How To Create Facebook Ads That Stop The Scroll

Want To Learn How To Create Facebook Ads That Stop The Scroll?

We surpassed this client’s goal of 80 purchases a month with 111!

We helped this high-end jewelry client score 5 big purchases from Facebook ads that led to over $3,300 in sales and a return on ad spend of 82.62!

And we helped this orthodontist score 51 leads at just under $6 per lead!

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the success we’ve helped our clients see with Facebook ads.

So what is it about the Facebook ads in those campaigns that worked? 

While there’s a lot that goes into a successful Facebook campaign- and we mean a lot…

…today, we’re going to specifically break down the advertisements themselves.

Because at the end of the day, the ultimate deciding factor in what makes someone click is if the ad they see resonates with them or not.

So in this post, we’re going to show you how to create Facebook ads that stop the scroll. 

Let’s dive into it. 

What Do We Mean By Facebook Ads That “Stop The Scroll”?

On average, people spend 2 hours and 24 minutes on Facebook a day.

And a large part of that is spent scrolling: scrolling through the newsfeed, looking at post after post. 

So why are people scrolling so much, why is it so addictive? We thought this article worded it well.

It said, “During a feel-good activity, like scrolling through Instagram, our brains release the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin.

Thus, the next time someone feels down, their brain will encourage them to return to that occasion, scrolling through social media.”

So what this means is, in a sea of posts that your audience spends a lot of time scrolling through each day, you need to stand out.

Your Facebook ad needs to stop the scroll.

So below, we’re going to share 7 tips to help you create Facebook ads that are scroll-stopping.

7 Tips On How To Create Facebook Ads That Stop The Scroll

1. Use videos
2. If you can’t use videos, use GIFs
3. Give people something intriguing to look at
4. Use copy that speaks to something your audience cares about
5. Sprinkle FUGI into everything
6. A/B test everything you can about your ads
7. Optimize the winning ads and make more of what’s working

Tip #1: Use videos 

We’ve said this before in our previous posts: video ads perform well. 

If you sell products or own an eCommerce store, you should know that 64% of consumers make a purchase after watching branded social videos.  

And if you’re a service-based business, you should know that 96% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service.

And that viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text.

So clearly, no matter whether you’re B2B or B2C, videos play a significant role in your buyer’s purchasing decision.

And those are just some statistics from the consumer’s side. Let’s take a look at some from the marketer or business owner’s side.

• 84% of marketers say that video has helped them generate leads.
• 87% of video marketers report that video gives them a positive ROI.
• And marketers who use video grow revenue 49% faster than non-video users.

We actually made a whole post on how to create view-worthy Facebook video ads which you can read next…

…but the point for you to take away here is that videos do 3 things for your customers.

1. It helps them build trust in your brand. If you’re a small business that nobody’s ever heard of before, this is crucial. 
2. It helps them understand how your product or service can help them and be of value to them, better than static text does.
3. It statistically moves them to purchase more than static text and imagery do. 

The reason videos are so effective is because social media users prefer them and statistically respond better to them.

Thus, making it the leading media type to use when you want to create Facebook ads that stop users mid-scroll.

Now, we have a complete Canva tutorial on how to design short Facebook video ads…

…but even so, let’s say you just don’t have the capacity to create a video ad right now, what else can you do?

Before we answer that, be sure to check our social media ads training course next if you want to grow your knowledge in creating successful social ads.

Tip #2: If you can’t use video, use GIFs

GIFs are animated images. You’ve probably seen us use them in our videos and posts before.

You can make them for free using sites like giphy.com.

You can do this by just uploading a short clip you can take with your smartphone or anything else, and it will automatically make a GIF out of it.

And what’s great is if you use a GIF in your Facebook ads, Ads Manager still views it as a video. 

So GIF views are retargetable the same way as any other video views you collect.

And because GIFs are so short, people are more likely to watch a whole GIF rather than a whole video…

…making it easier for you to collect more video views from it to retarget.

So GIFs give you a lot of the benefits of video without being as labor-intensive.

Plus, the last thing we’ll say about them is they’re usually used in a funny context.

So if humor fits within your brand voice, that could be a great opportunity to get users’ attention…

…by creating a funny or ironic GIF related to your product or service. 

But let’s say, for example, you don’t have the means to use video or GIFs…

…how can you still create Facebook ads that are scroll-stopping using only static images?

Tip #3: Give people something intriguing to look at

While videos are the quickest way to catch someone’s attention, you can still get someone to stop with a static image if you pique their curiosity enough. 

Give them something intriguing to look at. How, you ask? Well here are a few ways:

• Include shocking or intentional imagery

Here’s an example from our top Facebook ad examples post.

This was for a company that provided baby equipment cleaning services, and this was one of their top-performing ads.

An image of a child in a stroller that says, “Your stroller is crawling with more bacteria than a public toilet. Let us clean it.”

It worked because it used that shocking statistic on the image.

And because people are more likely to read the text on the image before reading the smaller caption text.

And in case you hadn’t heard, Facebook did away with their old 20% text rule.

You used to not be allowed to have more than 20% text on an ad image. 

But that is no longer the case, so we would definitely encourage you to experiment with text on your ads to see what draws people in.

• Use carousel ads

If you don’t know what those are, Facebook says,

“The carousel format lets you show 2 or more images and/or videos in a single ad, each with its own headline, description, link, and call to action.

