The Facebook Roundup: Volume 3
If you haven’t seen the others then be sure to check out part one and part two to get up to speed.
As per usual…
Those that land in our “good” selection are ones which really bring forth best practices, creativity, and effectiveness. The “bad” are ones that had a possibility at potential but weren’t exactly making the cut. For the “worst”, and we mean no hard feelings to those at the bottom of the list, is that special feeling you get when your stomach doesn’t settle (that sudden lump in the back of your throat).
So let’s begin with Volume 3.
The Good
The “winner” for this week has to be Moo.com (a company that has really made its mark on providing business card printing services).
The body copy brings just enough interest to pique your interest to view the image which is the main selling point in this ad
The image is glorious because those are business cards you never see in the while and although they may be impractical it still shows the unique side of Moo and those that use the service
The keyword that helps it stands out is their inclusion of “unique” which matches the image
The bottom copy may be a little egotistic but we can’t help but feel like we’d be making a good choice by choosing their business
Overall it’s an ad that will catch you eye as you’re scrolling through. Though we didn’t show the comments we can tell you they were very positive which, as a consumer, reassures you’re in for a treat.
The Bad
Falling into the “bad” would be the ad we found for Upstart.
The ad is actually quite fine when you pass over it but then you start to notice the little things that makes it exactly that… passable.
Which “generation” are we talking about here? We know this is targeting a particular age group but it’s still somewhat vague (though you do have to admit it is inspirational)
The image works (not too engaging but then again not too bad)
Hashtags are great to get people behind a movement but #PayItOff does seem a little forced in this situation but nonetheless at least it’s something fresh in these FB ads
The copy is snappy but it still leaves you wondering what exactly you’re getting into with their service
Not a whole lot of interaction from the community which isn’t so reassuring since it may be the first time someone has heard of the company
There’s just something about this FB ad that doesn’t sit well. The filter effect on the photo helped it to stand out but it also gives it a slight twinge of unprofessionalism especially when you’re talking about a company that provides debt relief. More about what they do in the copy would have been nice, too.
The Ugh-bland
We weren’t expecting Progressive to be on the bottom of our list this week (that’s for sure).
There’s really just one word for this ad: bland.
The way that ad looks comes across as something your “inspirational” friend would share so you immediately think it’s some new age blog spam about choices in life except in this situation it’s car insurance
The copy is somewhat contradictive in the sense they say the “clear path” is to their business yet the main item they are promoting is what the competition is able to provide (we assume they have better rates but what if they don’t? that makes it awkward)
The “we work…” is okay but it doesn’t have the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) factor that really grabs you emotionally (yeah, every business is working to bring you value but what is this business doing differently from the others?)
Bland, as noted, sums it up. We wouldn’t have even noticed this as we scrolled through the news feed if it wasn’t marked Sponsored (which may or may not be a good thing in terms of native advertising). The ad just feels like something quickly slapped together to use up some advertising budget.
Conclusion
What did we learn this week?
A. Take your typical industry image of a product and turn it upside down – make it unique to your brand so it’s recognizable but becomes a head turner
B. Don’t try to be “hip” when it comes to serious items like finances (you can be fun but money is one of the biggest stressors for people and it’s not exactly attractive when you’re trying to be cool versus professional when it’s needed)
C. Take more than five minutes to choose an image for your advertising
Seen anything good, bad, or ugly this week? Let’s hear it with a comment!
