Personalizing Your Facebook Ads

8min.

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Personalizing Your Facebook Adsd-tags
27 September 2024
Facebook Ads is currently one of the most important online advertising platforms. As competition on this site increases, it is worth dedicating more time to refining your ads. In this article, you'll learn the importance of buyer personas and how to create them. You will also delve into the secrets of effective ad content and targeting creative strategies.

8min.

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Introduction

Occasional discounts, seasonal sales, and holiday promotions no longer surprise anyone. As consumers, we roughly know when to expect such offers. Brands and businesses compete with creative campaigns, striving to capture the attention of as many potential customers as possible. For this reason, it is a good practice to place your message where the chances of reaching your target audience are the highest – on social media platforms. It’s important to consider buyer personas and industry specifics – for example, promoting trendy New Year’s Eve dresses will require a different approach than advertising CRM systems for businesses.

Personas in Facebook Ads

A persona is a representative profile of your customers. Based on data, we can create several fictional characters that represent specific individuals within our target audience.

Creating personas allows you to visualize who your audience is, assign them specific characteristics, a backstory, understand their struggles, or identify their needs. This, in turn, helps you recognize why they might need your product or service.

Building personas contributes to better creative development and more precise ad targeting. With personas, you’ll be able to tailor the ad content, language, communication style, visuals, and placement of creatives on Facebook and/or Instagram more effectively.

How to Create Personas on Facebook

When creating ads, it’s important to consider whether you are addressing a specialist in a particular field, caring parents of infants, athletes, or teenagers. Each of these groups uses a different language, and the benefits should be communicated to them in unique ways. In the process of building a persona, you can rely on data from Facebook Analytics and Facebook Insights tools. At the initial stage, you can check the gender, age, and language of those following and visiting the client’s fan page. It’s also important to consider whether the campaign will be local or more broadly targeted.

Next, we reflect on who our audience might be. It’s useful to create several personas. For example, let’s assume that the data shows the client’s fan page is most popular among Polish women aged 25-34. The campaign will be nationwide. Therefore, we create our persona: Ms. Maria XYZ. We then consider who she is. For instance, we take into account the following:

Demographic Data:

  • Gender
  • Age
  • Background
  • Marital status
  • Parental status
  • Language
  • Location
  • Homeownership (apartment/house)
  • Occupation
  • Education
  • Household income

Motivations:

E.g., whether she values trendy products and their quality.

Psychological Profile:

  • Beliefs/views
  • Aspirations/dreams
  • Interests
  • Life priorities
  • Problem the advertised product can solve
  • Frustrations

Behavioral Profile:

  • What she reads
  • Where she likes to spend time
  • The impact of quality on her purchasing decisions
  • The influence of price on purchases
  • The effect of discounts on her purchasing behavior
  • Opinions about competitors

It’s worth supplementing this information with an additional description of Ms. Maria. For example, for the interior design industry, we created a brief story for her:

Maria is a fan of minimalist living. She works in a large corporation in a management role. She lives on the outskirts of a large city, escaping the fast-paced urban lifestyle. She recently moved, so she and her family are searching for the right interior furnishings.

At this point, we move on to Facebook Insights, which helps us gather additional information about our target audience. Once we have collected the data and created personas, we go to Facebook to create audiences based on them. Here, we specify the location, age, language, interests, education, relationship status, industry, and all other relevant aspects. We can also narrow the target audience based on specific interests, such as minimalism or environmental protection. By doing this, we signal to Facebook that we want our audience to have both the designated characteristics and specific interests. Individuals who do not meet these narrowed criteria will not be included in our target audience. An example of a target audience can be seen in the graphic below.

audience fb ads

Source: Meta Ads panel

Creating Ads in Facebook Ads

Ad Format 

To create an ad on Facebook, you need to take a few steps. First, choose the ad format. You can opt for:

Carousel – this format allows you to display multiple images in a single ad, with the option to scroll through them. Each image can have its own headline, description, and link leading to a specific page.

Single image or video – this ad format displays one image or video along with one accompanying text and headline.

Collection – this ad consists of a large main image and smaller images below it. When clicked, the ad opens in full-screen mode on mobile devices.

Currently, Facebook allows the use of vertical, horizontal, and square creatives. It’s worth leveraging this feature to avoid automatic and often unfavorable cropping of images. A good practice is to create multiple ads (3-5) within a single ad set, similar to Google Ads. Ad rotation works in the same way, optimizing impressions for the most effective creative.

