How to Funnel Hack Facebook Ad Designs 101

As marketers and funnel-builders flood Facebook with their ad dollars, the social network’s ad platform is under more scrutiny than ever.  

Facebook ads have the potential to blow up your funnel, but much of your success comes down to design.

Thankfully, we’ve detailed the steps to crafting a killer design for your next campaign including what to look for, who to hire and where to find them.

Appearances and first impressions are everything when it comes to running an ad campaign.

With any of our display ads, we want to offer our users the best deals, stand apart from the crowd and ultimately drive potential customers to click through.

Unfortunately, this is easier said than done in 2016, where the modern user is savvier than ever to advertising, generally more reluctant to click and flat-out bored with most ads out there.

Consider that the following:

• Most ads are simply unremarkable, with 60% of users unable to remember the last display ad they saw; meanwhile, those same users said 80% of those ads were completely irrelevant to them.
• Due to the sheer oversaturation of online advertising, 54% of users state that they don’t trust banner ads.
• The overwhelming phenomenon of “banner blindness” has pushed many marketers away from display advertising.

Now, take into account that comparing the gloom and doom of banner ads and Facebooks ads may be like comparing apples to oranges.

Facebook ads are a completely different beast versus the traditional ad fodder of the early 2000’s. How so?

• Facebook has a strong trust factor with its one billion daily active users. Naturally, visitors are much more likely to click on a Facebook ad versus that of a skeptical site riddled with pop-ups and AdSense.
• With features such as retargeted ads and Facebook’s pixel functionality, Mark Zuckerberg’s social network has provided marketers with a robust advertising platform that allows us to segment our users truly and target them accordingly. From tracking users after they’ve left the page to displaying ads based on previous behavior, Facebook ads represent more than a numbers game when it comes to impressions versus conversions.
• Facebook ads have relatively high click-through rates and low CPC versus their social competitors.

There’s an apparent disparity between traditional banner advertising and Facebook ads.

The failures and shortcomings of the unclickable have provided marketers with the insight necessary to craft awesome ads on Facebook.

What’s stopping you from doing the same?

Giving Yourself the Ad Advantage

Thankfully, the fact that the advertising world is filled with boring, uninspired ads actually works to your advantage if you’re able to set your ads apart from the norm.

Here’s the truth: regardless of your industry, Facebook ads are living and dying by design.

Solid deals and crafty calls-to-action are crucial to well-performing ads; however, you can’t hope to optimize your ads without a straightforward design that catches your customers’ eyes and leaves a lasting impression.

Fortunately, you don’t need to be a master artist to make your ads work.

Start with a Concept

Every great masterpiece starts with a concept: the same rule applies to crafting a Facebook ad.

You have plenty of options available when it comes to picking a base image for your concept, and picking one really depends on your industry and best practices.

Medical practices may choose pill bottles or professionals in lab coats, or a supplement seller may use a fitness model, for example.

As always, look to your competitors for inspiration and perhaps some insight into how you can set yourself apart from them

Choosing imagery relevant to your industry is important.

Some businesses fall into clichés of using stock images of skyscrapers and sunsets to market their companies; however, recall the need for your advertising to stand out from the crowd.

Think about potentially using higher-art concepts or even cartoons (they’re definitely not just kids anymore) as a means of giving your ads your ads a humorous tone (if appropriate).

Although there are plenty of sites offering cheap commercial or royalty free images to businesses, keep in mind that every business on the block is picking from the same pool of sites.

Therefore, you’re going to need some additional help to making your ad truly pop (which we’ll cover shortly).

Regardless of how you decide to go choosing an image, the chances are that you’re going to need a helping hand in order to help it stand out from the crowd.

Thankfully, there’s no shortage of help.

The Freedom of Freelancers

There’s no shortage of skilled freelancers out there to help you craft the perfect ad.

In fact, the choices can be downright overwhelming.

