Facebook remains the number one social media channel with the highest volume of users. Many brands underestimate the potential that effective Facebook Ads have in generating new customers. Or maybe they have tried ads they are discouraged by the lackluster results.
For a platform with so much traffic, it can be frustrating putting the time, investment, and energy into a Facebook ad, only to see low conversions. You’ve tried different creatives only to see them fall short. Or you’re getting a lot of engagement but no sales.
Maybe the problem isn’t so much your creativity but your ad copy. In this article, we’re going to lay out the framework for exactly what you need to do in order to create copy for effective Facebook Ads that convert.
Why Facebook Ads Work
There are a ton of users on Facebook, which also means it’s heavily saturated. You can’t just cast your ad into the abyss and hope it reaches the right people. One of the strongest features Facebook has over other platforms is its targeting capabilities. With Facebook, you can hyper-focus exactly what type of audience you want your ad to reach. If you sell custom-made furniture, you can target audiences interested in home decor or interior design. If they like custom wood tables, you can target those people that visited your landing page about your custom wood tables.
Here are some of the ways your can target your audience through Facebook:
- Interests – This allows you to filter your audience based on their interests (activities, hobbies, literature, etc.)
- Location – Can segment your audience by region (city, state, country)
- Gender – This allows you to target based on gender
- Behaviors – This enables you to target your audience based on their past interactions, such as visiting your website
- Connections – This allows you to target your audience based on those who already like or follow you, or have connections that do
- Custom Audience – This enables you to target existing customers or leads
There’s a lot that needs to come together to make a Facebook ad successful. You need to set up the right targeting, a compelling image or video, attention-grabbing text copy, and a great landing page to help drive home the conversion. But for the purpose of this article, we’re going to focus on the key essentials your ad copy needs in order to persuade your target audience.
Best Practices for Effective Facebook Ads
When it comes to ad copy, there are several proven tips that are guaranteed to help. Great ad copy can entertain, excite, and persuade prospects to click through to your site. It’s not enough to have a pretty ad. Ad copy is the hook that grabs ahold of your audience and convinces them to move forward. So with that, here are six proven tips that are guaranteed to get the ball moving with your ad copy.
1. Start with Audience Targeting
Before you even begin, you need to leverage the audience you’re looking to appeal to through targeting. If possible, create smaller audience segments. This will allow you to create more relevant and compelling ad copy that speaks directly to that particular group. The key is to create a group that is niche but not too narrow, even when there’s not enough data to be collected about them. A good tip is to create your normal demographic and then start asking yourself questions about how they interact with Facebook. What is their age group? What does their online behavior look like? What are their interests? What are their commonalities? Once you know your audience, it will become easier to write specific copy that speaks to them. Don’t write as though you are speaking to a larger audience, but rather to one person.
2. Write Ads With Different Pain Points
Something always triggers us to take action. We make decisions because it fulfills our needs or solves a pain point. If you have done a good job segmenting your target audience, you can leverage your ad copy by understanding their problem and providing a solution.
That being said, your target audience might be turning to you for a variety of reasons and have different pain points. Because of this, it’s important not to create just one blanket ad. You may have two people who love home improvement but have 2 different motives. One user may be looking to spruce up their outdoor space for future entertaining, and another user needs to renovate their kitchen. While some customers may be interested in some of what you offer, others may be interested in just one particular service or product. Writing different Facebook ads for different people and different objectives will help you better leverage your ad campaign.
3. Stick with One Call-To-Action (CTA)
No matter what your ad’s objective is, the ad copy should contain one clear, strong, and consistent CTA. The best Facebook ads out there have a clear goal that aligns with what they are trying to achieve. Are you trying to generate more sales, increase memberships, get new sign-ups, or increase brand awareness? Whatever your mission, your audience needs to be able to understand it as well. People respond to clear instructions mostly because they want things to be easy to understand and simple to follow. Guiding them to their decision and making it easy leads to simple decision-making – something we all value.
If you’re trying to entice a purchase, your CTA should say “Shop Now.” If you want users to contact you directly, use a “Call Now” CTA. The user should know exactly what they are getting when they click on the other side of that CTA button. A CTA button that says “Get Quote” that leads them to something they will have to pay for won’t win over, and your ad will suffer because of it.
4. Use a High Value, Concise Hook
Another thing people don’t enjoy with Facebook ads is heavy reading. You must understand what motivates your customers and thread your ad copy around it. And do it quickly. What is their need? What’s important to them? If you’re creating a lengthy explanation to make your point, you’re going to lose your audience. This is where a clear audience profile helps tremendously when putting your messaging together.
For example, let’s say your business provides a meal delivery service. Through your audience persona building, you discovered the majority of your target audience works full-time and has children. A good ad copy should hook them in with a relatable trigger. Busy Household? Short on Time? The hook should speak exactly to what they need it. This should immediately lead to the value you bring. While telling a story can help engage an audience, you still need to move them through the sales funnel by leading them to the value of choosing you. How will your meal delivery service give them what they need?
Remember, with value come understanding what drives their decision. Will they be moved by empathy or logic? Do they respond to benefits or numbers? Your hook needs to blend seamlessly into your value. It’s not enough to understand where they are but to also know what matters to them the most.
Final Thoughts
The key to any successful campaign is to not only try different messaging and targeting settings but to test, test, and do more testing. This will only help you better fine-tune your Facebook ad campaign and discover those winning ads that get the job done.
Need more tips for effective Facebook ads, or looking to generate more leads through advertising? Contact our team to schedule a 30-minute digital consultation. Follow us on Facebook for more digital marketing tips!