Last week I showed you how to spy on your competitor’s Facebook ads and targeting. This week I am going to show you what you can practically learn from your competition’s ad campaigns and how you can apply these insights as part of your own FB ad campaign strategy!

Here are four practical things you can learn from your competition today:

#1: Visuals are king

Facebook is full of ads. Aim for a creative that will stop customers from scrolling through their feed and own their attention. 

Only now might they read your headline and primary text and continue to click on your CTA.

In order to learn from your competitors, see what images they are using. in their ads. Pay special attention to image variations in terms of colors or camera angels for example. Make it a habit to visit your competitor’s Ad Library periodically. Over the course of time, you may notice that certain image has disappeared while others are being used more and more. This means you have hit pure gold as you have now figured out which visuals work best with which products at your competition's expense. Now all you need to do is apply these insights to your own FB ad images.

Let's illustrate how this works using TOMS, the shoe company as an example.

They are currently running ads for their shoes using closeups, medium shots, and long shots. I am looking to analyze the different image variations they are currently using - is it more of a lifestyle shot (like the image on the right)? or is the focus on the product itself (as with the image on the left)?

If I were to come back in a few weeks to TOMS Ad Library and see that they have eliminated most of their long shots or lifestyle shots in favor of product close-ups as in this case:

The key here is ad maturity! The longer an ad is being circulated by a certain brand, the higher the likelihood that it is high-converting and worth investing money in something similar. This is true of both images and ad copy.

#2: Headlines

These are super important as they appear adjacent to the Facebook CTA button ie ‘Learn More’ or ‘Buy Now’. Have a look at your competitions headlines and see what they are using:

• Do they ask a question?
• Create a dialogue with the CTA button?
• Or simply state a fact or a benefit of the product they are selling. 

Have a look at Tom & Teddy, a men’s swimwear company that has a very Unique Sales Proposition (USP) - matching bathing suits for fathers and sons. Let’s have a look at one of their Facebook ad sets:

The headline here reads: ‘Premium Australian Swimwear - Free Shipping’. A competing company could learn from this by also mentioning where their clothing is manufactured and by adding a special offer as well such as 30% off your second pair (more on this in a bit).

Another thing worth mentioning is that 'free shipping' is a very powerful and effective way to encourage sales in the field of eCommerce. Even if you increase the item's price so that the customer essentially pays for the shipping, this is a very worthwhile buyer offer to use!

#3: Primary Text

When examining your competition's primary text, consider the following:

• Is your competition using long-form or short-form copy? 
• Does your competition use emojis? If yes - which ones do they use most frequently?
• Do they use a very serious and formal tone or are they ‘light’, humorous and conversational? 
• Are they adapting their messaging for a certain niche?

Rihanna with her cosmetics brand called Fenty Beauty uses niche-driven text to promote her black pencil. A competitor can learn from this and similarly tap into a new audience niche.

The primary text of this ad reads: “Fly lines every time with CUZ I'M BLACK, an ultra black that glides on smooth + stays put. Get all 20 shades of FLYPENCIL at Sephora”.

#4: Special Offer

Another great thing to learn from your competition is what special offers they are using. This will give you an idea of what type of offers will best motivate your target audience to take a desired action. Are they using:

• Buy one get one free
• Discount based offer
• A time-limited offer 
• A free sample

Target, for example, is currently using ‘get free 2-day shipping’ on petcare related items. This may teach others in the pet care industry that free shipping is important for pet owners but it does not need to be overnight as this is not a matter of urgency.

Novarize provides insights into what type of promotion works best for your audience:

 Summing It Up

To recap, the most important things to look at when spying on your competition’s FB ads are:

1. Visuals
2. Headlines
3. Primary text
4. Audiences

All the information you want and need to succeed with Facebook ads is right there in front of you, all you need to do is connect the dots! And remember - ORIGINALITY is irreplaceable! You should definitely be inspired by your competition but it is a business imperative to develop your own individual brand voice and identity.

Please comment below -

What was ONE thing you learned from your competition on FB which had a HUGE impact on the results you saw from your Facebook ad campaigns?