Why Creativity is Working Formula for Facebook Ads

Now if online marketing was easy, it wouldn't be any fun anymore - would it?

However, when you’re dealing with a massive social network like Facebook, it does seem as if there are only a few brands out there with the mass appeal that everyone truly hopes for. So what is it about those brands that just seems to bring people in by the truckload?

Could it be that they’re spending more money than everyone else? Is it something in the psychology of users to only go with huge brands instead of following smaller brands?

Well, while those things do have their place in marketing, the truth of the matter is simply that not every low to mid-level Facebook marketer is creative enough to build up a thorough base of loyal fans.

Creativity is exactly what sells on Facebook, and if you’re not willing and ready to be creative, you’re not going to have success.Because of new features like Sponsored Stories, and due to the site’s enormous potential for social context, only the most creative ads bring in conversions.

Creative Ad Campaigns to Draw Inspiration From

 To understand what sells on Facebook and why, you first have to look at how the creative ad campaigns out there are enticing people to sign up for promotions and contests, to submit their photos and email addresses, to provide feedback and support for a product or feature, etc. In other words, creative ad campaigns are involving users with brands in creative ways.

1. Electronic Arts UK EA’s creative campaigning idea was to leverage events to get people interested in the ad campaign. Of course, this brand was large enough and had enough resources to actually host six separate events at UK shopping malls, but even a small business could emulate this formula by offering a small-scale live event somewhere, or even by handing out gift certificates to lucky winners.
2.  Vitamin Water Although Vitamin Water is a large company, they had a brilliant idea that any company of any size can employ. Instead of creating a new flavor of beverage in the labs and then testing it out on the public and attempting to market it to everyone, they instead asked Facebook users to submit their suggestions on what the new flavor should be. This is a play on something M&Ms did a long time ago, and it’s something you could easily do with your business. 
3. Dominos The Dominos Superfans promotion was an application that allowed the biggest and boldest fans of the pizza giant to receive coupons and various promotional codes for huge savings. This was creative due to the app and th
   e process in general, not necessarily because of the promotions. 

So remember that creativity always needs to lead the way. The more creative you’re willing to be in a campaign, the more fans you’re ultimately going to pick up. Facebook users appreciate diversity in the brands. So remember there’s a fine line between drawing inspiration and plagiarizing.

If you are looking for other factors to insure the success for your Facebook campaign, check out this article that includes a checklist. 

Guest post from Craig Robinson, Editor for the Facebook Ad campaign tool Qwaya.com and who  writes about other Social Media trends and social context on Internet.