1. Good copy goes a long way.

Not many people stop and read an advertisement’s fine print, and a good headline goes a long way. A study shows that 70% of people only read the headline of a Facebook share before sharing it.

Luckily, Facebook makes it easy to limit your characters with the following restrictions in place: 

• 25 characters for a headline
• 30 characters for a link description
• 125 characters for ad copy (primary text) 

In order to write good copy, you need to know your target audience. Consider your current customer profile, as well as your desired demographic, including their job title, hobbies, interests, etc.

Keep it clear and concise, and use action verbs like “Get” and “Try.” This is also a great place to highlight promo codes, special offers and unique product value. Don’t forget to make it cohesive with the visual ad.

 

2. Stop the scroll with a killer hook.

A hook interrupts and breaks unconscious scrolling patterns.

It’s estimated that 95% – 99% of viewers will only see the first 2-3 seconds of an ad before deciding to click or keep scrolling, so these are crucial moments when constructing a successful campaign.

A hook with great visual qualities should:

1. Peak intellectual curiosity. What will the viewer learn by clicking on your ad?
2. Be emotionally stimulating, like startling, curious, funny, sad, etc.
3. Provide an opportunity (what is the benefit to the consumer?)
4. Be relevant to your audience, and tailored to your target demographic.
5. Present the product and show the brand

 

3. CTA is the key to conversions.

The Call-To-Action (“CTA”) is all about telling viewers how to convert. Since conversions are all about motivating actions, a strong call-to-action is essential. Strong verbs like start, discover, find and explore are great if your conversion goal is to have users visit a product page or learn more about your company.

Here are a few tips for choosing the right CTA:

• If your goal is to drive purchases and subscriptions, use strong action words like “buy now” or “sign up”
• Consider urgency to drive action, like “before it’s too late!”
• Make the benefit clear. Choose language that inspires enthusiasm, like “Earn $1,000 a day on your blog!”
• Make it pop. The color of the CTA should stand out so the viewer’s eyes know exactly where to go.
• Choose clear over clever.

 

4. Keep destination front of mind.

An ad is only as good as its landing page, and it only takes 2.6 seconds for a user’s gaze to settle on a page. When you’re determining where you’d like the conversion to happen (via CTA), make sure you have everything in place to deliver on your ad’s promise.

Here are a few steps you should take to prepare your landing page:

• Implement a pixel. Once you’ve identified where you’d like the conversion event to occur, you’ll need to add the Facebook Pixel code to the page in order to track the event.
• Aim for continuity. If your ad promises one thing, make sure the landing page delivers. You don’t want to have a user looking for pants land on a shoes product page. Also design and language should carry through here as well.
• Optimize for mobile. An increasing number of people are purchasing on mobile, so you may want to drive people to your app. Make sure you register your app and integrate with Facebook SDK. If you don’t have an app, be sure the mobile version of the webpage is functional and aesthetically designed.

 

5. Address barriers and motivators in your audience.

When making a great ad, it’s good practice to put yourself in your audience’s shoes. Make a list of potential motivators to purchase the advertised product, as well as any potential barriers that would keep them from purchasing. This will help create more effective messaging across your campaign. Think of questions like, “what problem are they trying to solve, and how is my product the solution?” or “what part of their life are they trying to improve with my product?” 

Make a list of questions your customer base would ask before buying your product or service, and utilize the answers to these questions in your messaging.

So, what is a motivator? Simply put, buying motivations are the underlying factors that come together to influence your potential customer to consider purchasing your product or service. There is a full range of both rational and emotional factors behind purchases, so it is important that you identify considerations on both spectrums.

Some examples include:

• Desire for gain
• Fear of loss
• Comfort and convenience
• Security and protection
• Pride of ownership
• Satisfaction of emotion

On the other hand, it’s important to understand any barrier to purchase, which is anything that stops or slows their purchase of a solution or product.

These include:

• Information gaps
• Misconceptions and misunderstandings of the product or service
• Price or shipping cost
• Doubts about value

 

Although buyer’s actions are not always predictable, these best practices will increase your likelihood of gaining traction on your campaigns. Don’t forget to test variety and volume, scale and repeat.