Fortunately, this puts a certain degree of leverage in your hands as the graphic design market is intensely competitive.

Finding a freelancer has never been easier; however, make sure that you look for someone with…

• Experience, including a portfolio or website where you can see examples of their work. You may actually find a piece from their past that meshes with your business’ vibe.
• Competitive rates. Your freelancer should obviously fit within your budget; however, freelancers offering to work for dirt cheap should raise red flags. Such designers may be flaky with instructions and deadlines, which simply isn’t worth your time. There’s a big difference between a $5 freelancer and a $50 freelancer beyond their price point alone.
• Ratings, reviews and testimonials. In short, you should be able to tell at a glance whether or not your designer has the sort of experience you’re searching for.

Find someone that you’d like to invest in and perhaps use for the long-term, as finding a skilled freelancer can sometimes be a frustrating process.

The question remains: where do you find such professionals?

There are many options available, some of which might be more suited for your niche than others.

Here are just a few:

Fiverr – Originally marketed as a site where you could get just about anything for five dollars (including bizarre jobs such as people writing your marketing messages on their bodies), Fiverr has become a hub for some designers looking to deliver fast results to clients. Although the site’s reputation is dubious among some freelancers (with many claiming they have to sort through a sea of spam to find anything worthwhile), there are full-time professionals making a living through the site. As always, choose carefully.

Upwork – Perhaps the premier site for professional freelancers, Upwork allows freelancers to bid on jobs rather than the other way around. This gives the client the luxury of setting up the parameters of their job, including the price, turnaround time, and specifics of design. While you may have to sift through some spam on Upwork, its platform has a built-in system which keeps freelancers from simply applying for every single job.

ClickFunnels Group – Beyond the typical freelance sites, ClickFunnel’s job group may be a cost-effective, alternative solution to finding a freelancer that fits your needs.

Regardless of how you choose to find your freelancer, make sure that your instructions are clear. Ideally, you’ll be able to find someone with marketing experience who understands the principles of Facebook ads (such designers are more common than you might think).

The Cost of Color

The color scheme is one of the key elements of any design, whether you’re trying to choose a color combination that’s pleasing to the eye or craft something that falls in line with your business’ brand.

It may seem like a no-brainer, but make sure that your Facebook ads follow the same color scheme as your company site and existing advertising.

The consistent color scheme helps establish the brand association and will help users stay subconsciously engaged when they enter your sales funnel.

Look and Feel

You have immense freedom when it comes to crafting your Facebook ads. Some elements that you should keep in mind, however, regardless of your industry include:

• Text – Assuming you’re crafting an ad which involves text on your image, make sure to choose your words wisely. Sometimes less is more: if possible, try to include your call-to-action somewhere in your ad (especially in the blurb if not on the image itself).
• Imagery – At the risk of sounding like a broken record, make sure you choose images that will grab your users’ attention to the point where they stop scrolling and start clicking. Think breathtaking and bright colors versus dull and drab.
• Originality – On a similar note, your ads should have a unique vibe and shouldn’t simply parrot what you’ve seen competitors doing. If you’re putting in the time, effort and cash to run a Facebook ad campaign, it should be one-of-a-kind.

Building Your Photo Bank

The beauty of crafting unique Facebook ads is that they can be reused and repurposed for different campaigns.

For example, you could use the same images on Twitter or Pinterest without issue.

Likewise, you can use your Facebook ads to A/B test against one another to figure out what’s working and what isn’t with your users.

Once you’ve built up a solid portfolio of ads, you can use your past examples for future inspiration for freelancers, too.

The more ads you run, the more you can experiment and fine-tune your marketing pitch.

How Else Can You Hack Facebook Ads?

Facebook is doing a lot for marketers these days regarding ad customization; however, we’re always looking for new ways to craft better ads.

Between re-targeting and Facebook pixels, for example, the social network is becoming a much sweeter place to advertise.

What’s working for you regarding Facebook ad and what hacks have you potentially uncovered?