The Two Words That Could Get This Ad Account BANNED by Meta

Running ads on Facebook or Instagram can be a great way to reach a larger audience when done properly. However, it’s important to remember that at the end of the day, you don’t own your Meta account.

"If you don’t play by Meta’s advertising rules your account could be flagged. Or worse, banned."

 

In this edition of Optimised Digital’s Scale Up Series, we took a look at this Facebook ad and landing page to see what they were already doing well, how they could potentially be improved, and where those areas of improvement could be.

While we were looking at the usual areas to optimise, we also noticed one potential red flag that could do more harm than good.

Have a look at the ad below to see for yourself (it might not be the phrase that you think it is).

You need to call out your audience... 

Immediately, the first area this ad could improve on is the initial hook. While you want to be able to educate your audience on your business, the first few lines of your copy should be used to call out your audience and give them some form of value.

"You only have a few seconds (and a few lines of text) to grab your audience’s attention, particularly if most of your copy is hidden by a ‘see more’ button." 

 

By speaking about themselves rather than calling out their audience in the first line, this business could lose the engagement of potential customers in those first key moments.

The first line (or two) of your copy should be engaging and hook your audience. A few ideas to include are:

1. Calling out your audience and who they are.
2. Speaking to a relevant problem of your audience.
3. Offering value to your ideal customers.

…but don't call them out too specifically

Wait, didn’t you just tell me to call out my audience?

Well, yes. And no.

Want to know what could cause a simple ad like this to be flagged by Meta? Pointing too specifically to the viewer of your ad.

You’ll notice that this ad mentions the “incredible influence of Christian women”. Christian women are the chosen demographic for this ad, but this isn’t actually the phrase that could get this ad flagged. It’s what comes after: “Christian women like yourself”.  

Facebook bans ad accounts when they go against its advertising policies, and it’s against Meta advertising policy to point out the personal attributes of your ad viewers, whether it’s their race, age, gender, religion, as well as their personal health and appearance. So, by speaking too directly and implying that the person viewing this ad is a ‘Christian woman’ themselves, this could end up in the Meta red flag pile.

"If your ad is flagged by Meta, it will be turned off. Too many red flags over time and your whole advertising account can get banned." 

 

So, what can you do to pinpoint your target audience instead?

1. Mention your target demographic in a more general way.
2. Avoid phrases that assert or imply the personal attributes of the ad viewer.
3. Ask a third party to read your copy if you want a fresh set of eyes.

We’ve found that calling out your audience is incredibly powerful at increasing conversions. But there is a right way to do it and a wrong way.

Depending on who your audience is, you might also find that you have more trouble with Facebook policies. If your audience is specifically LGBTIQ+ parents, for instance, you’re going to have more difficulty with Facebook policies than if you are targeting the CEOs of electrical companies, which won’t be anywhere near as tricky.

There’s a fine line between what is allowed and what isn’t. As an example, you could say:

“As a parent, I find…”

or

“Parents often experience…”

But you can’t say something like:

“Are you a struggling mother…?”

(Both for the assumption of gender and the assumption of struggling).

What do you want your customers to do? 

If you’ve called out your audience (in the right way) it’s also important to let them know what you want them to do.

Throughout the next few lines of this ad, as well as the creative and CTA down the bottom, the direction this business wants us to take is still unclear. And when jumping into the landing page the direction is hidden in a wall of text.

"Readers tend to skim pages, so by breaking up your text with subheadings you can grab their attention for the information that is relevant to them. It can also make it more clear to them what you want them to do from the outset." 

 

The drive for this page is to have businesses pay a certain amount to advertise in the calendar and fill out the form below. While this could potentially work for a retargeted audience, who was already very familiar with the business, for the most part, it could be jolting to customers. Particularly when you’re trying to get them to pay money for a product or service.  

Here are some ways to be clear on the direction you want your customers to take:

1. Your copy should make it clear who you are talking to.
2. Your creative should make it clear what you want them to do.
3. Your CTA should reinforce this, so they click into your landing page.
4. Your landing page should make it easy for them to take action.

Targeting your ad to an audience and speaking to the right audience can be very different things. Think about how you are mentioning your audience and what you want them to do, and if you want more Facebook ad advice make sure you keep an eye on Optimised Digital's Scale Up Series for more real ad analysis.