Before publishing your ads, check how they appear on mobile devices. The majority of users access Facebook via mobile, meaning they see your ad in a much smaller format than on a desktop or laptop screen. Additionally, remember to include the company logo, tagline, and an appropriate CTA (Call to Action).

Ad Targeting

Target your campaigns based on demographics, location, and use remarketing to reach people who have interacted with your page, ads, app, or fan page.

  • Demographics allow you to determine the language your audience speaks. This helps you decide whether to craft your creatives using youthful slang, casual humor, or a more mature tone.
  • Mentioning location will catch the attention of people living in a specific area, signaling to them that the offer is available nearby.
  • Remarketing, on the other hand, reminds the audience of your brand, encouraging them to make a purchase or return to your site. You can also use ads to reinforce the customer’s decision by giving them a sense of belonging to an elite group of customers, for example, after a purchase.

Ad Placement

Manual settings can limit reach and increase costs if you’re trying to replicate Google Ads practices. It’s recommended to use automatic placements, allowing algorithms to optimize results by selecting the best spots for your ads. This approach enables ad campaigns to achieve better results. After using automatic placements, you can later analyze which placements are performing best and then decide whether to switch to manual placement selection if necessary.

Graphics in Ads

The graphics used in ads should capture attention and be visually appealing. You can utilize data visualizations, images of people (especially faces), as they convey emotions and subconsciously evoke empathy in the audience (influencing the shared experience of emotions with the person depicted in the image or prompting a need for a reaction).

It’s beneficial when the graphic complements the text. For example, when advertising a dog grooming salon, you might include a photo of a well-styled dog. When promoting personal training sessions, an image of a fit man or woman can highlight the benefits or illustrate the results of using the service described in the copy.

Industry and Advertising on Facebook Ads

For B2B businesses, e-commerce, or niche sectors, it’s essential to test all available ad creatives and analyze their effectiveness. Only based on the results of these tests can you identify which ads perform best and continue using them. Every business is unique, so different formats may work better for different companies. Sometimes, video materials may yield better results, while at other times, product catalogs, slideshows, or other solutions might prove to be more effective. Experimentation and optimization are key.

It’s also worth highlighting industries where social proof is a valuable element of the advertising campaign. This phenomenon occurs when an authority figure (such as a doctor, professor, scientist, or celebrity) endorses a product or brand. The audience, seeing this person as an authority, is much more likely to engage with the offer or make a purchase. In such cases, you can reference:

  • well-known institutions,
  • established brands,
  • experts,
  • professors and scientists,
  • celebrities,
  • statistics (number of users, results, successes, case studies),
  • certifications obtained,
  • mentions in industry magazines,
  • awards and distinctions.

Ads in Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads consist of:

  • creative (e.g., graphics, images, videos),
  • headline visible beneath the creative (in the form of a bar under the graphic),
  • main text displayed above the creative,
  • link description in the news feed, sometimes located below the headline,
  • call-to-action button,
  • links in the ad (an addition to the ad that allows customers to navigate to a specific URL).

These elements are displayed in the following manner:

links in meta ads

Source: support Meta Ads

A call to action (CTA) informs the audience what their next step should be after seeing the ad. It simultaneously indicates what will happen as a result of clicking the button. You can encourage them to make a purchase (“Buy Now”), invite them to subscribe to a newsletter (“Sign Up Today”), or offer a free e-book download (“Download for Free”), among others.

When creating content, it’s valuable to analyze different ad variations. Create ads with both short and long texts to compare which ones are more effective. Similarly, test ads with emojis and without, as well as different graphic variations and tones of voice—such as whether to address the audience as “you” or to use a more impersonal approach.

However, remember not to test all these changes at once, as you won’t be able to determine which element influenced the final results. It’s better to change only one element within a single A/B test.

Attention-Grabbing Elements in Text

Audience-Centric Content

The first key point is how you communicate with your audience. It’s best to address them directly, as this increases engagement and captures attention or initiates dialogue. Of course, it’s also worth testing an impersonal form to see which works better for your case. A common practice is to define the entire target audience at the beginning of the sentence, for example: “Students! Get 20% off educational books until Sunday” or “Marketer! Discover 10 new trends in social media.”

