How To Create Effective Images For Your Facebook Ads 101

You don't need to be formally trained in visual design to create effective Facebook images for your ads.

Just by making a few tweaks on important elements like font styles and backgrounds alone can make a huge impact on how your audience perceive your ads.

If you want to get started on creating effective Facebook ad images, here's how to get started:

What It Means To Be Click-Worthy

A picture is worth a thousand words. In the fast-paced, information overloaded world of the internet, pictures and good visual design are determining factors on whether or not someone will stay around to read a piece of textual content.

So you might have some of the finest wordsmiths around, but there's a chance that people won't notice your copy if it doesn't come with images. People don't like to read huge blocks of texts. However, they can easily process what a picture's message is, and it can easily catch their attention. The picture acts as a "hook" to get them to read the rest of the copy.

Bad and messy images repel people, while good and well-designed ones attract clicks. This is what is meant when you say that an image is click-worthy. It's an image worthy of your time.

Below are tips that will increase the "click-worthiness" of the images that you use for your Facebook ads:

Have a Call to Action

Your image should deliver your message across in the fastest and clearest way possible. One of the easiest ways to do this is to incorporate a call to action in your visuals.

A call to action is a statement or text that is intended to induce the reader to perform an action- call a number, buy a product, visit a website, download this software, etcetera. Without a call to action, your readers are basically left hanging- what exactly are they supposed to do after looking at your image?

Aside from having a call to action message, it's also imperative to show a picture or visual of the product that your customers will be receiving. If you're selling a book, include a picture of the said phone in you ad. People like knowing what their purchases are, even if their purchase is for a digital product.

Use Dark Backgrounds

The most common visual aesthetic on the internet right now is bright muted pastels, but when it comes to backgrounds, it's best to stick dark colors.

Bright colors grab people's attention, that's for sure. People are naturally drawn to them. However, some studies have shown that visuals with dark-colored backgrounds attract more clicks (around 130% more) than their lighter-colored counterparts. They also tend to cost less too, when you computer for their cost-per-click price.

How does this happen?

This phenomenon can be attributed to a number of reasons. First, the Facebook newsfeed- where most people get their daily dose of news and ads from- is predominantly white. Having a black background makes your ad stand out from the rest of the pack.

Second: while bright colors are normally associated with fun and cheerfulness, dark colors convey a sense of sophistication and power. If you want your content to look as authoritative as possible, then use dark colored backgrounds.

Include Charts

Having charts in you visuals shows that you are serious about what you're selling or promoting- and you have the science to back it up. Charts are also seen as authoritative; your audience is more apt to trust you if they think that what you're saying is true and reliable.

Another reason why visuals with charts enjoy a higher rate of clicks over "un-charted" ads, is the fact that charts are associated with growth. When you see a chart, you often expect to see an increase in metrics, which most of the time is a positive thing.

Reason number three why charts work: the contrasting colors in chart elements (e.g. bars, markers, series, etcetera) make the whole image pop, especially if contrasted with the whiteness of the Facebook newsfeed.

Use Pictures of Places

Stock photos are great if you want professional-quality photos fast and for a cheap price. However, it's important to note that on average, ads with stock photos perform relatively poorly compared to ads with custom-made visuals. Stock photos are usually obvious from the get-go, which would turn people off.

But, there's an exception to this. It has been found that ads with pictures of places and locations perform relatively well and have excellent click-through rates. It might be due to the fact that having these pictures make the ad seem more personal and "human" over some generic ad made with generic graphics.

It could also be because most pictures of places are relatively darker, so they would stand out in Facebook and other parts of the web.

Always Use Sans Serif Fonts

Serif fonts like Times New Roman are usually considered easier to read and more legible than other types of fonts, but these are not the fonts that you would want to use for your web projects.

There's a reason why Google as well as other major websites and social networks use sans serif fonts like Arial- people are just naturally drawn to the style of these type of fonts. Sans serif fonts seem more modern and urgent. It conveys simplicity, action, and sophistication all at the same time.

Aside from the font, you also have to factor in the text positioning too. As people are more accustomed to reading from left to right, it stands to reason that most would prefer reading left-aligned text over right or center-aligned copy.

Conclusion

When it comes to ads, copy and visuals should be able to merge into one effective whole. Both are equally important; however, if one isn't working as well as it should, the other element of the ad might be compromised. If you don't have good images, then your copy won't get read. If you don't have well-written copy, then your readers might feel shortchanged.
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