Writing Ad Copy for Facebook
If images make you stop scrolling through your Facebook feed, it’s the ad copy that will ultimately result in a click.
There are a few things to keep in mind when writing ad copy for Facebook:
Sometimes targeting is easy: if you’re trying to increase mammograms, you will want to target women over the age of 40.
But what if you’re trying to push a heart screening? What does that look like?
Overweight or obese adults?
The answer could be all three, but they will need different ad copy. We don’t want to discuss smoking to a plus-size audience. Likewise, it wouldn’t make sense to discuss smoking risks to a group of non-smokers - it’s a waste of your precious advertising dollars and could lead to low relevance scores, making the few clicks or conversions you receive come with high price tag.
Finding images that stop scrolling is important; the copy has to be associated with the image in some way.
If we’re focused on women, we write for women. We speak to a female experience, a female point-of-view. We want to focus on why a woman would benefit from this service. With mammography, we might want to speak to the high survival rates of women whose breast cancer is detected early. Or maybe we discuss the likelihood of a woman with family history of breast cancer.
“Women who detect breast cancer early have a 5-year survival rate over 90%. With a mammogram from our imaging center, peace-of-mind is in reach.”
“Women with immediate family members with breast cancer are twice as likely to be at risk. The digital mammograms at our hospital can detect the earliest stages of breast cancer.”
We want people to get a cardiac screening. Why?
You must decide what it is you want to say and make sure your ad post, description, and link copy all work towards that message. If you’re trying to encourage people to come in for a heart screening, that is your focus. We’re not telling people that weight-loss surgery would help with their cardiac health; that’s not part of the message we’re trying to convey.
There are many different kinds of copy.
Serious, informative, and practical ads can appeal to a reader’s rational side and give them food for thought.
“We focus on breast cancer detection all year, not just October.”
Puns, jokes, or silly copy can appeal to people’s fun side and make them more likely to interact with the ad.
“Our mammograms are the breast.”
You need to decide how you want to reach out to people. If you run serious ad campaigns, fliers, mailing pieces, etc., then you need to maintain that voice. That is your (organization’s) voice.
This circles back to complimenting your images.
Funny puns should be paired with happy, joyful imagery, or even very silly images.
Serious message can be paired with serious imagery - pairing them with a silly image would not only be inappropriate, but confuse the reader as to what you are wanting from them.
Utilize Your CTA (Call to Action)
What do you want the consumer to do? Schedule an appointment? Take a health risk assessment (HRA)? Download a treatment guide?
Facebook offers a large number of CTA options:
It’s important to make sure that the ad has a cohesive CTA.
We also want to make sure our link copy also follows the CTA.
If our action button is “Learn More,” we should have link copy similar to the following:
“Find out more about our imaging center.”
If you are offering a download, like an informational guide, choosing the “Download” action button is logical.
“Download a free treatment guide now.”
Create A Sense Of Urgency
When it’s appropriate, push your audience to act in a specific time frame;
Upcoming seminars or classes - if you have these, use them.
“We offer mobile mammography every third Thursday of the month; take a few minutes out of the day to meet us.”
“Attend one of our weight-loss classes Tuesday nights at 7pm and learn more from one of our board-certified bariatrics surgeons.”
People respond to numbers. If you have standard pricing for tests, assessments, or evaluations, include that. We as patients are often unaware of the prices we will be charged for appointments; knowing ahead of time creates a sense of security and transparency that fosters an upfront and honest relationship.
“We’re offering a full screening for only $199 - a savings of over $500.”
In the 1920s, Elmer Wheeler suggested that to sell a product or service, you have to “sell the sizzle, not the steak.” For healthcare, we want to show what benefits the consumer. What is different about you that can make their experience or results better? If your bariatric team includes a dietician and trainer for people enrolled in a weight-loss program and so people lose, on average 20% more weight, sell it! If you surgeons specialize in a minimally -invasive surgery that results in a smaller scar, sell it!
The description copy is a great place to add this information. Find your differentiator and push it. Accolades from national associations, awards for the service line, positive outcomes, cutting-edge technology - people want to know what you can do for them and why they should choose you.
Take everything that you’ve put together and craft your ad. We say craft because we aren’t really creating an ad - that would imply that we made it all up, which isn’t true for healthcare.
So, let’s put it all together: you’ve decided to run a mammography ad for women age 40 and up, using a happy image of a woman surrounded by her family, you’ve decided to go with an informative style, encourage women to schedule a breast cancer screening, which is only $200 on the first Friday of the month. You’ve created a cohesive ad with a single CTA: schedule an appointment. You’ve included pricing information and created a sense of urgency by including that that price only applies once a month.
“Keep it simple, stupid.”
At the end of the day, this is a Facebook ad. You have, at most, three sentences to capture a person’s intereste in the face of overwhelming stimuli. Your ad is fighting for attention with puppies, kittens, babies, wedding,s and any number of posts on a user’s feed.
Do not overwhelm readers with wordy copy. For most healthcare service lines, a sentence or two is adequate to pull in a reader’s interest. Keep in mind that you are casting a net; you are trying to reach the largest number of people possible, so it's important not to alienate people. The average American reads at a 7th or 8th-grade level. Write for the lowest common denominator.
What makes you click on a Facebook ad?
Next time you’re scrolling through your deed and an ad makes you stop, think about why.
Think about it. Put it into practice.
