B2B Facebook ads are not as easy as B2C ads. Direct response generally doesn’t work as well when you’re advertising a B2B product.
And we know this because VYPER is a B2B product and we have to get creative with our ads.
But you CAN still make Facebook ads work with a B2B product, you just have to get creative with your ad and your funnel.
Below is a number of B2B Facebook ads that I tear apart and pinpoint the things these companies did right and the things they royally f ‘d up. I will share what makes some of these the best Facebook ads in their niche.
Facebook Ad #1 – Foxley
Landing Page – https://members.foxley.com/393-webinar
The Pros to This Ad
Text – They are using [brackets] to draw you attention the most important aspect of the ad, the FREE video training they want you to sign up to.
Image – There is a huge amount of eye contact which grabs people’s attention and the use of yellow in the background and CTA draw your attention to click the image which then redirects to the ads final URL.
The Cons to This Ad
Text – They did not include a link in the ad text for an extra CTA option, this also makes the post look a little more organic even though they went way overboard on the CAPS.
Image – The text in the image is well over the 20% rule.
Facebook Ad #2 – Lead Quizzes
Landing Page – http://lps.leadquizzes.com/the-3-types-of-quiz-funnels-1
The Pros to This Ad
Text – They are using statistics and numbers to lure you in to find out more. This is a great technique to tie in with case studies, educational content and in this case a webinar as well.
Image – The color definitely stands out in the news feed and makes people stop and read. Using interesting looking people is a great tactic for grabbing someone’s attention (e.g. strange hair color, covered in tattoos, doing a strange pose, body out of proportion etc).
The Cons to This Ad
Text – For business owners 50,000 leads to only generate $100k is not that good, that’s only $2 AOV (average order value) or rev per lead and it does not say how much it cost to acquire a customer.
They should have left this at 50,000 leads or used $100k/m in revenue.
Image – The image is super strong but the copy in the image lets this ad down. The text is not very interesting and a bit of a sell out that the secret is their own product. It should have been tied in with the text “My Secret to Generating 50k leads in 1 month?” then CTA – “Learn How”.
Facebook Ad #3 – Neil Patel
Landing Page – http://neilpatel.com/podcast/
The Pros to This Ad
Text – This sponsored post is a much more organic looking ad. The text is long and can be expanded as well as including more of a pain point/story instead of a direct response sales pitch.
Image – Neil is lucky enough to be able to use images of himself to get clicks as one of his strongest assets is the personal brand he has built around himself. Again this image plays on the more organic looking feel as an image like this looks like a post from a friend not a company trying to take your money.
Again this image plays on the more organic looking feel as an image like this looks like a post from a friend, not a company trying to take your money.
The Cons to This Ad
Text -This looks to be a boosted link post as there is no CTA almost all of the text is getting cut off. Get familiar with the character limits from Facebook and try and stick to them when writing/ editing link titles and text.
Image -Even though this is an image of Neil which holds a lot of authority, the image could have been more focused on him. Meaning a more neutral/solid color background, less blurred towards the bottom of the image.
The landscape sizing was also a bad choice, this image should have been square which allows more space to be taken up in the news feed.
Facebook Ad #4 – Fatboy Marketing
Landing Page – https://www.fatboyinc.com/blog/how-to-not-suck-at-google-adwords
The Pros to This Ad
Text – This Facebook ad has a fantastic emotional appeal, nobody wants to suck at something and it immediately grabs your attention as the viewer takes offense and it provokes emotion.
The copy is also extremely direct to what the problem is “Your Adwords Ads Sucking”.
Image – There is a huge amount of eye contact which grabs people’s attention and the use of yellow in the background and CTA draw your attention to click the image which then redirects to the ads final URL.
The Cons to This Ad
Text – Not a huge amount of cons here but they could have made the call to action a little strong. They build up the emotion and pain point but really tell you to click on the ad to solve it. This may be obvious to most
This may be obvious to most but always better to base than sorry. Remember, you want to tell the viewer what the pain point is (get in their mindset, they need to relate) and then tell them why/how you are going to solve it for them.
Image – The “how to” could have been a little bigger and still stayed within the 20% (meaning they would not get penalized. The other observation is not to use the colors similar to the Facebook blue. Your ads tend to blend and get lost in the platform.
Facebook Ad #5 – Digital Marketer
Landing Page –
The Pros to This Ad
Text – Again this ad is using statistics to add credibility. They are also very confident and to the point about what they are offing.
Image – They draw your attention the title straight away with the red banner. They are also aligning the text really well with the image using the “library” theme.
