SSA #046: How To Never Run Out of Facebook Ads Ideas

Read Time: 4.5 Minutes 

It's hard thinking of new ideas for your Facebook Ads on a regular, consistent basis.

I know I've personally struggled a lot with this in the past, believing I've tested everything I possibly can when advertising one book or one series.

But recently, I've started introducing something into my weekly schedule that is changing the game for me, and I no longer struggle with new ideas for my Facebook Ads.

Quite the opposite in fact; I have a huge bank of ideas, and I'm spoilt for choice!

And today, I'm going to share exactly what I do with you to come up with an endless stream of ideas for your Facebook Ads.

If you've been following my content for any length of time, I'm sure you know by now that, in my eyes, only 3 parts of a Facebook Ad are key to your success:

– Creative (Image or Video)

– Headline

– Primary Text

These are the areas we need to focus on as advertisers.

However, when your creative (image or video) is responsible for around 80% of your results, this is where I recommend spending the most time.

Testing Headlines and Primary Text can still have an impact on your results, sure, but you're going to see quantum leaps in performance when you put more emphasis on testing creative.

With this in mind, let's dive into what I've added to my weekly schedule to ensure I never run out of Facebook Ads ideas...

There Are 3 Key Areas I Focus On:

– Research

– Review

– Action

Let's begin with Research, as this is perhaps, for me at least, the most eye-opening.

#1: Research

There are two different areas I look into during my Research sessions:

– Own Brand

– Other Brands

Own Brand

By Own Brand, I'm referring to online content centred around your author brand, and your books. For me (and I'm advertising my wife's books), I look at:

– Reader reviews on Amazon

– Comments on the Facebook Ads

– Emails Lori has received from readers

And what I'm looking for here are gems I can use in the Facebook Ads (on the images or videos, in the Headlines or in the Primary Text), such as reader reviews, but also:

– What readers have enjoyed about the books

– What objections they may have had upfront before they started reading

– What specifically caught their attention about this book

– Specific tropes of the books they enjoyed

I'm doing all of this to develop different angles I can approach the Ads with, to attract different pockets of people who would potentially enjoy Lori's books.

For example, I see a lot of reviews and emails from readers saying that people don't usually read books like Lori's, but once they started reading, they just couldn't stop.

I also see a lot of reviews that mention how readers feel as if they are with the characters as they are reading; they can see everything happening in their mind's eye.

So, I'm working on some positioning to add this angle into the Ads.

Another example is people saying they stayed up all night reading Lori's books when they had to be up for work the next day.

This is very relatable for many readers who get absorbed in a book, so would potentially be a great angle I can use in the Ads.

I'm trying to get inside the reader's minds here and understand why they enjoyed Lori's books, and use that messaging and positioning to attract other like-minded readers.

Other Brands

Aside from your own Author brand, I also recommend looking at the other author brands; specifically:

– Their Facebook Ads (with the Facebook Ads Library)

– Comments on their Ads (if their Ads are on your Facebook Feed)

– Reviews of their books on Amazon

These can be both indie authors and traditionally published authors.

Again, here I'm trying to get into the minds of readers and truly understand what they enjoy and don't enjoy about other books.

On top of this though, I'm looking for ideas and inspiration into how other authors (and publishers) are approaching their Facebook Ads; the images, the videos, the headlines, the primary text, the hooks, etc.

I never condone copying the Ads; I just use this process as a source of inspiration and idea generation for my own Ads. New ways to approach the Ads, different image ideas, etc.

It's easy to get stuck inside our own heads when creating Ads, and doing the same thing over and over again, without even realizing it (something I've been very guilty of in the past, that I'm now trying to rectify).

I also look at Ads outside of the publishing world altogether; how are they calling out their ideal customers? What type of imagery or videos are they using?

By immersing yourself in the world of advertising and marketing, you're going to rapidly become a far better marketer and advertiser than you could have ever imagined.

#2: Review

Look at any top-level athlete (think Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Rory McIlroy) and the one thing they all have in common is that they review their game footage in excruciating detail.

They pick apart every little aspect of their performance and identify areas of weakness they need to work on, where there is room for improvement, whilst also giving themselves credit where credit's due for what they did well.

I'm doing the same with my Facebook Ads.

I'll bring up a past winning or losing Facebook Ad and just stare at it for 10-15 minutes, looking for reasons why it worked or why it didn't work.

Clearly, my thoughts are only a hypothesis, but this process alone provides me with so much clarity and insight that I can bring forward into my next Ads.

#3: Action

Finally, the last thing I do is take action. So, I'll spend 15-30 minutes just writing out a bunch of ideas I have for future Facebook Ads.

I don't judge them as I'm writing them down; I'm just getting them down on paper. I'll decide later if I want to use them or not.

There's a well-known copywriting book called The Boron Letters, and inside this book, the authors (Gary and Bond Halbert) share an exercise for writing headlines (and I'm paraphrasing a little here):

Write 3 pages of headlines and throw away the first 2 pages; the best headlines are on page 3.

In essence, what this exercise is allowing you to do is put in the reps. It's a game of volume.

You have to go through some trash to find the gems.

Write out headlines, straplines, hooks, and entire pieces of Primary Text. Get it all out of your head and onto paper (digital or physical).

It's all well and good doing the research and reviewing your Ads, but if you're not taking the action, not implementing, you're never going to move forward.

It's only when you start taking action that you'll start seeing the results.

Wrapping Up...

This may all sound like a lot of work to fit into your already packed weekly schedule, but it doesn't need to take long at all.

I carve out 15-30 minutes per day for this. One day will be Research, the next Review, the next Action, and then repeat. Or I'll mix it up even more.

It doesn't matter how you do it, provided you're doing something each week to improve your skillset and knowledge as a marketer and advertiser, and taking the time to understand your ideal readers on a much deeper level.

And I've found no better way to achieve all of this (and never struggle with Facebook Ads ideas) than the process I've just walked you through.

That's it for this week.

Thank you so much for reading and I'm 100% confident that once you start implementing this process into your weekly schedule, you'll never run out of ideas for your Facebook Ads again.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

To Your Success
– Matt