As competition on Facebook increases and changes come to the platform…
…it’s important you know the top ad trends so that you can use them to promote your business.
Let’s take a look at what’s trending on Facebook.
We practically live on Facebook. We need to stay up-to-date so we can run the best ads for clients (and teach you the best ways to market your business).
If you run ads, it’s important for you to know ad trends on each platform so you can choose to participate in it or not.
Either way, you’re making an informed decision for your ad strategy.
In today’s post, we’re going to go over some Facebook ad trends that we and other digital marketers have noticed…
…and that we predict will continue into the future.
Note that we’re focusing on paid Facebook ad trends here.
These are the trends we see in the paid ad world:
Let’s get started!
6 Facebook Ad Trends Marketers Should Know About
1. Prioritize Short-Form Video
With the absolute takeover of TikTok and the success of Reels on Instagram, Facebook is joining ranks and prioritizing short-form video.
This applies to organic and paid ads. Users are just more likely to engage with videos.
Here are some other reasons to use video in your paid ads:
- Users spend 5 times longer looking at video ads compared to static image ads.
- 71% of consumers find Facebook video ads relevant or highly relevant.
- Facebook video ads have a low CPC, only at $1.86.
- Facebook video ads have the potential to reach over 2.1 billion people.
By now, we all know that TikTok is the current darling of social media.
In fact, the short-form video app has been so successful that every other network has adopted some version of TikTok in hopes of competing.
On Instagram, it’s Reels, while on YouTube, it’s Shorts…
…you catch our drift.
Speaking of YouTube Shorts, check out this post next to learn more about it.
When you’re running video ads on Facebook, follow these best practices:
- Capture attention in the first 3 seconds to prevent the scroll.
- Introduce your brand in the first 5 seconds.
2. Create Native Ads
The next one on our list of Facebook ad trends is that don’t take users out of the experience of their feeds.
Users prefer ads that don’t feel like an ad. They’ll still be labeled “sponsored”, and you can sell to them…
…but the content should look and feel like organic content they’re consuming from their favorite pages.
TikTok has been a case study in this.
Native ads are so successful that TikTok’s recommendations to businesses advertising on the platform are to make “TikToks not ads”.
This trend is crossing over to other platforms and will be here to stay for a while.
Here’s how you can make native ads:
- Spend time on the platform liking the page and content your ideal customer would like.
Familiarize yourself with the aesthetic and written style of the content.
- Analyze how your product and brand fit within this aesthetic.
It shouldn’t feel forced. It’s okay to use templates for design (like from Canva) so long as you customize them.
- Think outside the social network.
You can buy sponsored articles on news outlets, blogs, and other websites.
- Use influencers.
Don’t stress about getting a huge influencer. Go for micro-influencers with a dedicated following. Let them make the ad for you.
This helps with social proof too. If you want to learn more about social proof, read this post on marketing psychology.
3. Use Emojis in Copy & Design
If you thought the emoji was out, well, you probably changed your mind after you saw Drake’s album cover.
If you’re not sure what emoji to use, this website has real-time stats for emoji use. It can be easy to stare at so just – watch yourself.
Each business and audience will have different emoji preferences.
You’ll want to consider that before you dive into writing novels using only emojis.
We recommend A/B testing your copy, one version using no emojis, the other using emojis. This way, you’re making an educated choice.
Emoji Use Best Practices
While we do encourage emoji use, you should know that there are some best practices to follow.
We’re in the “rules are made to be broken” kind of advertising crowd, but you gotta know them to break them, right?
-
Don’t overuse emojis.
Can you replace all of your text with emojis? Probably. And it makes for a fun movie title guessing game… but should you?
Probably not. Overstuffing copy with emojis can come across as spammy to some audiences, and perfectly normal to others.
You’ll need to research this and test it for your audiences.
-
There are inappropriate emojis.
Yes, if you can believe it, there are certain emojis that are more appropriate for some businesses than others.
Certain emojis don’t mean what you think they mean, that’s all we’ll say.
It’s good to just double-check how your planned emoji is being used by the internet today, just to avoid any unhappy accidents.
-
Include emojis in your brand strategy.
When creating the branding for your business you probably thought about:
- fonts,
- colors,
- mood boards, and
- aesthetics.
But did you consider branded emojis?
Pick from existing emojis or get some custom created for you. Either way, choosing some on-brand emojis you can use in copy is a good idea.
4. Stories & Reels Ads
Moving on to the next one on our list of Facebook ad trends are short video ads.
Jumping on the short video train, Facebook is putting emphasis on Stories and Reels.
You can run ads to Stories on Facebook and Instagram via the Facebook Ads Manager.
You can currently only run ads to Instagram Reels, but Facebook recently announced that FB Reels ads are coming soon.
Users on Facebook and Instagram are using Stories and Reels, so it’s important to work them into your organic content and your paid ads.
If these ads work well for your business, that may be a cue to join TikTok and see if you can find a new audience on a new platform with similar content.
Speaking of Facebook Stories, read our post on Facebook Stories 2024 to learn more about this new FB feature.
5. Augmented Reality Ads
With Augmented Reality, you can let the customer experience your product or business in some way.
You may have used AR yourself to “try on” glasses or place a piece of furniture in your home.
When someone taps your ad, they’ll see overlay instructions that tell them how to interact with the ad.
Include a CTA to visit the website or make a purchase (or whatever your goal is).
Users will be able to record or take photos of them interacting with your ad and can share it in their feed and Stories.
Using AR For Your Ads
Facebook uses AR Spark to create the AR effects for the platform. You’ll want to find a partner who knows AR Spark and can use the platform.
There are a ton of tutorials on the platform, so if you’re interested in learning more about AR, we’d check it out there.
Any effect you create must meet both of the following requirements:
- The Spark AR Review Policies to publish on the Spark AR Hub.
- The Facebook Advertising Policies to create an ad.
6. Go for Concise Copy and Short Headlines
Our appetite for content is not decreasing.
If anything, it’s increasing. But so is the amount of content available for us to consume.
On Facebook alone, 350 million photos are uploaded daily. 500 million people watch videos every single day.
The average user spends 33 minutes a day on the platform.
We have attention spans. Just not for uninteresting or irrelevant content.
Make sure you capture attention quickly – in the first 3 seconds of the video – and focus on only the most important message for your goal.
Your ideal customers will then get to choose to spend more time on your in-depth content like:
- long-form videos,
- blog posts or articles, and
- your email content.
Conclusion
So we know, it really helps us choose content to create for you in the future. Which Facebook ad trends do you think we’ll see more of on this platform?
If you want a Facebook advertising agency to help you set up, create, and maintain great ads, give us a call at 304-596-7925.
This post has no references.