The Right Way to Link Bait

Let’s get to it right away: for a successful Facebook ad, you need three things. Great imagery, great copy, great ideas. Just having these three won’t guarantee success, but just like any other broadcast ad, a good to great one will raise awareness and drive conversion to whatever landing page you choose. Facebook ads are not there yet for direct sales, but to get that all important click-through, you need three pieces of bait.

Successful Facebook ads require three elements that make up the Holy Trinity.

Hook #1 depends eye-catching imagery. Visually and textually, don’t bore us. This is so much harder than it sounds, because finding the right stock image (we’re assuming it’s not original, since most aren’t, but if you got ’em, use ’em!) takes a lot of time. When you get on a site like Shutterstock and enter your search terms, it could pull up tens of thousands of images. That’s good and bad.

The good is that you can freely add one that tickles your fancy even just a little. Keep the creative flow going because for now you’re shopping with someone else’s money. If you’re not finding what you like, be more specific with your search words. Another creative helper is the “Show Similar Images”, but it’s a hit or miss. Keep your eye open for images that will also show just below that favorable image. Down below you’ll see a line of suggested images that will also help you select a winner.

One last image tip: get an account wherever you’re looking, log-in every time and use the Lightbox function. This creates a file that you can share with others, like your client or a designer, and you can come to an understanding about which ones to buy.

The second hook to bait for successful Facebook ads is well-crafted copy. Facebook only allows copy to cover 20% of the image, so you can’t write your next big novel. I like the social media copy limitations, whether on a Twitter feed or here. In a thumb-through-it world, you’re not going to bet too much screen time. If your copy were Scarlett Johannson, that’s a different story, but it’s probably more like Tommy Lee Jones.

Successful Facebook ads are more like Scarlett and less like Tommy Lee.

Third hook is the overall campaign that is driving the individual ad. What’s the bigger idea? Does it add to the brand glow, to the “cool” factor to the brand? This is where someone like Big Wave Social Media and Burning Bush Brands sets in. Ideas are the hardest part here. If you find one, hold onto it and milk it for all it’s worth.

Follow your brand guidelines as well for a successful Facebook ad. Don’t get caught up in the moment and stray off your brand boundaries.

Good luck and make good ads out there people.

– Dave B.