A little over a while ago, someone saw me scrolling through my Facebook feed and asked why I still use ‘that thing’ in an almost bewildered voice. I’m sure you must have had one such encounter or something similar.
Due to the emergence of other social media platforms like tik-tok, LinkedIn, and the likes, people have been convinced that some are outdated. Facebook, one of the oldest to have been around, suffers most of that belief.
However, believing that Facebook is no longer beneficial to individuals and businesses is the greatest mistake anyone would make. Facebook remains the most used social media across the globe.
According to Statista, there are 2.7 billion active users on Facebook as of Q2 of 2020, a number that has continued to grow daily.
Facebook is still a well-used business ads platform. According to the platform itself, more than 180 million companies utilize its suite of applications to communicate with consumers and expand their brands.
Aside from the significant usage figures, Facebook continues to provide marketers with the most comprehensive tools and controls within its Ads Manager. Marketers have complete control over their Facebook ad campaigns, whether it’s establishing advanced custom audiences, doing A/B tests, or relying on the algorithm’s targeting.
Facebook video ads and content collect an average of 8 billion views per day and should never be cast aside by any organization looking to increase its brand visibility and revenue generation.
This article talks about 11 ads to inspire your next Facebook ad campaign. However, before we go further, let’s examine the features that make up a great Facebook ad campaign.
Components of a Great Facebook Ads Campaign
Targeting
The most important aspect of Facebook ads is targeting. Outbound marketing has proven to be ineffective in recent years. To make your marketing more precise, you must know where to cast a narrow, targeted net instead of a wide one.
Reaching out to a larger audience can yield faster results. However, it is more expensive, and the results will be unsatisfactory.
On the other hand, targeting a specific audience requires a significant amount of time. However, it is less expensive, and you will get the desired variety and quantity of customers.
Headlines
Sensational headlines have been the marketing industry’s bane since the invention of the printing press. People are highly motivated to click when they are curious.
But a Facebook campaign isn’t just about clicks. The focus is on establishing a community and winning over people.
The best way to sabotage this kind of community building is with clickbait headlines. You’ve probably seen them in your Facebook news feed. Those fleeting, heartfelt headlines that let you down the moment you click on them. Your target audience deserves more than clickbait.
Use concise, clear headlines that appeal to the audience you’re trying to reach. Again, having the appropriate target audience is the first step. The use of sound, pertinent headlines is the second step. Both must be set up correctly.
Copy
Remember how you can use your Facebook ads for A/B testing? This may play a role in your copy. You should not create a single marketing piece and distribute it to everyone to see what happens. You must have multiple copies of your marketing materials. Always test them to see which version works best for which group of people.
Conversely, your already specific niche of people can be further subdivided into subsets. You must target these subsets with a unique copy. You must test and tailor your copy to that specific audience. Make multiple iterations of your ad copy to cater to different segments of your audience.
Keep in mind that your ad copy is an extension of your headline. Its primary goal is to catch people’s attention. As a result, you must make it enjoyable without resorting to clickbait.
Visuals
There are two types of ad visuals on Facebook campaigns: images and videos. Images or infographics are more memorable than plain text. As a result, visuals are an essential component of your Facebook advertising campaign.
However, in recent times, videos have been used primarily in conjunction with images or as a stand-alone format for various reasons.
To begin with, videos are less expensive per lead than images and are more effective at engaging viewers. They receive more likes and shares, people watch them for more extended periods, and they provide more information to viewers. In addition, video production is no longer prohibitively expensive, and anyone with an iPhone can now create one.
Customers even prefer the authenticity of self-produced, phone-shot videos over full-production setups as they are more relatable and less difficult to create.
Call to Action
Your Facebook campaign will not be effective without a call to action. You can develop a community using the components mentioned above, but you cannot convert them without a call to action.
Imagine that you’ve tailored your title, copy, and video to your target audience. Now, they are saying, “Okay. You got me. I’m interested. What follows?” The next step should involve you informing them of how they should take the opportunity and get the product quickly.
Your call to action must be compelling. If not, it will be ineffective.
If you have a business and you need some inspiration to start making ads for your business, do not worry. The following are some of the best Facebook ad examples to inspire your future campaigns.
11 Facebook Ads to Inspire Your Future Campaigns
Monday.com
The task management software Monday.com supports a wide range of desktop and mobile operating systems. However, the business used the fact that Mac computers are compatible with it to remix its own logo in the original Apple rainbow colors in the image ad above.
Leveraging the popularity of well-known brands is a good strategy for expanding companies like Monday.com.
This ad will grab Mac users who recognize the rainbow logo. As a result, they’d get right on board with using a task management system compatible with their computer.