Emojis

Utilize emojis as they effectively attract the audience’s eye and highlight the elements you want to emphasize. Consider using them in several variations:

  • in relation to the ad content (e.g., using a tree or leaf emoji when discussing environmental aspects),
  • to highlight the first sentence of the main text to draw attention,
  • to emphasize the headline (i.e., in the text below the creative),
  • in bullet points and links (where arrows or similar icons can be useful),

However, remember to maintain a healthy balance. Ads overloaded with emojis can create chaos in the message and may discourage the audience.

Highlighting Offers and Bullet Points

You should include the most important information about your offer in the first sentence of the text. The longer your text, the less likely Facebook will display it in full. If the content is too lengthy, it will be truncated and replaced with ellipses, requiring the audience to manually expand the continuation. Consider using bullet points, as they help organize the content, make it visually appealing, and draw attention to the most important aspects of the offer. This approach is often used in event promotions, where several agenda points are presented.

Catchy Descriptions

Even a short ad should be rich in paragraphs. Each paragraph should correspond to a separate piece of information. For example, when promoting a book release, state the launch in the first paragraph, mention the author and their previous works in the second, and highlight the date or locations where the audience can purchase it in the next. Short sentences and simple vocabulary are crucial in ad text. Respect the audience’s time and make it easy for them to understand your offer. Such a structure allows for sustained focus on the content, as it presents concrete information.

Remember that your ad does not appear in isolation; there are many distractions on the page. Additionally, keep in mind that this is a social media platform where most users communicate in everyday language – so join them. Use simple phrases and avoid excessive industry jargon. A short and clear text will be easier to digest and understand. The exception to this rule is when promoting premium offers, where exclusivity should be apparent in both the creative and the text. At the same time, be concrete. You have only a few seconds to inform the audience about the advantages of your offer and convince them to take action. Allow them to visualize what they will receive from you.

Talk About Specific Problems: “Running out of disk space for photos?”, “Want to learn more about Facebook Ads campaigns?”

Discuss Solutions to These Problems: “Utilize cloud storage. All your files in one place, even offline”, “Join the 3rd edition of the Facebook Ads Conference in Krakow. Learn how to:

  • set budgets for campaigns,
  • create content that captures audience attention,
  • reach business clients,
  • understand the future of Facebook Ads.”

Use Adjectives to Engage Imagination: “Floral designs” instead of “unique designs”, “chocolate-scented coffee” instead of “aromatic coffee”. Inform about the advantages, but don’t focus solely on them – if you offer training sessions with well-known speakers, mention that, but remember not everyone may recognize their names. When promoting computer equipment, keep in mind that not everyone will know the technical specifications. Therefore, also highlight other values of the offer. Emphasize functional benefits (those that can be physically verified, such as meeting the speakers or trying out additional storage space for a limited time, or the larger area of a club or gym) as well as emotional ones (appeals to emotions: “become the star of the party”, “sing like a diva”).

Summary

Personalization of Facebook ads allows you to reach the right target audience, which increases the effectiveness of campaigns. Key elements include segmentation based on demographics, interests, and behaviors. It is also important to create tailored content for different groups and to test ad variations (A/B testing). Personalization of ads can significantly enhance user engagement and optimize campaign results, so it is worth dedicating some time to this process.

Author
Aga Glińska SEM Delante
Author
Agnieszka Glińska

SEM Specialist

Graduated in business analytics, marketing and advertising graphics. She has been in the SEM Department at Delante since May 2019, where she currently manages and optimizes Google Ads and Facebook Ads campaigns as a Specialist. She is passionate about graphic design and follows changes in the Google and Social Media market. Privately, she develops Concept Art skills. In her backpack there is always a sketchbook and a pencil. She loves animation and learning about art and pop culture.

Author
Author
Weronika Strzeżyk

Junior SEM Specialist

Author
Aga Glińska SEM Delante
Author
Agnieszka Glińska

SEM Specialist

Graduated in business analytics, marketing and advertising graphics. She has been in the SEM Department at Delante since May 2019, where she currently manages and optimizes Google Ads and Facebook Ads campaigns as a Specialist. She is passionate about graphic design and follows changes in the Google and Social Media market. Privately, she develops Concept Art skills. In her backpack there is always a sketchbook and a pencil. She loves animation and learning about art and pop culture.

Author
Author
Weronika Strzeżyk

Junior SEM Specialist

SEO SEM Agency

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Awards

Award - Deloitte 2021 Award - European eCommerce Awards 2022 Award - European Search Awards 2022 Award - Global Agency Awards 2022 Award - IPMA Award - US Search Awards 2021