Meta’s ad auction prioritizes delivering the most relevant ad to each user, making diverse and dynamic content essential for campaign success. By incorporating a variety of ad formats, creative elements, and engaging visuals, brands can optimize ad performance and reach. Let’s explore some effective ad creative styles brands can implement to build diverse campaigns.
Meta’s algorithm is built to recognize and promote content and ads that resonate best with a specific audience segment. As a result, a brand’s performance can be optimized by delivering the most relevant ads to each user and enhancing overall ad effectiveness. This means a brand is best optimized by offering a diverse range of ad creative and copy in Meta’s Ad Manager. This approach not only improves a brand’s success in Meta’s ad auction but also helps reduce creative fatigue for consumers. Marketers using social media advertising should prioritize both creative diversity and creative volume to deliver the right message to the right audience.
Each campaign should include ads that incorporate various creative elements, such as different formats, visuals, and text variations, to perform well in Meta’s ad auction and maximize conversions. By diversifying ad creatives, brands can test and identify which combinations resonate best with their audience, ultimately boosting performance and effectiveness in Meta’s competitive ad auction.
Elements such as messaging, imagery, and the ad’s format can influence how people respond to an ad. For example, younger generations may convert more on Instagram reels, while older audiences may prefer to click on Facebook carousel images. Creating a variety of Meta ads can help to identify what resonates most with a target audience and potentially attract a wider audience based on ad placement, ultimately leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.
Relying on a single or limited ad type is like repeating the same image or message over and over. If the audience didn’t find it engaging the first time, that is unlikely to change, and your campaign will begin optimizing solely towards the narrow demo that is responding to that ad type. Offering a variety of ad formats and visuals keeps content fresh and engaging, increasing the chances of connecting with different audiences and driving conversions. Test which ads are performing best, which allows you to then scale your winning creatives with larger budgets.
How to Differentiate Ads for Success in Meta’s Ad Auction
To perform well in Meta’s ad auction, ads should combine various creative elements, including different formats, visuals, and text. Meta now says “creative is the new targeting,” which means different audiences and demos can be reached by using different assets and ad formats.
Leverage Different Ad Formats
Ads should leverage a range of ad formats available in Meta’s Ad Manager, such as static images, carousels, reels, videos, collections, and catalog posts. Different customers respond more favourably to certain formats, so diversifying ad types within the campaign can expand its reach and performance. Each format should also be tested to see what resonates best with the target audience to expand reach and drive conversions. Using the same format across multiple ads should be avoided to keep content fresh and engaging.
Diversify Your Visuals
When selecting creative images for Meta ads, each visual should look distinctly different, even when promoting the same product. Brands shouldn’t only rely on subtle shifts in imagery that maintain the same visual concept; each visual be unique and use different hooks to keep the audience engaged, convey a fresh, different perspective, and allow you to test which are performing best and iterate on those. A variety of settings that showcase the product should be used and include both polished and lo-fi content. Lo-fi doesn’t mean low quality but low fidelity, meaning purposefully unpolished content made outside of a studio, such as user-generated content.
Modify Ad Text
Variety in ad copy is crucial for reaching different audiences with tailored messages based on their interests. Ads should use a range of different text formats, such as questions and lists, and copy that describes different product features and benefits. It is often best to avoid the exact same text in multiple ads and any copy that only speaks to a core audience. A broad range of copy and messages should be used to best speak to a range of audiences.
Meta offers some valuable copywriting best practices to help brands brainstorm and refine their messaging.
How to Effectively Diversify Your Ad Content
Diversifying your ad creative not only boosts your chances in Meta’s ad auction but also helps combat ad fatigue and reach new customers. Though exact figures are not known, it is estimated that the average person comes into connect with 6,000 to 10,000 ads each day, so it’s increasingly difficult to stand out from the crowd and grab your target audience’s attention. Studies show that when people see an ad six to ten times, they’re 4.1% less likely to buy the product than if they’d only seen it two to five times. Keeping your ads fresh and varied is crucial to keep audiences interested and engaged.
Before updating ad content or optimizing your ad strategy, we’ve put together some key strategies to consider as you brainstorm.
Consider varying customer personas:
A brand’s target audience is made of a variety of people with different interests and behaviours that are likely to resonate best with different types of ad creative. Create a variety of ad idea concepts that speak to a range of customer personas within your audience. Deeply understand your consumers by determining what drives them to purchase, their interests, the problems your product/service solves, and the language they relate to the most.
