We’ve been talking a lot about marketing with Facebook and programmatic ads, but we haven’t discussed what makes a successful ad design. You can gather the right audience, build appealing assets, and create landing pages, but if the ad itself doesn’t draw the audience’s attention, it won’t be a successful campaign.

Here are 3 must-haves for a successful social or mobile advertisement design.

Image

For most ad platforms, the image dominates the ad space. The right image draws the viewer’s attention away from whatever they were looking at to your ad. Put yourself in viewers’ shoes – what would draw your attention? Most likely you’re thinking of a high definition professional image that’s related to your content offer … and that’s critical. Don’t lead the audience astray by making them think they’re clicking on something they aren’t. You’ll quickly lose trust.

Catchy text

No matter which platform you use, there won't be much space for text, so choose wisely; give the audience the information they need to decide if they want to click on the ad. Make it short, descriptive, and attention-grabbing. And don’t forget to read the requirements about the amount of text allowed on a design; some platforms, including Facebook, will penalize you for too much text.

Call-to-action

The call-to-action often seems like an afterthought, but without it, your results will suffer. Without a call-to-action, the audience doesn’t know what to do. People like knowing the next step and what they’re clicking. For example, if your ad is going to a landing page with a downloadable asset, use something like “Download Now.” Or, if you want someone to watch a video, use something like “Watch Now.” The call-to-action should match the … well, action.

Marketing with advertising platforms like Facebook and programmatic is essential, but it’s a waste of time and effort if you don’t have a well-designed ad. To talk about how to design great ads or start campaigns, contact us!