You’re going to write a long-form Facebook ad in this lesson. Why Facebook? I’m glad you asked.
Writing a long-form Facebook ad (650 – 1,000 words) is an opportunity to completely transform how you think about paid traffic. That amount of copy will force you to make a few positive decisions.
First, it will require a deep dive into the value you can offer, who will benefit most from that value, and, perhaps most importantly, who won’t. If that sounds familiar it’s because those are the questions from lessons three’s homework.
Second, a long-form Facebook ad has enough content that it’s part of the offer funnel. Thinking about an ad as part of the funnel has many positive downstream effects — particularly cohesion / congruence in your messaging.
Third, long-form ads pre-qualify prospects which dramatically increases the quality of visitors. Higher-quality visitors means better conversion rates, lower refund rates, and longer stick rates — everything we want in happy-customer-generating machine.
Fourth, long-form ads can be repurposed. I’ve seen many Facebook ads turned into advertorials that drive high-quality traffic from the Google Display Network, and some Facebook ads turned into the first page of a Sphere of Influence-style multi-page pre-sell.
Before we write an ad, let’s talk about some quicksand to avoid. Facebook is not particularly transparent with their policies, but there are two things to avoid completely:
- The first is making a promise with a time frame. For example, lose 10lbs in six weeks, or create a six-figure business in three months.
- Second, avoid using the words you and your in ad copy. Facebook doesn’t like specific, direct language that calls out an individual. Again, I suspect you / your is triggered at the AI level so be careful with this in general.
Tone is important to think about as well. From an advertising perspective, Facebook is a social selling environment (with social being the overwhelming part of that equation and selling a distance second place). If you were to post something on Facebook to your friends, that language would be different than copy you might write for an ad. And that can be a problem. Good ads need to feel like they’re social first and that’s the tone we’ll use.
One more thing before we dive in — the first two lines of your Facebook ad will dramatically affect performance. I’ve seen enormous differences in performance testing variations of those first two lines. My recommendation (from experience and a recent conversation with a Facebook rep) — start by asking a question. (No, that should not be something like “Anyone else want to lose 10 lbs in six weeks?”…)
I don’t like templates (and I don’t use them in my agency). The guidelines I’m going to give you below are simply that — guidelines. They’re there to get you thinking, but they’re not set in stone. It’s far more important that you find your unique voice.
Before we begin, you’re going to want to have the three lists you created on lesson three for reference.
Start with the list of 5-7 benefits your product or service provides and choose the one that you think is most important to your prospects. What gain does that provide and/or problem does that solve? Don’t rush this — really think about it.
For example (fear) — “Ever woke up in the middle of the night wondering about this week’s payroll?” (That’s a classic fear of small business owners.) Or (greed) “Are their secrets Wall Street traders know that main street American investors don’t?” (That’s a very common perception among individual investors.)
The question is an opportunity to connect — viscerally — with your ideal prospect. You want to ask the question that they’re asking themselves over and over again. It’s very difficult to get this right on the first try, but don’t let that stop you. (It’s also easy to test variations later.)
Now you have your ideal prospect’s attention. Instead of writing an ad, I want you to imagine the following scenario. You’re on a plane sitting next to someone who you have just realized is your ideal prospect. They have seen the question you formulated a moment ago, and they mention that they have been asking themselves that exact question for years.
What would you say? You’d probably start by making it clear that you’ve thought about the question professionally for a long time to so you could make that connection, establish credibility and demonstrate authority.
Imagine, for example, you and I were sitting next to each other on a plane and I wrote down the following question:
“Ever wondered how to create a steady stream of customers using Google Ads and Facebook advertising?”
I wouldn’t beat you over the head with credentials, but when I realized you were interested I might say something like “I’ve been thinking about this question a lot too. I’ve run a digital marketing agency for twenty one years, worked with more than 165 clients, and managed tens of millions of dollars in ad spend and I can share a few ideas I’ve found valuable.”
I wouldn’t list all the awards I’ve won, name-drop all of my high-profile clients, or recite a testimonial from an authority.
(My father used to describe the former as commanding respect, and the latter as demanding it. In my experience, commanding respect is far better. At the same time, don’t be unnecessarily humble. One of my good friends occasionally reminds me that “it’s not bragging if you can do it”.)
Once I established my credibility / authority, my first priority would be to tell you a few things that are critically important about the question I asked initially that made the connection (creating a stream of steady customers on Google Ads and Facebook). I wouldn’t get into the weeds, but I would share what I think are the 3-5 most important things you would want to know.
Then, I would show you where the quicksand is by explaining the most important reasons this might not be a good fit. For example, if you’re not interested in paying for traffic, your customers aren’t easily accessible online, you don’t have a web presence, etc.
Remember that this has to be genuine. I see this done wrong a lot where objections are set up specifically to further the sale. For example — “But, if you’re not interested in making a ton of money effortlessly on the beach and don’t have enough garage space for all of the exotic cars you can buy, then this isn’t for you…” Give me a break.
Finally, you need to give someone instructions about what they need to do next, and be very clear about what they will need to do when they take that action. Let’s assume that you sell by live webinars every Thursday at 8:00 p.m. ET, and someone needs to opt-in with a valid email address to watch that webinar. Instead of waiting until the landing page to reveal that, include it in the ad copy.
Why? Because some people don’t watch webinars, they aren’t available at 8:00 p.m. ET Thursdays, and / or they don’t like to share their email address. By being clear right up front about what happens next, the people who won’t take action don’t click through (which keeps your data cleaner and is better for everyone).
Again, I don’t like templates, but this should be the outline to get you started.
Ask a powerful question that is deeply important to your ideal prospect.
Quickly (and with appropriate humility) explain your experience and expertise relative to that question.
Share your top 3-5 insights without getting deep in the weeds. Remember the person you’re talking to doesn’t know what you know, so use clear, conversational language.
Then, be honest about any factors that would disqualify someone from benefiting from whatever you have to offer.
Finally, tell them what to do next and what will be involved. Don’t justify or sugarcoat anything — if someone needs to watch a 90-minute webinar to understand your offer, tell them that.
My advice — use the three lists you created in lesson three for reference, and record yourself going through this outline like you’re having a real conversation. Even better, record the actual conversation with a prospect, transcribe it, and then edit lightly.
Every ‘unicorn’ ad I’ve ever seen — the ads with ridiculously great performance — all have used some version of the outline above.
Now it’s time for you to get to work…
NEXT: Know Your Numbers