How to advertise with Facebook successfully basically means being ready to do some writing! But perhaps you don’t feel qualified to write ads. But you can do it! Writing is not an art, it’s a craft—it’s made by hand, with diligence and patience. Even if you’re ready to work hard you might still not become the best writer in the world, but you can still produce great ads to promote your products or services.
How can you create appealing ads that people will act on? Use the following guidelines on how to advertise with Facebook or any other network. Actually, these principles apply to most writing.
Communicate well: Sound warm, human and genuine; make the text come alive
It has been said that “facts tell, stories sell”. Facts and correct information is important but it can be very dry, impersonal, and this has little appeal to people. If not used properly, too many facts and too much information tires the reader out; it’s as reading a boring instruction book. However, stories about people and their feelings and experiences has an appealing aliveness; they make the reader want to continue reading. Stories can deal with your own experiences with the products or services you’re promoting, or they can deal with customers and their views on the matter.
A successful advertisement, article or review has certain characteristics–it appeals to people and they act on it; buy a product, visit a fan page, or answer a question. Good writing is human; it recognizes how people feel, think and dream, and it expresses this in a way that feels natural. For most small businesses it’s best to avoid academic or technical terms and jargon.
A brief, well-told story avoids confusion–it follows a pattern, it’s logical and has a clear beginning and end. It can also stir emotions. This is one of the most important aspects of good marketing–humans are emotional and act in line with emotions. First you have a wish, or a need of something, then you start looking for the facts on the product and where to get it.
Of curse, you can’t tell a story in a headline, it’s usually too short. But in the body text you can try to include a short story. It makes the text easier to read and experience show that this technique increases conversions.
Your target audience are real people with feelings, pursuits, fears, and dreams
Ask yourself: Who am I writing for? What are these people interested in? What are their dreams? Ads are either general or they target specific groups of people. You can test a few different advertisements to see what works best. Some have created one advertisement targeting the public and another advertisement targeting only women. It turned out that ads targeting women got many more new fans that targeting both sexes. You might need to experiment a little to see what works best for your product.
Understanding your target audience is vital because it’s them you’ll be talking to and who will buy your products.
Be clear! Clarity makes the text easily understood; people will not act on what is not understood
Ads are by nature short, pithy messages–be economical, choose words carefully, avoid ambiguous language and get to the point. People spend only brief moments reading an ad and if it doesn’t catch their interest in that time they’ll move on. Your ad can be intriguing or witty but if people don’t understand the point they lose interest. Just because you understand the ad you’ve just written doesn’t mean others will understand it the same way. Ask the opinion of others before you publish it.
Why do you think this ad was very successful?
- Feel pleasure in places you never knew existed (For instance, Lenox, Massachusetts.)
It’s simple, clear, witty, and human; its contains the main ingredients for success. And with a fitting image it becomes even better.
Why do you think this next ad did not generate the same response?
- New life form discovered in Massachusetts.
This text is ambiguous; it’s not clear what they’re aiming at; the reader most likely lose interest.
Be simple! Simplicity is the opposite to complex, bureaucratic, or academic language
Avoid clutter; delete every word that serves no function or weakens the sentence. Clarity and simplicity go hand in hand. Ask: What am I trying to say? Look at your ad and ask: Is this what I’ve said? Will everyone clearly understand the message? Is this something I would act on? Get feedback from your friends; ask what they think of you ad.
- Phrases like “It’s interesting that…”, “I should point out…” clutter the text as weeds—uproot them.
- Clear, simple sentences are not an accident—most such sentences come out best the third or fourth time. Simplicity makes your ads easy to grasp and thereby more profitable.
Most people read the headlines, fewer read sub captions and the text body. In the headline, touch the reader emotionally—make him laugh, get her intrigued, or stimulate curiosity. Simple and effective questions capture interest; they help the readers to think and reason. Then they will read on.
Be you can go overboard also here, “Me like Jane” or “Buy product, you happy” is understandable but no very appealing. The idea is to clean your text from all weeds darkening the bright, simple facts.
Originality makes you ad stand out
A good picture can make the difference between and good ad and a lousy one. Good pictures enforce the ad text and strengthen the message. If your pictures are original, funny, fitting or just plain cool, more fans will “Like” your ads.
Don’t choose suggestive, erotic, or shocking images–such pictures can have a negative impact on your business reputation and your fan page.
Avoid legal traps; they can cost you more than you think
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says” Advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive… advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims. Advertisements are considered deceptive if they are “likely to mislead consumers.”
Legally you are responsible for claims made in your ads. Avoid untrue or deceptive claims; use caution with phrases like “free,” “curing ailments,” “profit guaranteed,” “easy to use,” “the latest,” “best” and similar. You must be able to verify or prove claims and promises, otherwise you can be charged of misleading your customers.
Before you publish an advertisement on Facebook or on the Internet, make sure you can substantiate all claims.
Copying other companies’ headlines, text or images might be quicker than writing them yourself. But equally fast you could also lose your reputation and fans. You might also hear from the copyright owners’ lawyers. How can you advertise with Facebook if you’re in jail?