Trying out something for the first time can be scary for a business owner. I felt the same uncertainty when I started running Facebook ads. That is why today, I’m compelled to share 7 Facebook ad hacks that worked well for me — and I know they’ll do the same for you.

While these tricks are easy, they should be able to increase your conversions or reach whatever end goal you have. I’ll get right into them… so dive in!

Facebook Ad Hacks That Drive Results

#1 Spy on your competitor’s Facebook ads

Did you know that there are more than 6 million advertisers on Facebook? That makes Facebook a good platform for spying on your competitors.

The idea of spying on a competitor’s FB ads is to take their ideas and innovate on them — not to plagiarize. The result? You get better ads. To spy on their ads, follow these three simple steps:

1. Head over to their Facebook page

2. On the left side of the page, find and click “Info and Ads”

3. Select a country to check if your competitor runs ads in the location

The only downside to this method of spying is that you won’t be able to see an ad’s engagement (likes, comments, and shares). Tools give you more insights. Check out our recommended list of ad spying tools.

#2 Target the right audience

Running Facebook ads is useless you know exactly who you’re targeting. There are plenty of ways to hone in on your audience. Consider asking these essential questions:

• Are they male or female?  
• Where are they located?
• What language do they speak?
• To what age group does your audience belong?
• What are they interested in?
• Have they visited your website in the past?
• Are you looking for new customers or repeat customers?

Facebook Ads Manager lets you define your target audience in the Audience section of Ad Set. These are your options:

A. Create New

Under Create New, you can target a Custom Audience or Lookalike Audience. Here’s the difference:

A Custom Audience refers to people who’ve already interacted with your business. They can be your website visitors, app users, and those who’ve engaged with your Facebook content.

A Lookalike Audience refers to people who are similar to your existing audience. Choosing this audience allows you to target those likely to be interested in your business.

B. Use a Saved Audience

A Saved Audience is a type of audience you create for any campaign you’re running. This is a good option if you know your target audience well (based on location, age, language, etc.) and will be using this information to attract new prospects.

Read: 25 Weirdly Specific Facebook Ads Targeting Ideas You Didn’t Know Existed

#3 Write headlines that drive clicks

With so many ads competing for your prospects’ attention, you should be using headlines to stand out. The fact that 80% of readers don’t get past the headline should motivate you to take your Facebook ad headlines seriously.

Let’s take a look at Upwork’s ad headline:

Here’s why the headline works:

• It tells the audience what they should do: “Uncover 4 Qualities of Great Freelancer Candidates”
• It uses a number (“4”). Numbers make your content predictable and digestible.
• It’s short but clear enough for the audience to understand.

#4 Show social proof

Want to know a secret to getting more results from your Facebook Ads? Use social proof. Social proof is a phenomenon where people follow the behavior of the majority.

Imagine this scenario: You’ve visited a theme park for the very first time and have no idea which rides would be awesome to try. You walk around and suddenly, you find a ride with the longest line. You feel the need to line up as well. That’s social proof!

So, how do leverage social proof in your Facebook ad? Here’s a simple hack I used that helped me generate a 2021% ROI… I added testimonials.

In case you don’t know where or how to get testimonials for your social proof ad, here’s a helpful guide to get you started.

#5 Use images to your advantage

Are you making sure that anyone who comes across your ad stops to learn more? Visuals grab attention if you know how to use them. Actually, there’s no need to overthink your images. Follow these tips:

Show people wearing your product.

If you sell products, show how a potential customer will look in them. This builds a deeper connection between a customer and your product. Armani’s ad is a good example:

Make your visuals and text work together.

A lot of Facebook ad images aren’t relevant to the copy itself. Create consistency by using visuals that match the description. Below, we see that Kayla Itsines uses a photo that matches the text “What did you ladies train today!!! Comment below”

Put a face on your brand.

AWeber knows that customer experience can make or break a business. In their ad below, you can see that they introduced the people who work behind the scenes. This shows their sincerity and dedication to their audience:

#6 Add text to video ads

Research shows that 80% of people react negatively when video ads are played and they didn’t expect it. This is why you should always add captions, overlays, or subtitles to your video ads. Captioning your videos has many benefits:

• Your Facebook video ads appeal to viewers with hearing difficulties
• Anyone can comprehend your ad even in loud environments
• Subtitles or captions give people a reason to watch until the end

Facebook allows you to upload your own captions or use the ones they automatically generate. In the Tasty’s case, they use short text overlays to outline the steps in their food videos:

#7 Switch up elements to prevent fatigue

Notice the performance of your Facebook ad dropping a few days after you run them? People might be seeing it too many times already, which results in ad fatigue.

Try these variations to beat ad fatigue and get people clicking through:

• Use a different headline and text.
• Choose a new image with colors that stand out.
• Pick another campaign objective. (Read: Get the Best Campaign Results with These 11 Facebook Ad Objectives)
• Change your offer.

Conclusion

Spice up your ad with these Facebook hacks and tricks. Implement them for your next campaign. Whether you simply want brand awareness or are looking to increase conversions, these hacks will save the day.

Got some genius Facebook ads strategies to share? Have you used the ones we mentioned? Share your thoughts in the comments below.