“The real fact of the matter is that nobody reads ads. People read what interests them. Sometimes it’s an ad.” ~ Howard Gossage
So here’s the deal, anytime you’re creating a facebook ad, you can opt for either:
- a straightforward, predictable ad — in other words, an ad that just might work for an already-interested late-stage buyers , or
- an unpredictable, interesting combination of image and copy capable of motivating both more of the late-stage buyers and possibly some of many earlier-stage, half-decided prospects.
With PPC Ads, the straghtfoward approach usually works best. If someone is motivated enough to search for your goods or services on Google, you can safely skip the intrigue and get right down to the sell.
But with display ads the unpredictable approach almost always works better. Even for (especially for!) putatively “uncool” industries.
Take PPC Advertising: what image might you first think to use in an ad for PPC Advertising Training?
- Pie charts?
- Some business graph with the arrow going up and to the right?
- Maybe a headshot of a celebrity instructor?
Probably something along those lines, right? Or possibly you could wimp out and go with a “sex sells” approach. And anyone of those options would more than likely get average to sub-par results.
OR, you could do something unpredictable, like this:
Frankly, not only is the ad topical, in light of the October run-date, but it’s unusually interesting. How often do you see a facebook ad featuring a hockey-masked Jason wanna-be? It’s almost impossible not to be the least bit curious about it.
In other words, the image makes you want to read the headline. And if you’re at all interested in PPC, the headline makes you want to read the very compelling body copy.
And finally, the Call to Action asks for a minimal commitment and major benefit: you don’t have to buy anything, just download a high-value whitepaper.
Who wants to bet that this ad will do significantly better than the more traditional “chart” or “Sexy” image?
So what about you? When’s the last time you threw your audience a curveball with an inherently INTERESTING image?
