The basics of all Meta ads creative are listed here. Follow this simple list and you will be on your way to running a successful social media ads campaign!

Keeping it simple.

The number one most important factor in Meta advertising in 2024, is whether or not your creative is obvious enough…. Hear me out.

People spend hours of time planning a unique Meta ad that stands out from the rest, with bells and whistles. They obsess over whether or not the ad has cool enough colours and aesthetic. They spend thousands of dollars coming up with video content… because video is king right? No, not really.

Video ads can work great, but your video ad will usually have a higher CPM, meaning Meta charges you more to show this ad per 1000 users. We are not exactly sure why this is the case, but it is.

If you run a video ad that is a little too creative, but takes users on a journey that doesn’t immediately display what the offer is within 1 second, you will lose click throughs due to perceived irrelevance. 

Ie, you are selling couches, but your ad introduces a person named Joe, who is having issues saving money. So the video shows Joe at the bank, then transitions to him at home looking through his piggy bank, before some sort of % discount offer is introduced smoothly and powerfully. Chances are, this ad will get smashed when compared to a basic static visual of a couch with a %OFF ad text.

Even if this video is done by a high end creative agency and the messaging is super funny or potent, you are losing users within the first few seconds that might have wanted a couch, but thought you were advertising a home loan service instead.

Ad Copy Clutter.

Ad copy doesn’t matter as much as you think it does. In a world where people have short attention spans, the visual banner, video or ad creative has plenty of room to ad text to the visual. This is where your strongest Call To Action (CTA) should be, along with any Point Of Difference (POD).

The ad text area should be used to ad any additional information that users might want to read before clicking your ad, but keep in mind, this also excludes certain people from landing on your website.

Ie. You run a couch sale ad and underneath it you mention that you offer free shipping on items above a certain cost which the user is not willing to spend. OR, an even better example is if you go into a long form story about your business and how it began and fill it with a lot of emotional ad copy. This might sound super interesting, but you are failing at your job of removing them from the platform and onto your website, where they can find out any information they need. This creates more friction as people will start scrolling, reading and get fatigued. Potentially even forgetting what your initial ad message was about.

Meta ads charge more per click and impression for a conversion based (sales focused) campaign when compared to a brand awareness campaign that keeps users within the platform. They ideally don’t want to take users off their platform, this is why CMP is so much higher. So make sure you do your best to take them off Instagram or Facebook and onto your website where they can see your product/service.

Measure conversions and split test for this data.

When you do start getting data coming in. Try not to get lost in the weeds by focusing only on CPC and CTR. Although an ad might have more engagement, clicks and a lower cost per click, you need to look at whether or not these users are converting into sales. Would you rather have more engagement on an ad? Or would you rather pay more for your clicks but have a cheaper customer acquisition cost?

Customer acquisition cost, is referred to as CPA (Cost Per Acquisition/Action) or Cost Per Conversion (Cost/Conv) across most advertising niches and platforms. This metric can be super confusing since it has so many names, but just remember it is the digital cost to acquire a lead or a sale. For example, you spend $200 and generate 4 conversions (leads or sales). Your CPA would be $50.

Split testing your ad creative for CPA allows you to keep a clear understanding of what is actually bringing in revenue at the cheapest cost, even if you have to bid more for it. Remember, a funny but irrelevant ad will always have higher interaction, but who cares if it is not making sales for you.

Feeding the Meta algorithm the right data.

Another super important factor to keep in mind, is that Meta targeting is becoming less reliant on interest based targeting. Most of our ads simply choose a target age group, location and placement, create an appealing ad, make sure the campaign structure is set up – THAT’S ALL!

Meta can and will do the rest. Meta always encourages larger audience sizes, and for conversion based advertising, this is the best way to do it in 2024. But you need to follow step one in this blog and ensure that your ad creative is stupid easy for users to understand what your product or service actually is.

If you run an ad for couches (sofas for you Americans), then users who get served the ad will spend time looking at your ad if they are interested in buying a couch. If they are not interested, then the Meta machine learning will stop serving your ads to those users who do not want a couch. No manual targeting required.

Keep your ad creative it stupid simple, relevant and appealing.

Contact PPC Artisan – PPC Company In Melbourne for a free chat!