Let’s face it, Facebook advertising is a pretty big deal.
There are more than 2.6 billion monthly active users on Facebook, and the number keeps growing.
Plus, unlike other social channels, Facebook offers incredible access to a broad audience. You can even use state-of-the-art ad tools to specifically target the perfect customers.
The only problem? Creating an amazing Facebook ad is easier said than done.
Most companies learn from their Facebook ads as they go. Insights within the social platform can highlight which of your ads have the most impact and help you with planning future campaigns.
However, if you’re just getting started on your social media advertising journey, you’re going to need a bit of a launching pad.
Here are some excellent tips on how to find Facebook ad inspiration.
Conversations with Your Customers
One of the toughest parts of building an effective Facebook ad campaign is deciding what kind of message you’re going to send to your audience.
How do you know what your clients really need from you?
The easiest option is to talk to your customers. You can start by listening to what clients are talking about when they interact with you on social media. What kind of questions do they post on your Facebook page? What do they ask about when they call your customer service teams?
If you’re not in a position where you’re interacting with your clients on a daily basis, talk to your customer service team. They should be able to tell you what drives your customers towards a sale, or what they need from you.
For instance, this Pipefy ad responds to a clear customer concern: getting control over the purchasing workflow. It’s obvious that Pipefy has been paying attention to its customers here:
Reviews and Testimonials
If you can’t have direct conversations with your customers, don’t worry.
You can still get a line on your audience’s thoughts by seeing what they say about your business online. Any reviews and testimonials on your product page will give you an immediate insight into what’s most important to clients when they buy from you.
You can also use what you read in reviews to address any customer concerns. For instance, maybe you can let your clients know what you mean by “native” advertising, like Taboola does with its Facebook ad video:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=242713740167803
If you want to boost your credibility on Facebook, you might even ask for permission to use one of your best reviews from a customer in your next ad campaign.
Website analytics
There’s a good chance that Facebook isn’t your only solution for building an online presence.
If you have a website, or a store, then you probably have some kind of content marketing strategy in place. This could involve sharing regular videos and podcasts with your audience, or just posting the occasional blog and eBook.
Website analytics from companies like Google can show you where your audience spends the majority of their time when they’re interacting with your brand.
If you find out that a particular report on your site leads to conversions for your target audience, then it makes sense to highlight that report in your Facebook ads. For instance, that’s what’s Twilio does with it’s “Guide to Customer Messaging”:
Facebook Audience Insights
Don’t forget to check the reports and data that you get from your Facebook ads too. Just like Google analytics shows you which posts and pages on your website are most valuable, FB Insights will help you pinpoint your most successful ads.
Use your reports to see what style of ad your customers like the most. Do they prefer an ad that offers a free deal, like the BuzzSumo ad here:
Are your customers most drawn to ad copy that includes emojis, or ads that have videos instead of pictures?
When you’re just getting started with Facebook advertising, it might take some time to get an accurate insight into your clients. However, the more metrics and information you gather, the easier it will be to optimize your campaigns.
Competitor Analysis
You probably see ads from your competitors on your Facebook page already.
Use that to your advantage.
While you never want to just copy and paste what your competitors are doing onto your own Facebook profile, it’s helpful to get an insight into what they’re doing.
Examining your competitor’s posts will help you to recognize trends that you might not have noticed before. You could also start to learn more about the kind of ad copy that speaks best to your target audience. After all, your competitors are targeting the same people as you.
The Facebook ad library is the best place to go for competitor insights. You can type in the name of the advertiser that you want to check out, and Facebook will show you all of their most recent ads.
Remember, if possible, think of ways that you can make your own ads better than your competitors, with better images, deals, or a unique spin.
Online Forums
Conversations between customers on social media forums are a great place to look for Facebook ad inspiration. You can also get some fantastic insights by looking at what your competitors are doing. However, it’s worth remembering that the internet is bigger than social media.
Once you’ve analyzed what your customers are talking about on Facebook, branch out to other social media channels like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, to see what’s trending on those platforms.
Think about other industry forums where people might get together to discuss products, services, and brands like yours. For instance, you can find tons of inspiration on channels like Reddit, where there are sub-forums for virtually every niche.
Quora is another great place to go for insights. Plus, you might be able to track down some specific forums that are relevant to your industry.
Head online and look for things like LinkedIn Groups or Slack groups related to your niche.
Don’t forget to keep an eye out for people who are specifically mentioning your brand around the internet too. They might give you some more specific inspiration.
Best-Of Lists and Guides
You’ve probably seen these around the web before.
Best-of lists and guides highlight some of the most impressive Facebook ads on the market for tons of different industries. You can go to Google and search for something like the “top 10 SaaS” ads, and immediately get dozens of different articles to look into:
Remember, pay attention to why these ads are so effective when you’re reading through the lists and blog posts. Just because an ad works for another brand might not mean that it’s valuable to you.
When looking for inspiration, it’s worth keeping your unique goals and needs in mind.
If you find any ads that you really like, but don’t think will fit with your campaign right now, add them to a swipe file or bookmark list on your browser. Constantly building a resource of inspirational ads that you can turn to when you’re feeling a creative block will reduce your risk of running out of ideas later.
Professional Ad Companies
Finally, perhaps the easiest way to get inspiration or your Facebook Ads, is to get some help from a professional ad company. Social media marketers and specialists can give you the tools you need to help your business grow in virtually any environment.
The great thing about working with a professional ad company on your Facebook strategy is that you get a plan that’s tailored to you. Rather than just trying to adapt the successful ads you see from other companies to suit your business; you can build something from scratch.
Your ad company can even give you insights into how you can track your ad performance and use the insights you gather to inform future campaigns.
Many market leaders in the industry offer fantastic reports that highlight crucial information about your target audience, and how you can position yourself in your chosen niche.
Most of the leading companies on Facebook today excel at connecting with their audience because they have a dedicated team working with them on their social media success.
If you can afford to take the same approach, it’s a great way to give yourself an unfair advantage.
Get Inspired for your Facebook Ads
Facebook advertising is an excellent way to connect with your target audience and generate new leads for your website or store. However, just like any other promotional campaign, you need a solid strategy to get started.
Use the eight environments above to track down new inspiration for your Facebook efforts whenever you have chance. Remember, you can find inspiration anywhere if you’re willing to look for it.
At the same time, constantly add to your sources of inspiration with insights from your own Facebook ads, and information on what works best for your audience.
You’ll be churning out epic ads in no time!
Reach out to the Graygency today to get a head start.
