7 tips to create ads that really work on Facebook

Facebook has 2 billion users all over the world. Out of this total, almost 900 million people log into the social network every single day. Including many of your customers in potential, who are probably accessing the platform at this very moment, while you read this post.

With the growth in the number of users, Facebook saw an opportunity to make money. Today, the social network delivers less than 2% of organic content to followers. This means that you will have to invest in ads if you want people to see your work.

But creating excellent ads is not as simple as it seems. After all, we are dealing with people, and, of course, with their objections. To make you work a little bit easier, we are now going to share 7 tips on creating campaigns that really work. This guide was created based on experiences from the professionals here at Hotmart.

It’s important to remember that this text is not a magic formula, as every business has its own specific characteristics. Therefore, use this content as a reference and allow yourself to make changes to your strategies whenever you notice that the ads you have created are not attracting a qualified audience to your page.

Now that we have provided you with this disclaimer, let’s dive right in!

Create video ads

According to data from Hubspot, half of the people who log into Facebook every day watch at least one video per day. And the number of posts in videos by brands and companies has almost quadrupled in the last year (3.6 times, to be more precise).

This data shows that the video format is more involving than text posts. If we stop to think about this for a second, this difference in engagement makes total sense, as video allows the brand to get much closer to the spectator. And, in some case, really show them how to solve a problem.

Pay extra attention to the text

The perfect formula to create ads does not exist. But this doesn’t mean that you cannot observe the interactions of your followers and repeat models that have achieved an excellent performance.

In general, a good template is composed of:

A flashy title

When reading online, people tend to follow an F-shaped pattern. This means they read the title, and when they are interested, they quickly scan the rest of the text. That’s why you need a creative, enticing title that gets the attention of the user to the topic you are talking about.

A value proposition

One of the most common mistakes made by entrepreneurs is to focus on the characteristics of the product. But what actually concerns the buyer in potential is how that purchase can help her solve a problem. That’s why, instead of focusing on what your product is, be incisive in showing the benefits it will bring to people who buy it.

A call to action

Um anúncio com um bom texto e boas imagens é meio caminho andado, mas se você não deixar seu call to action claro, o usuário não saberá o que fazer em seguida. Lembre-se que cada campanha criada no Facebook tem um objetivo: seja atrair mais pessoas para sua página, conquistar mais seguidores, convencer pessoas a baixarem um aplicativo, etc. Deixar seu call to action claro evita que você extrapole seu orçamento com ações que não trarão resultados significativos para seu negócio.

Choose great images

Most metrics show that ads and posts with images get more clicks, and generate more conversions. So far, nothing new for people who create campaigns online, right?

But picking a random image is not enough. Your choice must be aligned with the interests of your buyer persona (if you still don’t know who your ideal consumer is, read our post about it).  

Moreover, the image should be a perfect match to your campaign’s objective. That is, there’s no point in having a beautiful image if it has nothing to do with the message you’re trying to convey.

For digital products, the image you choose has to be able to materialize and humanize the product, since this is a fairly new market. Some buyers still find it hard to understand that the product is only made available online. Therefore, a great image can help in changing this perception.

No caso de produtos digitais, a imagem escolhida precisa materializar e humanizar o produto, já que trata-se de um mercado relativamente novo. Alguns compradores ainda têm dificuldade de compreender que o produto é disponibilizado apenas online, logo, uma boa imagem pode contribuir para mudar essa percepção.

>>> See how to choose great images for your ads.

Optimize your campaigns

If you don’t carry out texts with your ads, it will be hard to find out what your audience likes in order to optimize your campaigns in the future. It may seem counterintuitive, but one of the most important tips we have for you is not to pause your ads when they are performing poorly.

Instead, test your segmentation, other titles, call to action, and then see which one converts more.

Why?

Facebook “rewards” companies that carry out tests for their ads, and, in time, displays the content to a more assertive audience.

But beware: when you test your ads, make sure you are not investing more than you had previously planned in your budget. You can carry out tests by using a smaller amount, so as not to compromise your profits, and you can also see which elements work well and which don’t.

Sales flow on Facebook (Click the image for a larger view)

Segment campaigns by devices

The entrepreneur is able to segment the campaigns according to the devices in which they will appear, since the language used in mobile devices is different from the ones used in desktops.

Facebook has a Recommended Placement for campaigns, which includes ads on Facebook (mobile and desktop), Instagram, and Messenger. Check if this placement is aligned with the interests of your target audience, and if it isn’t, edit it.

When you are creating an ad, on the option Placement, click on Edit Placements. Then choose if your ad will be displayed on desktop or mobile.

It is also possible to filter access by device types, such as IOS and Android. This could turn out to be interesting, if you are creating a campaign whose objective is to download an app that is only available on Google Play Store, for instance.

Segmentation by devices prevents an ad that is specific for mobile from being displayed on a desktop, and vice-versa.

We are not saying you should only advertise for the audience that accesses Facebook on mobile and ignore those who use Facebook on desktop. What you should do is create different ads for these two audiences, according to the best practices for each device.

Even though these ads reach a “smaller” audience, we believe they are much closer to being converted, as you will be using a language that is more aligned with their interests.

Use the Boost Post feature

A boosted post is nothing more than an organic post on Facebook that got some investment to reach more people. Usually, Facebook recommends the best posts to be boosted, based on the organic performance of those specific posts.

That’s why you sometimes get notifications such as “This post has performed better than 75% of the posts on your page”, suggesting you can reach even more people if you invest some money.

The basic difference in this kind of post is that it is not created by an ad manager, and this brings some advantages to the entrepreneur. You can add more text to the description, since there is no limit to the number of words in boosted posts, and you can also add a link to your page.

On the other hand, boosted posts have fewer options for you to negotiate how the post will be directed and the amount of money you will invest. Also, you can’t carry out any tests, since you promoting a post that already exists.

If you are still inexperienced with ads, boosted posts can be a good way to begin.

Learn from Facebook Insights

Facebook Insights is the internal Facebook analytics tool, which measures and analyzes your brand’s presence in the social network. The data it provides includes the number of followers, number of reactions, shares, user profiles, among many others. This information surely is very useful for you to optimize your campaigns, and even to increase engagement in organic posts.

To access this data, log into your Facebook page and access http://www.facebook.com/insights, or simply click on the Administrator’s dashboard.

Invest in ads to attract more visibility to your brand

In an ideal world, Facebook would deliver 100% of the content you create to your audience, and it wouldn’t be necessary to invest money to make the message get to your followers.

It seems simple, but creating ads on Facebook only works if you create captivating content aimed at the correct audience. Even so, you will have to carry out tests to find out which kind of content creates more engagement. That’s why you shouldn’t give up on a campaign that has gone wrong, as you can still optimize it to get more clicks.

In time, you will see that ads are worth the investment, as they can bring significant results, especially in the long term, in lead capturing and sales of your product, be it physical or digital.

Take this opportunity to read our tutorial on how to sell on Facebook and clear any other questions you might have about this!