Ads that work on Facebook

One of the main difference between advertising on Google adwords and Facebook is that images are allowed on Facebook. When advertising on Facebook a slightly different approach is needed.

Facebook advertising rules to be followed

1. While on Google adwords the aim is to show the advertisement as often as you can a different approach works on Facebook. Research shows that users are likely to click on that advertisement that is less likely to be repeated versus advertisements which are seen often. Therefore buy impressions miserly. Of course the content of the advertisement has to enticing enough. In the end the mantra is lower your impression rate (I know it sounds weird but it is correct). You can find more about this on FBadslab.
2. Though this is true for Google advertisement network as well make your advertising enticing. The aim of the advertisement has to be to distract the user from the present task and get him to click on your advertisement. Therefore the bait has to be good which means the advertisement has to tie to a promotion or discount. 
3. On Facebook test multiple images in one campaign. Each copy in the campaign try to use a different image which is unique and provides a unique hook to the customer. 
4. The conversion ratio or percentage is low on Facebook. The average conversion rate is 0.02% which is much lower than the average adwords conversion percentage which is 0.04%. Therefore businesses that are new to Facebook sometimes panic when they get low conversion rates. 

What type of images to use in Facebook advertisements

Research done by  Jennifer Sheahan at FDAdslab.com shows that the following type of images bring about the best results when used with Facebook advertisements

1. Happy Women
2. Colorful logos
3. Headshots

If you are interested in knowing more about online marketing there is a great post at Search Engine Land about how to create effective Social Advertising.