Takeaways from this ad;
- The rainbow-colored fill of the Monday logo stands out against the black background and is well-known to Mac users.
- This advertising is relevant to the lifestyle of Mac users and people who frequently need to organize their chores in several ways.
- Because of the advertisement’s emphasis on Monday’s compatibility with Mac computers, the product’s user experience is enhanced for Mac users.
- The “Learn More” call-to-action (CTA) in the advertisement’s bottom-right corner is an open invitation to learn more about how this product interacts with Apple technology.
Shopify
Shopify is a subscription-based eCommerce software-as-a-service (SaaS) sales platform. Although Shopify has a reputation for being aspirational, this Facebook ad reveals its competitive side.
The headline then reads: Here are some reasons why Shopify is superior to Etsy. This is a good word choice because it means you don’t have to figure it out for yourself. In this case, the advert shows that clicking will take you to the specific reasons stated in the main text.
Takeaways from this ad;
- This ad has an element of inclusion of specific justifications for why Shopify is a better choice than its competitors. To compete, you must use more persuasive and elegant copy than your competitors.
- Frame it as “[audience members] prefer [your company] to [competitor]” rather than “We’re better than [competitor].” The subject here is the audience, not the company.
- To be effective, you don’t have to share an image of your competitor with a big red X through it. In this case, Shopify employs a simple design for only one product, potentially focusing attention solely on the ad copy.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a marketing platform that started with email marketing. They are an excellent option for companies just starting with email marketing. The headline here targets people who are business owners or help others run their businesses.
Takeaways from this ad;
- Make sure you quantify the benefits of your product or service and show it to them. In this scenario, people can increase their subscriber count by using Mailchimp. It’s important to show people what it’s like to use your platform, but it’s even better to depict a “good” experience in your Facebook ad.
- Mailchimp displays someone’s account with an increasing number of subscribers in this example, which is suitable for business owners.
- Your video ad’s thumbnail is critical and can significantly impact your results. That is why testing multiple thumbnails on your top-performing video is vital. The yellow background with a number seemed to work well for Mailchimp.
Canva
Canva, a graphic design software, can be used by people with little to no design experience to create graphics for their company websites. If you haven’t already, consider upgrading your design with Canva.
Takeaways from this ad;
- Simple copy, such as “give your feed a fetching new look,” can effectively capture people’s attention. Finding a short, simple, catchy sentence that resonates with your audience can be difficult. However, it can also be the game-changer you need.
- You may have mistakenly assumed that using Canva requires design skills, but you don’t. Include in your copy the main reason people might not want to buy your product or service, just like Canva did in this ad.
- The word “free” is only effective if your goods are genuinely free. In reality, Canva provides all users with free access to its software. Despite their more ambitious plans, their free option is legitimate and effective at attracting customers.
If your product or service is free, you must state so in your copy. It would be unfortunate if prospective customers were unaware of your tool, as many people enjoy receiving freebies.
SEMrush
SEMrush is a software-as-a-service startup that delivers subscriptions to internet visibility and marketing analytics services. Before it became a SaaS, it was an SEO tool and a browser plugin.
In fact, SEMrush could employ more vibrant colors than the ones picked. They appear to enjoy fashionable asymmetric patterns, which are stylish.
Takeaways from this ad;
- SEMrush offers exceptional value. Giving is one thing; selling what you have to offer is quite another. SEMrush understands that its consumers enjoy learning about what its competitors are up to, and they make this evident in its ad content.
- The eye-catching design. You don’t have to utilize bright green colors, but making a design that shines out on Facebook will boost your results.
- In their Facebook ad, SEMrush included a question. Transforming your value to your consumers into a question is a terrific approach to pique people’s interest in what’s on the other side. Always remember that a Facebook ad’s primary purpose is to encourage people to click.
NatureBox Photo Ad
The artful photograph used in this NatureBox’s Facebook photo advertisement is ideal for showcasing the different snacks offered by the company.
Seeing this makes you want to plan better for your next house party, and look, you can get different types of snacks from the same place and have them arrive together.
In your next Facebook photo advertisement, experiment combining live-action photography with digital design. NatureBox built a vivid “free trial” emblem on an image that would have worked just as well on its own, as shown in the advertisement above.
Takeaways from this ad;
- The ad comes with a great visual. The image comes in good quality and shows you the exact picture of what you’ll be getting should you place an order.
- This ad is full of benefits. First, when you glance at the image, your eyes are drawn to the “free trial” callout. Second, it emphasizes the health benefits of the delicacies in its product.
