How to Create an Effective Ad for Facebook and Google

It all started with Mad Men…

‍Creating compelling ads, twisting consumers’ minds, selling. But we are not in that era anymore. The digital revolution brought us so many chances to be visible online, both free and paid, that we just have to choose what’s better for us.

Although, the essence of digital and traditional advertising is the same. Communication.

If we don’t communicate, or we do it in the wrong way, we don’t get customers. It’s that simple.

One of the fundamental elements for an ad to work is creativity. Text, images, videos (or even more advanced form of content). In a highly visual world, if we do not hit the user with an effective message, we will soon end up on the back burner.

Let’s talk about digital ads…

Each platform has its own intrinsic characteristic which we must respect. For example, for Google Search, given the absence of images, the headlines should be extremely effective and suitable for the public. We have only one chance to emerge and if we waste it with trivial and unsuitable text, we waste precious budgets, or even worse, we are simply ignored by users.

With Facebook and Instagram the image (whether single, carousel) or video, becomes the main element of creativity.

In an ocean of information and colors, we must try to emerge as much as possible.

This does not mean, however, that we must distort the nature of our message and try to be extreme just to be more visible. Doing that we run the risk of frightening potential customers or even not being approved by Facebook for publication.

Since a very common question from our customer is: “What should I write in my ads?” or “Which kind of images are the best?”, we would like to share with you some creatives that have worked particularly well for us in some brand awareness and retargeting campaigns.‍

 

CAMPAIGN 1 – THE THEMATIC CAROUSEL

The first campaign we want to show you is a Facebook Traffic and Retargeting campaign with a carousel ad. In this campaign the aim was to communicate in a symbolic way the customer acquisition funnel for each specific business type.

The carousel is a very good format that creates interactivity and curiosity in the user and is therefore suitable for customer journeys or to show a path towards a final goal or call to action.

We designed our creativity in a very versatile way. Changing elements we could easily adapt it to different kinds of audiences.

This first example is a carousel suitable for SAAS startups or digital services looking for customers. Our goal is to take the user to a landing page where it is possible to book a strategy call with one of our consultants.

By changing some elements it is possible to adapt the carousel itself to an e-commerce and online shop market:

Or even a restaurant that provides take away services:

Or, finally, explain who’s behind Nanos and what we do:

And this is how our ad published on Facebook looks:

In this case, the subtitle of the images is always a question and the answer we expect is always positive so that the user is interested in scrolling the carousel and understanding how Nanos can solve his problem.

An ad can hit in several ways:

1- Expose a problem with a question. The consumer will be struck by that question and look for the answer in the ad (by clicking).

2- Expose a lack of knowledge in the user.

3- Display an offer. A discounted product, for example. If the user is in the right target audience, they will probably click on the ad.

4- Have a clear call to action and a clear idea of what they’re going to get clicking on the ad.

Here is the final part of our announcement. Nanos offer is a free strategic consultancy with one of our experts.

We have exposed a lack of the consumer, a possible problem to be solved, a nice offer, and finally a call to action.

The announcement brought us several consultations and was used both for customers who did not know Nanos and for customers who had already visited the site (retargeting).

We will talk more about retargeting in one of the next posts.

CAMPAIGN 2 – VIDEO

Facebook video ads are particularly effective and often have a lower cost than an image or a carousel. If used correctly, video is definitely a powerful way to engage users and convey your message. You don’t need to produce a Michael Bay movie to impress your customers. A smartphone is most of the time everything you need.

In this example, Sasha addresses users directly with a question we are often asked. “How much should I invest online?”

The company’s CEO speaks directly, looking in camera, increases brand-consumer empathy. 

The description provides further explanations about Nanos and some features of the platform. In this case, our goal is to increase brand awareness and bring users to the nanos.ai site to discover more about us and the product.

There’s another reason why videos are a good idea. In our case we could get landing page views (and even conversions) with a range cost between 0.03 and 0.18$. Cheap but high-quality traffic.

 

CAMPAIGN 3 – GOOGLE SEARCH

When we can’t use an image or a video we must necessarily focus on an effective copy.

With Google search, we do not have many characters available but it is important to exploit them all by communicating as much as possible in a succinct way.

In this example we have condensed several features of Nanos into a single ad:

1. No big budget is needed
2. The minimum budget is $5 
3. Artificial intelligence takes care of everything
4. No digital marketing knowledge is required

We are addressing businesses with low budget, AI enthusiasts and users with no marketing knowledge. Marketing is still seen as something obscure from a vast majority of people!

When it comes to Google search campaigns we recommend to our customers to try different texts and let the audience judge the best.

Always let your users drive your effort. It’s good to start from some assumptions but if you try to sell without having a market, you’re doomed to fail

This announcement has an average CTR of 12.50% and allows us to acquire users for different keywords related to the world of digital marketing and small medium businesses.

Try and make your ad a mini-condensed overview of your company, And if you have a specific offer don’t be shy, just tell your customers that you’re the best!

 

CONCLUSION

Whatever your goal, creating an effective ad for Facebook and Google is an essential step in your strategy.

The ad is the entrance door of the consumer in your world, if this door is not inviting, reassuring or, why not, provocative, the customer simply won’t be interested. 

There are hundreds of freelance creatives, videomakers, copywriters out there, and there are some very good professionals that are totally affordable. You can also use services like Fiverr or Upwork to produce some nice graphics for your ad, and then create an ad on Nanos using these assets.

The Nanos team is at your disposal to discuss and create a winning strategy together. 

Book a consultation with us by clicking here

Thank you very much for taking the time to read the article and we are looking forward to work together with you!