How to step up your ad game on Meta

Want to step up your creative on Meta?

Creative is an often overlooked aspect of paid social, but it’s one of the biggest levers you can pull to improve performance. A best practice targeting and campaign set-up helps, but, more often than not, creative is king. It’s important that potential customers understand what problem your product solves and it’s even more important that this is communicated within the first 3 seconds of your ad, which brings us to the first tip.

1. Stop the scroll

Firstly, you need to stop the scroll. Have an engaging visual or text based hook that draws a potential customer in and leads them to continue watching the ad. This is key as on Facebook and Instagram you’re competing for attention with every other advertiser, influencer and content creator. You need to be intriguing and relevant in order to get even a few seconds of someone’s time.

Have a look at this example ad that BARK created for Tastily.

This ad stops the scroll by having an engaging question and answer. Next, Tastily is introduced, addressing consumer concerns, all within the first 3 seconds.

2. Test different hooks

Test a variety of different hooks. A hook is something either text based or visual at the start of a video that is designed to capture attention and encourage people to find out more about the product. Testing different hooks is how you’ll find out what messaging works best for your brand based on the problems users are actually looking to solve. Draw up a plan and test some of your main USPs against each other to find out which one performs best. Iterate on this concept and continue testing to unlock further results.

Here’s an example using creatives BARK made for Chilly’s.

We’ve tested a variety of hooks belonging to different themes, to unlock the top performing one.

3. Use social proof

This is often overlooked but is powerful tool for driving conversion. Building trust is key, as it helps give potential new customers the confidence to make a purchase. Check out these ads we made for some of our clients that really focus on their amazing reviews:

Here, the review calls out a customer quote and even includes an image of the customers. This is great for addressing people’s hesitations.

4. Experiment!

Experiment with different types of creative and don’t be afraid to try something completely new. This is how you’ll discover new hooks that resonate with your customers and drive great results for your business. Don’t be afraid to be bold. This can often have the largest impact. For example, test new visuals that are super close up, use reverse or slow motion footage, or even unexpected camera angles.

Then iterate on what works!

5. Communicate offers clearly

Lastly, make sure that your offer is communicated clearly within your ads and stands out!

Here’s an ad BARK created for Chilly’s, which showcases their Mother’s Day offer.

The ad clearly communicates the exclusivity of the product and the 20% off offer, ensuring that you’re getting the maximum benefit of the promotion. You will get a higher CTR, and higher intent traffic to the site, which will in turn boost your position in the auction and improve performance.

We hope these tips can help you drive some positive performance through scroll stopping ads!

Conclusion

So why should we focus on great creative? It’s an important aspect of paid social which can be used to capture attention in a super competitive auction and ultimately drive results and growth for your brand. We hope these tips can help you step up your creative game and bring it to the next level!