Test new ad assets in Meta’s ad auction and refine them as needed:
Let Meta automatically optimize ad delivery to find which creative strategy resonates best for the different segments of your audience. Once you find winners, iterate and scale.
Popular and Effective Ad Styles
There’s no shortage of creative ideas for brands to connect with and resonate with audiences to leave a lasting impression.
Below are some popular and highly effective ad types to inspire new ads and campaigns:
User-generated Content (UGC) or Influencer-generated Content (IGC)
In today’s digital age, authenticity is everything. UGC or IGC is original content that includes images, videos, reviews, and testimonials, created by actual product users or influencers instead of a marketing team. Consumers trust people more than brands, so this style of content allows brands to harness real users’ points of view and experiences and connect with audiences genuinely and authentically.
Partnering with influencers or UGC creators gives brands access to relatable content that genuinely resonates with viewers while amplifying the message to reach more potential consumers. Incorporating top-performing content into the ad strategy boosts engagement, fosters deeper connections, and extends the life of influencer or customer-generated content.
Feature Point Outs
This ad style highlights key benefits or features of a product or service in a straightforward, engaging way, guiding the viewer’s attention to specific qualities that make the product unique, valuable, or relevant to the audience segment.
This style of post typically includes a clear and concise message paired with a close-up shot of the product or product demonstration. This ad style can be considered simple and direct, showcasing key product features in an attention-grabbing way while educating audiences on unique selling features.
These styles of posts can include close-up shots, text overlays, or comparison charts that draw attention directly to the key feature.
Before and After Split Screens
This ad style often uses side-by-side visuals to show the transformation or improvement a product or service can deliver. The ad typically includes a split-screen or sequence format with “Before” and “After” labels with very minimal copy and clear callouts on the benefits. This ad style can be very impactful and show the product’s effectiveness in a clear and relatable way, helping viewers see real, achievable results or benefits.
You can create this ad style using split screens, carousels, or time-lapse videos showing progress or results.
Statistics
A statistics-style ad uses data to highlight the effectiveness or benefit of a product or service. This ad style focuses on presenting a key statistic, percentage, or comparison to demonstrate how a product or service solves a problem, meets a need, or compares to a competitor or alternative. Typically, the statistic is presented using bold, eye-catching numbers, a brief explanation, and simple visuals like icons or graphs to illustrate the data. This style of ad is ideal for building credibility and trust, as it provides proof of value through measurable results.
Us vs Them
An Us vs. Them ad style contrasts a brand’s product and its competitor or some other alternative, highlighting the unique benefits of the brand. By emphasizing key differences, such as price, quality, or features, this ad style positions the brand as the better choice versus a “wrong choice.” This style of ad often uses bold comparisons, testimonials, or side-by-side visuals to showcase product differences, creating a sense of need by positioning the product as the superior solution by tapping into emotions like FOMO, frustration, and desire for improvement, encouraging consumers to make the switch to the brand’s product.
Testimonial Ad Style
Testimonial-style ads feature real customer reviews or influencers sharing their experiences to help build trust and authenticity for a product. They often include direct quotes, photos, video clips, and reviews that highlight the product’s effectiveness, quality, or how it has impacted a user’s life. This type of ad can help build credibility by showing authentic, relatable voices that resonate with potential customers looking for others’ personal experiences before committing to purchase. Testimonial ads focus on creating an emotional response through customers speaking to the benefits of a product in a personal, authentic way, building trust for the brand.
Social Media Prompts or Screengrabs
This ad style uses screenshots from social media platforms, websites, or apps to create an authentic, relatable vibe. By mimicking the look and feel of user-generated content or organic social media posts, these ads blend seamlessly into the everyday browsing experience and feel less like traditional advertising. They use visuals like comments, conversations, or interactions to create a familiar, authentic experience, helping them feel personal and credible. This style can also draw potential customers in with real-life visuals and scenarios capturing attention through authenticity and social proof.
Creating Your Next Ad Set
Creative and differentiated ad strategies are essential for standing out and driving results. Diversifying ads through differentiated ad formats, visuals, and messaging can not only boost a brand’s chances in Meta’s ad auction but also enhance audience engagement, helping combat ad fatigue and ultimately driving higher conversions.
The key to success lies in ongoing testing and iteration, ensuring ads remain relevant, relatable, and memorable. A well-rounded approach to ad creative ensures a lasting impact that resonates with diverse customer segments.
Reach out to our team at Reshift Media to find out how our specialized services can help take your brand’s ads to the next level.
