Advertoscope | B2B Marketing Strategy and Tactics

Does creating Facebook ads feel like a guessing game? Or do you just throw something out there to see what sticks? It doesn't have to be that way! There's a scientifically proven Facebook ad template to guide you. (More than one, actually). Some researchers out in Israel discovered some secret recipes to create better ads. I've translated these into six Facebook Ad templates for you. And since Facebook ads can be one of the best ways to get website traffic to fuel your paid lead generation strategies, why not take a more scientific approach? In Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, Chip and Dan Heath explore what makes ideas “sticky.” The whole book is worth a read, but one study they mention in the introduction is especially interesting. The study is called “The Fundamental Templates of Quality Ads”. It describes six creativity templates that can drastically improve the quality of your ads. The best part is that the results show that you don't have to be a pro to use these templates effectively. These templates will work for any ad medium, but we'll focus on using the templates for creating Facebook ads because that's one of the most popular digital advertising platforms at the moment. Here's what we'll cover in this article: An overview of the study. Explanations of each template (with examples) How you can use these creativity templates for creating Facebook ads that get results. Six Facebook Ad Templates for Creating Ads That Work. When you picture a marketing team developing ideas, you might envision a bunch of suits in a brainstorming session. Or average joes in a focus group, watching ads and filling out surveys. Or, if you're like some digital marketers out there, you might not picture much of a process at all. Just toss a link into an ad, make sure the image gets pulled in OK, add a couple of lines of text, and hope for the best. Maybe you split test some different graphics or headlines, and hope you'll eventually land on something that works. What if there's a better way? Three professors at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem School of Business Administration found that there is. Led by Jacob Goldenberg (coauthor of Inside the Box), these professors conducted studies to determine whether patterns might exist to “help in ‘organizing’ the creative process by promoting routes that have been proven to lead to productive ideas and avoiding those that do not.” In other words, is there a way to develop effective ad concepts more efficiently? The Study. First, the researchers looked at 200 awarding-winning ads and 200 ads that had not received awards. They found that the award winners all fit into one of six templates. After that, they had three groups of people make ads. One group was left to their own devices, one was taught a free association technique for brainstorming, and. the third group was taught about the six templates. The ads created by each group were then judged on likability and memorability. The study found that viewers liked and remembered the ads created with the six creativity templates much better than the others. So whether you’re the owner of a mom-and-pop store or a 21st century Don Draper, you should know these templates. They don’t dictate the content of a creative ad, and they aren’t set in stone, but they should be used to inform your creative decisions in order to develop ads that are more memorable and enjoyable. A Disclaimer. These templates are based on award-winning ads. In my opinion, winning an award doesn't mean anything if the ad isn't actually effective. However, the research shows that ads created with these templates have a positive effect on brand attitude judgments and recall. While these templates have been shown to be effective, I wonder if there may be other schemas that are as (or even more) effective than these. Perhaps the most effective ads just aren't awards show material. That said, while there may be other effective templates out there, these have been scientifically proven to get results. So if you want to increase the odds of success when you're creating Facebook ads, these templates are worth a try. 1. The Pictorial Analogy Template. “The pictorial analogy template portrays situations in which a symbol is introduced into the product space. This template has two versions: The replacement version and the extreme analogy version. In the extreme analogy version the symbol is taken to the extreme whereas in the replacement version it is merely transplanted.” The pictorial analogy template combines some element of your product with a symbol of the benefit you're highlighting. Here are some examples: Replacement. Extreme Analogy. 2. The Extreme Situation Template. “The extreme situation template represents situations that are unrealistic in order to enhance the prominence of key attributes of a product or service. This category includes three versions: The absurd alternative version, the extreme attribute version, and the extreme worth version.” The Extreme Situation template uses outlandish circumstances to demonstrate a highlighted attribute. Extreme Attribute. 3. The Consequences Template. “The consequences template indicates the implications of either executing or failing to execute the recommendation advocated in the ad. There are two versions of this template: the extreme consequences version and the inverted consequences version. The inverted consequences version warns against the implications of not executing the recommendation of the ad.” This template exaggerates the consequences of using (or not using) your product in a way that highlights a key attribute of your product. Extreme Consequences. Inverted Consequences. 4. The Competition Template. “The competition template portrays situations in which the product is subjected to competition with another product or event from a different class. The selection of the other product or event is guided by its expected superiority over the advertised product. There are three versions of the competition template: The attribute in competition version, the worth in competition version, and the uncommon use version. The difference between the ﬁrst two versions relates to whether the competition pertains to a product attribute or whether it challenges the worth of the product.” It's important to note that this template is not referring to a competition between your products and others in the same space (e.g., the Pepsi Challenge campaign). It's a competition between your product and something outside your product space. Uncommon Use. 5. The Interactive Experiment Template. “The interactive experiment template induces realization of the beneﬁts of the product by requiring the viewer to engage in an interactive experience with the medium in which the ad appears. This can be achieved either by actually engaging in an experiment (the activation version) or by just imagining the performance of such an experiment (the imaginary experiment version).” The Activation Version. The Activation version of this template usually requires more time and money to execute well. It requires an advertisement that is interactive in a way that highlights a key feature of your product. Imaginary Experiment Version. 6. The Dimensionality Alteration Template. “The dimensionality alteration template manipulates the dimension of the product in relation to its environment. It has four versions: The new parameter connection version, the multiplication version, the division version, and the time leap version. In the new parameter connection version of the template, previously unrelated parameters become dependent (e.g., the speed of a new aircraft is demonstrated by reducing the size of the ocean). The multiplication and division versions are executed by multiplying the product and comparing the duplicates,or dividing the product into its components and creating some form of relationship between them.” With this template, you'll change some dimensional factor (e.g., time) in a way that highlights a key attribute of your product. For instance, showing a shiny lock in the dirty old door of a rundown shed in the middle of a post-apocalyptic landscape would tell the consumer that your locks stand the test of time. Time Leap. Division. How to Use Each of These as a Facebook Ad Template. Now I'm going to break down how to turn each of these templates into a Facebook ad template. Before you get started, you'll need to decide what attribute of your product you want to highlight with your ad. Then you'll have to make some lists. The first list is a list of all the components that make up your product space. The second list is a list of elements that fulfill the template-specific component. Then, you'll determine the best way to connect an item from the first list to an item in the second list. Your product space list is made up of "internal components of the product and the objects that interact with it". The second list will depend on the template you choose to use. For the Consequences template, the second list would be a list of consequences that could result from using or not using your product. For the Pictorial Analogy template, the second list would be made up of symbols that represent the attribute you're attempting to highlight. Key Elements of These Facebook Ad Templates. Determine the elements you'll need when you're using one of these Facebook ad templates asking yourself the following questions: Key Attribute. What benefit are you highlighting? Product Space. What elements make up your product? What does it interact with? Template-Specific Components. What symbols, consequences, situations, etc. could you use to emphasize the key attribute? Linking Operator. How will you tie an element from your product space to one of your template-specific components? Since you only have to define your product space once, you should develop a list of template-specific components for each template. That way you can decide which template...

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