How to Make your Ads Stand Out

Choose the right format for your ad.

Use an engaging photo or video. The most successful campaigns use a combination of relevant ad formats, such as photo and video.

Write a catchy, but short title and description

Use a relevant call-to-action for your business.

In our previous blog post, we discussed Getting Started in Online Advertising. We learned about why advertising is important, whether it’s a right fit for your business, and if so, how to create an advertising goal. Now we’ll spending focusing on how to make your ads stick out. There are a variety of factors that influence the effectiveness of an ad, but we’ll focus on 3 key areas:

Choose the right format for your ad.

You can choose a single image, a single video, or use a slideshow or carousel to showcase multiple media. There’s no wrong or right decision. Just make sure you photo is high-quality. Also, try avoiding using generic stock photo in your ads. Your visuals should be personal, relatable, and accessible.

Use an engaging photo or video.

Video is now the most effective way to reach audiences in their newsfeed. While this is true, it’s important that these videos resonate with your audience. Remember what we said about focusing your target audience. What imagery or visuals will inspire them? What will feel relatable? If you’re not sure, test it out. Start with an educated guess, and then measure your results, and evolve your marketing from that data. As a tip, the strongest campaigns use a combination of relevant ad formats, such as photo AND video.

Write a catchy, but short set of text, and select the right call to action.

Most ads will only show 2-3 lines of text, so brevity is key. When deciding on your call-to-action button, you have many options. Pick the one that fits with your brand. For example, if you run a professional services company, then you might use a call-to-action button like “Request Time.” As a tip, the most common call-to-action is “Shop Now.”

Think back to the ads that stick out most from your own past. Do you remember the polar bears from the holiday Coca Cola commercials? Or the infamous fly-eating frogs from the Super Bowl Budweiser commercials? These brands did a great job of connecting to the audience–they appealed to emotion and to humor. Figure out you can best connect to your audience, and use that criteria to guide the ads you develop. This will help you get noticed!