To scroll through a carousel, people swipe on their mobile device or click the arrows on their computer screen.”

If you’re an eCommerce store owner, carousel ads are your friend. 

More specifically, dynamic carousel ads are your friend. 

If someone goes to your website, clicks around through some of your products, adds to cart but doesn’t buy…

…you can retarget them to show them the exact same products they were looking at with dynamic carousel ads.

The collection ads are also another ad format that we would advise eCommerce store owners to look into to create shoppable ads.

But even if you’re not an eCommerce store owner, carousel ads aren’t just for products. 

You can use all of the cards together to create one bigger image, like this example from Facebook here.

You can use the images in succession to illustrate a compelling narrative.

You can walk people through how your business works step by step.

You can use each card to show the benefits of your service, and the list goes on.

Overall, carousel ads are just more effective. Specifically, they are 10 times better than regular ads with a 72% higher CTR than single image ads. 

So if you only have static images to use, then try making a carousel ad out of them. 

• User-generated content or UGC

“UGC is any content—text, videos, images, reviews, etc.—created by people, rather than brands.

And brands will often share UGC on their own social media accounts, website, and other marketing channels.”

In this case, we’re specifically talking about customers who have created any of those things- images, reviews, etc. about your brand…

…and tagged you and/or in some way given you permission to reuse that content in your ads. 

Nearly 80 percent of people say UGC has a high impact on their purchasing decisions.

And it’s because your brand is getting a good word from an unbiased person.

People can easily trust third-party opinions.

In fact, “Consumers are 2.4 times more likely to view user-generated content as authentic compared to content created by brands.”

There’s a statistic out there that says:

“Consumers who end up on an e-commerce site through a user-generated video are 184% more likely to purchase, and spend 45% more.” 

Those numbers are huge, and even though that stat specifically is talking about video…

…it’s safe to assume that other types of user-generated content like reviews, photos, etc. have a similar impact.

So start putting your reviews and photo tags to use when you want to create Facebook ads that stop the scroll.

Tip #4: Use copy that speaks to something your audience cares about

We have talked about this in many posts, so we’re going to keep it short and to the point today.

Your ad needs to speak to your audience’s pain points or goals as they relate to your product or service.

Because if not, why would they care? 

In most cases, there’s nothing about your company that’s going to make them stop scrolling.

The thing that makes them stop scrolling is when they see something that applies to them. 

They see something relevant to a problem they’re trying to solve or a goal they want to achieve, and their brain goes “STOP! What did that say?”

Now if you need help figuring out what your audience’s goals and pain points are, then read our digital marketing for beginners post next

Tip #5: Sprinkle FUGI into everything

For those that don’t know, FUGI is a sales acronym that stands for:

• Fear of loss
• Urgency
• Greed factor
• Indifference

It’s supposed to be the recipe for success in sales, meaning if you use a little bit of all of those techniques in your sales pitch, you’re likely to close. 

And when appropriate, you can sprinkle it throughout your marketing as well to increase your clicks, leads, and conversions. 

Now we showed examples of FUGI in real ads in our top Facebook ad examples post.

So if you want examples of how to insert these into your Facebook ads effectively, check that out. 

But for this post, we just wanted you to be aware of the acronym…

…to have another tool under your belt to get people’s attention when you want to create Facebook ads that stop the scroll.

Tip #6: A/B test everything you can about your ads

Not every ad technique works for every business, and even if you do find a Facebook ad that works well for you, it’s not guaranteed to work forever. 

The market changes, your competitors change, your customers change, and your ad approach needs to change with it. 

So the solution to all of this is to A/B split test your ads.

A/B split testing “is where you test multiple ads or ad sets out at the same time, with 1 variable changed among them, to see what performs best.”

Let’s say you make a Facebook ad addressing a specific pain point, and it doesn’t do well.

Then what? If that’s the only ad you ran, it doesn’t give you much to go off of. 

You don’t know what it is about the ad that your customers didn’t like. 

Was the graphic not eye-catching enough? Was the copy not relevant enough?

Running 1 ad doesn’t make any of that clear.

But let’s say you ran 3 different ads to the same audience, all addressing different pain points. 

The ad that performs best out of those 3 is telling as to what your customers care about more as it relates to your product or service. 

And it doesn’t stop there.

There are endless things you can A/B split test about your ads, like ads with people vs no people in them.

You can also test different brand colors against each other, different verbiage, different trends, etc.

We have a whole post on Facebook ad testing, so be sure to read it if you want to learn more about how to properly conduct an A/B split test.

But for the sake of learning how to create Facebook ads that stop the scroll…

…you need to at least be aware that A/B split testing is a great method to do just that.

Because once you’ve received a fair amount of data from your A/B tests, you’ll be able to move on to the final step.

Tip #7: Optimize the winning ads and make more of what’s working

Finding the winning ad, or in other words, the best-performing ad out of a group that you’ve A/B tested, is a great feeling.

But that shouldn’t be where your efforts stop. 

If you’ve conducted A/B split testing correctly, your winning ads should tell you exactly what made that person stop mid-scroll.

And from there, you can create more ads with those features sprinkled in. 

So that wraps up everything we had for you today!

Hopefully, you now know how to create Facebook ads that stop users from scrolling.

If you need more help with your Facebook ads, don’t hesitate to contact us!

Or head over to our website today to check out our Facebook advertising services. We’ll see you there!

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