I’ll concentrate on Facebook ads because that’s where I’ll be conducting this technique. This is because Facebook users are in a “consumption” mode, leisurely perusing newsfeed posts for stuff that could interest them. That is where the proper article headline might pique their interest.
This is our first batch of “cold” pay-per-click advertising. By ” cold ” I mean that they will be shown to brand new audiences that have never seen or heard of your company before. The objective here is to meet new individuals.
Here’s an example of a Facebook ad I made to promote my essay, The Pitfalls of Outsourcing Content (And How to Avoid Them):
Making the Ad
There’s nothing special about this. The idea is for people to click on the ad and read this blog post. So, when Facebook asked what my goal for my ad was, I selected “Traffic” (also known as “clicks to the website”).
Facebook ad goal – Traffic
The ad’s content was then created.
In the wording at the top of the ad, I mentioned the type of person who would be interested in this topic (founders considering outsourcing content). If this line strikes a chord with them, it should pique their interest, causing them to stop scrolling and read the rest of the ad.
Top Facebook Ad Description
Moving down, we arrive at the image. This is also critical for capturing the attention of those who are reading through their newsfeeds. I chose a portrait of a person. In Facebook Ads, I’ve heard that photos of people perform better than graphics and text. And, because the goal of this ad is to promote a blog entry, I chose a simple photo that appears to match.
Maybe later on, I’ll A/B test different photographs to further optimize for clicks, but for now, I want to keep things simple, and I recommend you do as well in the early months.
Another tip: Make sure the ad photo matches the featured image at the top of the blog content. The reader must experience a sense of continuity from Facebook to the advertisement on your blog. Seeing the same image confirms that they’re in the proper spot and reduces the likelihood that they’ll bounce and hit the back button.
Image for a Facebook Ad
Finally, we arrive at the ad’s bottom part, which comprises four components: the headline, the description, the URL, and the button.
The headline should be the same as the headline of the blog entry. Once again, the continuity element comes into play. When designing your blog subjects, it’s critical that your writing staff has a good method for coming up with extremely engaging headlines, especially if those articles will be promoted through PPC advertisements.
The description should be brief and make a promise about how the reader will benefit from clicking and reading this content.
Facebook allows you to change the URL displayed in the ad. That is, you can display a different URL than the one that the ad points to. My advice is to use your domain name here. The domain they see should correspond to the domain they get from the ad. Again, consistency. However, like I did, you can append a key term to the end of the URL that corresponds to the content of the post.
Finally, there is the button text. Unfortunately, you cannot customize this to your heart’s content. Facebook only offers a few options to pick from. I usually use “Learn More” for this type of ad because it most nearly fits what will happen once this button is clicked (if I had a choice, I would use something even more precise, like “Read Now,” but that isn’t an option).
