Online Entrepreneurs #01: How to Write Potent & Compliant Facebook Ad Copy

Josh from Scoreify here. A blessed Thanksgiving weekend to you and yours!

I hope you have a billion reasons to be thankful, today and always.

One reason, albeit a minor one, I sure hope, was bumper Black Friday sales for your ecomm store.

Talking of Black Friday, Facebook ads are a major revenue driver for most of you, all year round. This year, Black Friday recorded an increase of 7.5% from last year in the US. I hope you all got a piece of that $9.8 Billion dollar pie. 

And while there is no denying the terrific potential of this ad platform, it will be in your interest to never forget the #1 commandment for Facebook ads.

Thou Shall Strive to be Facebook-Compliant.

I am bringing this up because I have come across many business owners who have a tendency to push the envelope in this area.

What’s more, it is easy to learn the technical side of Facebook ads like campaign set-up, pixel tracking, using CAPI etc.

But, what’s not easy is writing effective, yet compliant ad copy that earns a good ROAS.

For example, most of you have struggled with Facebook’s “personal attribute” policy at some time or another.

Here’s what it states:

We don't allow advertisers to run ads that assert or imply the personal attributes of the viewer of an ad, such as their race or age. Instead, we recommend that you focus your ad on the benefits of your products or services whenever possible.

So, let’s take a moment to dive deeper into how to write compliant, yet potent ad copy for a very popular ecomm niche: skincare/beauty.

Here are some examples of phrases that do NOT comply with Facebook’s “personal attribute” policy:

Looking old/older

Unattractive

Treats aging skin

To stay in Facebook’s good books, you can, instead, remind them of their long term goals or paint a picture of heaven. Like this:-

An all-natural way to healthier, more luminous skin?

How to keep skin glowing, even after a long day

How to make heads turn (and your friends green with envy)

* Look at how Gymshark focuses on how their new line makes them look great after a workout session. Notice how they use a wide shot as well, instead of focusing on a singular body part of the model.

Also, avoid talking in second person; stay in first-person or third person instead:-

How hundreds are using this proven technique to revitalize their skin

Even women at Starbucks complimented me for my looks!

Even my husband noticed how hot I looked!

I couldn’t believe the difference!

I could believe how soft my skin felt!

Note, how I avoid using any words that evoke negativity.

And how I avoid talking in second person (never, ever use ‘you’ in your copy).

Broadly speaking, Facebook is interested in keeping more people on their platform, for as long as possible.

Which means, as an advertiser, you must give a positive spin to your copy, like I explained above.

Many business owners are emboldened to use non-compliant copy after seeing other businesses do the same.

But, this somewhat lazy and careless approach might work against you because Facebook is erratic about pulling up businesses for non-compliance.

Which means, your ad account might get flagged for non-compliance, even when your competitors are merrily running ads, using the exact same trigger words.

Or, if your ad is approved, Facebook might punish you with higher ad costs.

As someone who has has helped more than 1300 businesses keep their Facebook ad accounts in good standing,

I would strongly suggest you put in some more thought, some more work so that you can run traffic to potent, yet completely compliant ad copy.

It’s beyond the scope of this blog post to discuss all of Facebook ads policies.

But I would urge you to go through them and understand how they apply to you and your business.

If this is something not up your alley, hire a copywriter/media buyer who knows his chops.

I hope this helped.

Please get back to us with your questions, thoughts, and comments.

Next week, I will talk a bit about how to isolate winning metrics, and improve your ROAS on Facebook.