Are you an eCommerce company?
Want to increase sales and generate more revenue?
In this article you’ll discover the most effective Facebook ad types for eCommerce that you can use to sell more product.
How to sell on Facebook effectively
When it comes to selling products on Facebook it isn’t as simple as positioning sales based campaigns to cold audiences.
Although these types of campaigns can be effective in the short term, you’ll find that you quickly saturate the hyper-responsive group in your cold audience and then effectiveness decreases.
Instead, you want to use the ALL Framework to warm up your cold audiences with video content and then remarket the engaged people with product based campaigns at Level 1, as well as targeting ads to your website traffic at Level 2.
Now you know when to position sales based campaigns in your Facebook ads funnel, let’s look at some of the most effective ad types you can use in your campaigns.
#1 Carousel Ad Format
The carousel ad format is one of the most effective formats to use for product positioning at Level 1 of the ALL Framework. This is because they are more interactive for users than the single image or single video format and this creates a greater number of engagements with your ad as well as increasing the time spent on the ad.
The anatomy of an eCommerce carousel ad
When looking at Facebook ads you can break an ad into three different components. 1: The copy, 2: the creative, 3: Headlines and CTAs.
Copy: Using the Snap, Benefit, Action (SBA) copy method you grab your audiences’attention (in this example with a discount offer) and drive traffic to your website to find out more and purchase.
Creative:The multiple cards in the carousel format enable you to vary the creative in your ad and use both product videos and product images to hold your audiences’attention and hook their engagement.
Headline & CTA:Repeating your Snap headline again in your first two carousel cards reinforces the offer. Adding additional cards for each of the core features provides important information about your product to further drive consideration. Using the “Shop Now” call to action on each card reinforces the buyer’s intent.
How to create an eCommerce carousel ad
To create a carousel ad navigate to the ad level of your campaign. Next, either create a new ad in your campaign or if you have just created a new campaign, select your draft ad and select edit. Then scroll to the create ad section.
Click on “Ad with multiple images or videos in a carousel” to select the Carousel format and then write your ad copy in the text box below, using the SBA Copy Method.
Once you’ve added your copy, move onto the individual carousel cards. By default three cards will have been created in your ad, however you can add up to ten cards by simply clicking on the + icon.
Next, create each of the cards in your carousel, starting with your strongest creative such as a short product video and don’t forget to repeat your Snap in the headline of the first two cards as this will be the first thing your audience sees in the Newsfeed.
Continue to create as many cards to match the core features of your product offering, with the URL linking to the product page.
TIP: When using a promo code as part of your product offer, repeat the code in the carousel card description to ensure your audience doesn’t forget the code by the time they get to checkout.
Finally, select the “Shop Now” call to action and ensure that your Pixel tracking toggle is enabled.
#2 Slideshow Video Format
The slideshow format is one of the most underutilised formats, yet it can transform the effectiveness of your campaign by grouping individual product images into a video format.
Best used at Level 2 of the ALL Framework, when your target audience has already visited your product pages, a slideshow creative of the product images on your website coupled with the Testimonial part of the RTM method is a great recipe for increasing sales.
In this ad example from Belo & Me you can see each ad component in action:
Copy: By starting with a product testimonial (as part of the RTM Method) you can build immediate social proof. Followed, in this example, by a discount offer on the product to help reduce the risks associated with purchasing from a new company.
Creative: A slideshow video of multiple product images, of which some are taken from the product landing page to maximise Ad Landing Page Continuity (ALPC),so that the user doesn’t abandon the page once they click on the ad.
Headline & CTA: Discount offer presented as the main headline along with the discount code as the newsfeed link description and the “Shop Now” CTA to reinforce the buying intent behind the ad.
How to create an eCommerce slideshow ad
Again, as with the carousel example, navigate to the ad level of your campaign and select your draft ad to edit.
Once the edit window appears, scroll to the create ad section and Select “Ad with an image or video.”
Next, click on the video/slideshow toggle and click on “Create Slideshow”. The slideshow creation window will now appear.
Add your photos by either selecting them from your library or uploading them from your computer. The maximum you can use is ten images. Then, choose the aspect ratio. The optimal format for maximum screen impact as well as the easiest to match with the relevant product images on your website is the square 1:1 ratio.
Now set your slide duration and your transition effect. Slideshows can only be a maximum of 15 seconds, meaning that the more images you use the shorter the duration for each one.
Finally, set your background music by clicking on the Music tab and either uploading your own or selecting from Facebook’s own library.
Once you are happy with your slideshow settings and music click on Create Slideshow. Whilst this is creating you can continue with the rest of the ad creation.
In the Text box add your Testimonial copy followed by your product offer as outlined in the RTM method earlier. Below that, add your product page URL and then complete your headline and link description with the offer and discount code.
TIP:If you are remarketing audiences that are typically smaller in size than top of funnel content audiences, such as video viewers or website traffic, you can use the conversion objective but start by optimising for an action higher up your sales funnel such as an Add to Cart as opposed to Purchase.
#3 Single Video Format
It should come as no surprise that video is the most popular type of content on Facebook right now. It seems that every other post in the Newsfeed is some type of video from either a friend or brand.
Videos are able to grab your target audience’s attention in the Newsfeed and then hold that attention for greater engagement. By using videos in your advertising, you can get ahead of your competitors who are using only images to sell their products.
The single video format allows you to use a main video as your creative and one of the best types of videos for eCommerce is the product explainer video.
Copy: In this example, Simba have introduced their new Hybrid mattress with a feature statement about the five layers of springs and memory foam, followed by the benefit to the end customer.After all, customers buy benefits not features.
Creative: The 90 second single video gives a walk-though of the technology and features behind the new mattress along with their impact on the use of the product. Created in the 1:1 square ratio it will take up more of the newsfeed than a standard 16:9 rectangle video.
Headline & CTA: As this isn’t a direct promotional ad, there’s no price incentive so the headline is just the product name and the call to action is Shop Now. Although given the content of the ad,the Learn More call to action could work equally well.
How to create an eCommerce single video ad
Like with the previous how-to sections, you first want to navigate to the ad level of your campaign. Once there, select your ad and click on edit.
In the edit pop out window, scroll down to Create Ad and as with the slideshow video ensure that “Ad with an image or video” is selected. Then, click on the Video/Slideshow toggle and click on Select Video.
From the video selection window choose the video you want from your library or upload the video from your computer. For videos with spoken word, make sure to include a captions file or embed captions into the video itself. That way when the video is auto played in the Newsfeed with the sound off your target audience can still understand it.
Complete the rest of your ad by creating your ad copy, headline and selecting your call to action. Use the SBA copy method that we covered earlier to create your ad copy where appropriate.
For example, alongside a product demo video you could also offer a promotion on that particular product as opposed to just presenting the features and benefits.
Once finished click on Publish and set your new campaign live.
Conclusion
Facebook advertising can be a highly profitable marketing channel for eCommerce companies thanks to the different types of ad formats.
Carousel, Slideshow and Single Video ad types allow you to visually present your eCommerce products and position offers to drive people to your website and generate new sales.
What do you think?
What ad types are you using for your eCommerce business?
Let me know by leaving a quick comment below.
About Charlie Lawrance
Charlie Lawrance is the Founder and CEO of Gecko Squared, a digital marketing agency that specialises in Facebook advertising. His clients include eCommerce companies, software companies and professional service businesses. Stay in touch by liking his Facebook Page (Charlie Lawrance).