Guest post by Ashley Lipman
What makes Facebook ads one of the top (if not the best) marketing strategies to use comes down to how easy it is to customize your ad and market it to your target audience. With over 2 billion members (and counting), Facebook ads gives you the type of reach traditional advertising avenues may not be able to. Still, you can’t just design any Facebook ad and expect your sales to increase; here are 3 design tips for better Facebook ads.
PICK YOUR FONT WISELY
In the world of marketing, you may have heard that consumers are attracted (or repulsed) by specific colors. (However, know that this finding is up for debate. How people react to specific colors depends on gender, life experiences, and culture, to name a few.)
But what some may not realize is how equally impactful font is. In fact, a study compared two satirical articles from The New York Times. The articles (one about government, the other about education) were both in Times New Roman and Ariel fonts. College students used adjectives to rank the articles.
Overall, the students thought that the Times New Roman font was more angry and funny compared to the Ariel font. Long story short, font does impact readers’ perceptions.
That said, it’s important to keep this in mind when designing your Facebook ad. While Times New Roman may be useful for a satirical newspaper article, you may not want to convey a funny and angry tone when talking about how important organic dog food is to your furry friend.
This becomes even more important when we consider that the Facebook ad is going to be in the user’s news feed, next to family and friends’ posts. In general, you want your Facebook ad to match the familial and warm tone the rest of the posts convey.
CONSIDER UPSELLING TO USERS WHO ARE ALREADY CUSTOMERS
Since Facebook ads are very customizable, you can basically dole out several different ads to meet each sector of your target audience: first-time customers, returning customers, ardent supporters, etc.
When it comes to users who already know and have bought your product or service, consider creating a Facebook ad that tries to upsell.
Maybe you could insert an image where friends and family use your main product and several accessories?
Or you could simply use an image where the individuals are just using product accessories and/or service add-ons, and target this ad to customers who have most likely purchased your main product or service. That way, they are introduced to a product or service feature they may have not known about.
DON’T FORGET TO A/B SPLIT TEST YOUR AD
According to Facebook Business, it is easiest to run an A/B split test when you are only testing one variable. Facebook Business goes on to state that this is why they autofill your ad.
Overall A/B split testing is important for a number of reasons. For one, as Harvard Business Review states, it eliminates going off of gut instinct and, two, it increases profit.
FINAL THOUGHTS: EVERY COMPANY IS DIFFERENT
Use one, some, or all of these tips when designing your Facebook Ad. At the end of the day, though, your Facebook ad ought to reflect your company’s unique vision, goals, and values.
It needs to speak to and answer your target audience’s pain points. This is why it is so important that you study, study, study your target audience. What other design tips do you have? Leave a comment.
Ashley Lipman is a super-connector who helps businesses find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. She frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing and focuses her efforts on developing customized blogger outreach plans depending on the industry and competition. She is the Outreach Manager on behalf of Perth Web Design.
