Best Ecommerce Facebook Ads (So Far)

If you’re running an ecommerce business or you manage ads and just landed your first ecommerce client, you’ll likely already know about the potential Facebook ads offer. With over 80% of the population on Facebook, it makes complete sense to leverage this channel to attract customers.

Think about your own personal experience, if you’ve scrolled through Facebook or Instagram you have definitely noticed enticing ads for products that interest you. The targeting is so accurate it’s often a little creepy and makes you wonder whether they’re listening into your conversations 👀.

With so many ads competing for everyone’s attention, the best way to standout is through enticing copy, eye-catching creative and precise targeting.

In this article, we’ll break down some of the best ecommerce ads on Facebook so you can hit the ground running with your own campaigns and in the end, we’ll tie it all together with a few choice tips!

Sephora

A huge beauty brand in North America, Sephora is a household name. In this creative, they’ve used striking green tea colours to convey their perception that the product on offer is natural. Their use of video is by default likely to engage users more. Looking at the copy in the ad copy and the creative itself, they focus on the product's benefits. Quoting percentages to add validity to their claims, driving traffic to their ecommerce store.

💡Incorporate bold images to stand out in customers' feeds. Call out study results to prove product features.

Old Navy

A subsidiary brand of Gap, Old Navy has a significant market share. A large part of their customer base is young families. Similar to some of the bigger hitters in this list we can see video being used in their creative. Calling out their target audience directly in the copy, Old Navy uses the term “for the whole fam”.
There is also an element of urgency in their creative, showing a limited-time offer of today only, they encourage the user to take action or face losing out on the deal.

💡 Use limited-time offers to build urgency. Incorporate terms and phrases your target audience relates to.

Amazon

There’s no introduction needed for this company, when you think of ecommerce, you think of Amazon. With the breadth of products they carry, the problem they face is the scalability of their ad management. Imagine they needed to create unique ad copy for all of their Facebook advertising for all of their products, it’s next to impossible. Their approach is to use generic copy, related to the product’s broad category, in this case, hand tools, and use individual product images in carousel ads. On its own this isn’t the best approach. However, when you layer on remarketing whether by use of a Facebook pixel or uploading lists of existing customers’ data to build lookalike audiences. You create a scalable ecommerce advertising machine, using custom audiences and dynamic ad creatives to drive high-quality traffic. Not bad for a chimney brush seller.

💡 Tap into your customer data to remarket the right product, to the right customer.

Vessi - Product Demo Ad

Vessi is a footwear startup based in Canada. Specializing in waterproof sneakers and casual footwear. In this ad, they’ve used real-life testing to show the benefit of their product to Facebook users. They also use a simple coupon code to entice customers with a discount. Waterproof shoes have a clear use case in rainy weather, increasing the amount they spend on wet winter days is a great way for them to get in front of the right audience at the right time.

💡 Product action videos can help get by customer concerns

Vessi - Social Proof Ad

Another shout-out for the Vessi marketing team on this list. They’ve gotten several well-known local influencers to give their opinion on their sneakers, this is a great strategy to get in front of the chosen influencer's social media followers, while also incorporating an element of social proof. They hit home on the social proof again by highlighting the number of 5-star reviews they have. All in all, this ad will be a compelling call to action for the influencer's audience.

💡 Use influencers for social proof and to access their follower base

Ring

Technically the second time that Amazon appears in this best-of list, Ring is a subsidiary of the ecommerce giant. They’re one of the leading providers of smart doorbells with integrated cameras. You’re living under a rock if you haven’t noticed the uptick in doorbell videos online over the last few years. In this ad creative the Ring team is tapping into both social proof and a basic human emotion, fear. Bringing new meaning to the term FOMO.

💡 A lot of purchases are driven by basic human emotions, use creative to tap into this.

Chewy

Owned by US company PetSmart, Chewy is one of the largest e-commerce providers of pet-related products. Since the dawn of the internet, cat, and dog videos have always made for great content, the Chewy team taps into this in their ad creative, making sure to include dogs in costumes for their Halloween sale. In this ad, they leverage a clear offer and also target an upcoming holiday, making their content compelling and timely.

💡 Use timely campaigns and creatives to sell products at the right time of year

ASOS

One of the bigger reservations online shoppers have is what happens if they don’t like the product, or even worse, the clothes they buy don’t fit. ASOS, a huge online clothes retailer, directly addresses this concern. Calling out their free delivery and return policy in their ad copy. At the same time, they use creative that reflects their target market demographic.

💡 Call out your pre and post-purchase policies if they stand out from the crowd

Home Depot

Home Depot is one of the few large home hardware brands that have successfully transitioned to a hybrid ecommerce business model. In this creative, they borrow from the age-old “before and after” comparison usually reserved for fitness products. By using this tactic they clearly show the benefits of their products, while in the copy they offer a free virtual consultation which compliments the digital space the ad is shown on.

How to make the best Facebook ad for ecommerce?

As we’ve seen from our list, when it comes to promoting ecommerce businesses on Facebook, ads are the way to go. But with so many options for ad types and formats, it can be hard to know where to start. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the best Facebook ad for ecommerce will vary depending on the business’s goals and target audience. However, as we’ve shown, there are a few general tips that can help make any ecommerce facebook ad campaign more effective.

• Use eye-catching and attention-grabbing imagery and creative.
• Clearly call out key product features and benefits, and back this up with snappy data points if you have it.
• Use time-sensitive offers to build urgency and make customers take action now.
• Speak in ways your target audience understands and relates to, and use their slang and jargon.
• Use your customer data to make your ads relevant and targeted to your audience. The more relevant your ad is to their interests, the more likely they are to engage with it.
• Videos of your product in action can help address customer concerns
• If they’re good, highlight your delivery and return policies
• Social proof, whether with reviews or influencers can make your offering more trustworthy in the eyes of your target audience.
• Empathize with your audience and use copy and creative that triggers their emotions to encourage them to take action

Now, go make your own ads and maybe someday they'll end up listed on a blog like this!