and overcome their objections.
HOW TO USE EMOTIONAL POWER IN FACEBOOK ADS?
How many Facebook advertisements do you see in your news feed daily? According to Social Media Examiner, 93 percent of marketers regularly use Facebook advertising. That equates to approximately 3 million businesses marketing themselves on Facebook. Every day, these companies text, call, email, and target us with Facebook ads, inundating us with offers.
In fact, we’re so used to being targeted by brands all over the internet that our brain tries to filter out the noise and ignore those ads automatically. Nonetheless, millions of businesses rely heavily on Facebook ads for a sizable portion of their revenue, so they must be reaching us somehow, right?
How do some brands manage to cut through the clutter and reach us? What distinguishes successful advertisements from the rest?
The answer is actually quite simple: the brands that capture our attention and convert us on Facebook are the ones who understand us the best. They know our pain, needs, and emotions, and they know how to reflect those back to us in their advertisements.
Whether we like to admit it or not, humans are emotional creatures, and our emotions heavily influence our purchasing decisions. The most successful brands have researched and know what emotions affect their specific target audience, what makes them stop what they’re doing and click on that ad, using images, videos, text, and other elements in their ads.
Brands that understand their target audience understand that people purchase products and services based on how they make them feel rather than the rational benefit. They know that using emotion is critical to standing out in a crowded market and capturing the attention of your prospects.
Let’s take a look at how you can use emotion in Facebook ads to pique your prospects’ interest:
4 WAYS TO LEVERAGE EMOTION IN YOUR FACEBOOK ADS
Emotional Value > Monetary Value
Rather than focusing on the service or product, you’re selling, concentrate on the result. To get people’s attention, make a promise: what is the one thing they will get after purchasing your product? Or are you looking for work?
A task management platform, for example, isn’t selling the ability to complete a task; it’s selling the opportunity to organize your thoughts, reduce stress, and possibly even impress your manager with your efficiency.
Putting Theory into Practice
In her commercial, Mel Robbins addresses the camera directly and says, “Imagine for a second how awesome it would be if you could stop holding yourself back.”
When she introduces her online self-confidence course, she dives right into the emotional turmoil of self-doubt and holds herself back. She shows clips of people hugging her and thanking her for “saving” them, tapping into her target audience’s true desire. She doesn’t discuss what you get out of the course, what you learn, or how much it costs; she only discusses the emotional outcome: the promise of a better life and higher self-esteem.
Narrating a Story
We’ve all seen it happen: massive causes with hundreds, if not thousands, of casualties in desperate need of donations and resources, struggling to get the assistance they require. Suddenly, a compelling story about one person’s journey, struggle, and challenges change everything, and donations pour in.
This hero’s journey can also be seen in every film and book you read; a single person’s journey can move us to tears, laughter, empathy, and even change our behaviors and beliefs. That is the power of storytelling, and personal stories resonate with us and elicit emotions, prompting us to act.
Simply put, we remember how something or someone made us feel rather than numbers, statistics, features, or even pricing. The more compelling the story, the more personal and similar to your customer’s story, the more likely it will resonate and inspire action.
Putting Theory into Action
Tell a compelling story with video ads and copy. The best stories are those that make your prospects say, “Hey, that happened to me!” “OMG, that’s me!” or “Damn, that could happen to me.”
Once you understand what emotions motivate your customers to act, you can tell their story, focus on intriguing them, and entice them to click on the “read more” button or visit your website to learn more.
You may have also noticed that most ads are short and lack text, but I’ve found that when the story is compelling, people want to read the content and have no problem with the long copy at all.
As Asia Matos, Founder of DemandMaven, adds, “How many times a day do you scroll right past incredibly boring and not-that-insightful ads on Facebook? It’s because they haven’t done the psychological or emotional work of driving demand. The thing that gets people to move on an ad (i.e., click-through, complete a form, or watch a video) has 100% to do with what they believe they’ll gain. It’s the psychology of “you have this, and I don’t” and the emotional state of “I believe I need this, and you can provide it to me.”
When writing the ads, you’re essentially employing the classic PAS framework: problem, agitation, solution. Why? Because people read that copy to find out what you have that they don’t and what they’re going to get out of it.”
Selecting Your Images
“Don’t just say it, make em’ feel it” is one of the most important rules to follow with every landing page, email, and ad. It’s one of the Emotional Targeting Framework’s pillars, and it’s based on the emotional impact images have on us.
The images and colors you use in your Facebook ads will determine whether or not people see your ad and whether or not they think it’s worth giving it a second thought.
Most ads (like landing pages and websites) use an image of the product they are selling or something to represent it when choosing images. Google depicts a person sitting in front of a computer writing code, while retailers use images of their selling items.
Color also plays an important role in this; it determines what our eyes will focus on when we look at the ad and feel. Yes, colors have an emotional impact on us, but not in the way you might think.
Putting Theory into Practice
Try A/B testing a few different ad visuals. Videos are compelling, but images can also be effective. Brainstorm with your team about the potential outcomes and value you receive when using your product/service (e.g., taking that dream vacation) AND, most importantly, ask your customers and clients what their dream outcome is and what jobs they’re attempting to complete (this is where surveys and interviews come in very handy).
Using Social Proof
Social proof is one of the most effective tools you can use on any page, let alone a Facebook page. There is strength in numbers, and the more people we see heading in one direction, the more appealing it becomes.
Social proof isn’t just there to tell people how great your product is; it’s also there to help you overcome obstacles. Testimonials and reviews can alleviate common apprehensions and address specific questions.
For example, rather than having people take your word for it that your service includes round-the-clock customer service, post a customer’s story on your website detailing how a specific company representative helped her with the issue at 2 a.m.
Applying Theory to Practice
There are numerous ways to use social proof to boost conversions. Christmas Abbott, for example, mentions the number of people who have already enrolled in her program and includes video snippets of people explaining how she has changed their lives:
You can also use a written testimonial as your ad copy or even in the text below your images. You can even include screenshots of mentions on social media, reviews you’ve received, and emails.
CONCLUSION
Facebook ads are effective marketing tools, and they let you design and post ads that target particular customer segments at a price that can suit any budget.
Remember to make the most of the platform’s customization capacity and interactivity. Turn your potential customers into active participants, and you will create the kind of engagement that Facebook—and your bottom line—will both love.
About Author