- The ad has a button to press the moment you decide you like the offer and are ready to take it.
Funnel.io
Unlike NatureBox, Funnel.io made their Facebook ad a combination of copy and graphic design images. The image is unique and creative, spelling out its intention with well-known logos to spell out their unique selling proposition (USP) and to illustrate the integrations that Funnel supports.
Takeaways from this ad;
- The caption of the ad is carefully tailored to the target audience. The copy begins by addressing the intended audience (“Hey, marketer”).
- The advertisement empathizes and highlights the problems that its target audience frequently encounters (“downloading and cleaning data from all your advertising platforms”).
- The ad comes with a sign-up button, so readers know what to do next if they’re interested in the offer.
Allbirds
Allbirds, a shoe company, uses simplicity and whitespace to its advantage in this Facebook video ad. Even though the video is only nine seconds long, it effectively and personally connects with each wearer while showcasing the product.
The white background in this video ad could be refreshing for a Facebook user after scrolling through lots of colors, and Allbirds is taking advantage of that. Where everyone is trying to squeeze in everything they can in a post, you could let yours be a breath of fresh air.
Takeaways from this ad;
- The video focuses on a single subject, and that subject is moving in a way that suggests to the viewer that those shoes are comfortable.
- The opening quote above the video is enough to pique my interest in learning more about why these shoes are so comfortable. Allbirds also offers “free shipping,” “free returns,” and a note below the video indicating that the product is “machine washable” — all without detracting from the video itself.
- There’s a “Shop Now” CTA button at the bottom-right of the ad, just waiting for anyone interested in the shoes to click it.
Slack
The Slack Facebook ad example below is an excellent illustration of relatable Facebook ad copy, thanks to the rainbows and unicorns and the admission that no one enjoys pointless meetings. As asking users to sign up based solely on this information may not be the most effective strategy, the CTA is also placed strategically for the advertisement.
Overall, it’s a great illustration of how you can successfully promote a business-focused communication tool in a social media environment that is primarily personal. The ad also shows how you can make even the most helpful product or app seem more “fun.”
Takeaways from this ad;
- The ad appeals to the reader’s emotions by focusing on how users or customers will feel after using the product.
- The imaginative ad is creative and fun to look at.
- The use of a catchy, memorable, catchy phrase or slogan as the headline.
The New York Times
The New York Times photo ad is driving traffic to a written article with an intriguing illustration. The illustration depicts the article’s target audience — working men and women with children.
Takeaways from this ad;
- This advertisement has an emotional impact; even if you aren’t a tired, working parent, you probably know one, and seeing it might make you feel enormous compassion for them. NYT achieves every ad’s goal by including a visual that makes users care enough about the ad to read and click through.
- The ad claims that if you recognize the signs of parental burnout, you can get help. Reading this benefit can feel like being tossed a life jacket — especially to the parents reading the report. This social proof increases your likelihood of clicking and reading the article.
- This advertisement is dedicated to assisting parents in making sense of the signs and getting help for their fatigue. As a result, the call to action encourages parents to “Learn More,” making you want to click the article to find some answers.
MR MARVIS
MR MARVIS’s ad uses a nice shot to demonstrate how stretchy their wear is that you could even do a backflip in it. The image immediately sends a message to the wearer that MR MARVIS is all about their customers’ comfort, unlike some other brands.
Takeaways from this ad;
- The MR MARVIS brand is evident throughout the video. Yet, it is subtle enough not to distract from the rest of the advertisement.
- In the promotional video, close-up shots of the product are used to highlight its features and benefits.
- The video focuses on the product’s usefulness instead of showing beautiful but uninformative lifestyle shots.
- The “Shop now” CTA simplifies the checkout process by removing distractions and increasing the likelihood that visitors will purchase the product or service advertised. It also goes straight to the product collection.
In Conclusion
Facebook posts alone are no longer sufficient for brands, especially those just getting started. You can invest in promotional content to direct users to your website and Facebook Page, but this requires more than just money for ads; it also requires planning.
According to eMarketer, Facebook’s US ad revenue will reach $58.1 billion in 2022, a 15.5% increase from 2021. This is good news for businesses because 15% of every Facebook users actively seek out products.
Making optimized Facebook Ads that are targeted at the right audience is one way to maximize the effectiveness of your Facebook advertising strategy. You can use your PPC budget more effectively and promote your brand by utilizing optimized ads.
If your Facebook ads aren’t working, hopefully, these examples of some of the best Facebook ads we’ve seen will give you some ideas for things you could try in your own campaigns. At the very least, these examples should give you some things to look for the next time you should be working but sneak a peek at Facebook.