The Cons to This Ad
Text -They could have positioned this a little more towards a question e.g. – “Want to see and copy the exact ads that we used to generate 400k+ leads and millions of dollars?”. People want the get rich quick method (copy someone or something) most of the time so you need to give it to them!
Image – The image is very busy, if possible they could have spaced it out a little more and added a strong shadow under the red banner to make it pop forward. Using eye illusions is fantastic in ads. Check here for some inspiration.
Facebook Ad #6 – Posi Rank
Landing Page 6 – http://www.trendmicro.com/aws/devsecops/
The Pros to This Ad
Text – The ad creates a ton of curiosity if this is served to a super targeted audience that understands the backlink ecosystem they have done a good job in encouraging a click to learn more.
Image – Very clever and creative ad image, the use of flat images has made it a lot easier to get messaging across through visuals. This is a much better approach than a stock image of a guy at a computer smiling.
The Cons to This Ad
Text – These guys missed a huge opportunity to use the ad text section. They definitely should have used this as it is not really clear what you are clicking to receive or see.
This ad does create mystery however not a great job a pre-qualifying the user. You can either target a wide audience with a general ad for top of the funnel traffic (usually expensive) or create a targeted ad/audience to prequalify people (usually cheaper if done right).
Image – People know that is probably an ad by looking at the “sponsored” tag and they are probably targeting tech savvy people. But the logo in the top left is completely out of place and does not fit into the image at all. This is a huge red light for people clicking as it decreases their creative design credibility.
If you are going to add a logo to our images for branding make them subtle. This logo takes the users attention away from the messaging of the ad and makes them notice the logo tag straight away.
Facebook #7 – Trend Micro
Landing Page 7 – http://www.trendmicro.com/aws/devsecops/
The Pros to This Ad
Text – This is a super interesting ad as they are going above and beyond with the “hook”. They offer a reward and prompt the browser to “test” their knowledge which actually means fill out a survey for us!
Image – You can see that his brand has done a much better job at integrating their logo. They have also integrated messaging within the image. The quiz is provoked by the thinking pilot, they have also connected the dots with cloud security and an everyday understandable industry.
The Cons to This Ad
Text – They needed to define AWS a little more and also include why cloud security is important. They needed to make the user care about cloud security, using fear probably would have been the best in this case.
e.g. Worried about your website being hacked? , Is your website safe? , Is your website protecting your customer’s personal information?
Image – This is a fantastic image for this ads as it has all the bells and whistles to get someone to click. The only thing they messed up was pilot not looking at the CTA. If they had just lowered the pilot a little more in the image so his line of sight was pointing towards the CTA they would have nailed it!
Facebook Ad #8 – I Love SaaS
Landing Page 8 – http://www.moneypath.com/saas-funnel-metrics-gog
The Pros to This Ad
Text – This ad has used past accomplishments as a validator. An ad can be similar to a resume in the fact that you have to tell your audience what you have achieved and how you can help them.
Image – This ad has also used a more personal approach by making himself the figure of the business. He has also carried the image from the landing page to the ad so the funnel has a logical flow.
The Cons to This Ad
Text – The text has not been split out into paragraphs. The book is free but this is not included the in the main title. It has included that a 10 question survey is required. This sounds like a chore compared to a lead magnet. It should have been positioned as a 2min
It should have been positioned as a 2min quiz to find out your Saas companies key metrics. The quiz could have been the driving point of this ad to add value. Instead, it is positioned as a barrier to get the free content.
Image – Even though the ad is personal and carries through to the landing page he should have used a set image not a screenshot from the video. Or even included teh video as the ad to speed up the funnel and ad value faster. Facebook also give more reach to video content over image content.
Facebook Ad #9 – Percolate
Landing Page 9 – https://percolate.com/request-demo
The Pros to This Ad
Text – This ad has hit the pain point jackpot, most people hate spreadsheets and find them extremely painful and time-consuming. For this fact alone if you work in a business you are interested. The question also creates interest.
Image – They have used a carousel that gives you more information before the click.
The Cons to This Ad
Text – They have duplicated the copy across all the carousel images which is a huge wasted opportunity. This could have been a section to explain the product more or highlight the key benefits of the software.
Image – Even though they have the right idea to add more imagery they have gone with some pretty boring stock looking images that are not really going to drive interest.
They could have made the carousel into a storyboard showing the person with the pain (you) and then the service being the solution to that pain point.
Facebook Ad #10 – ClickFunnels
Landing Page 10 – https://dotcomsecretslabs.com/free-book
The Pros to This Ad
Text – This ad has so many value bombs in it (statistics that scare you, free product and testimonial). This copy is bound to stop anyone who has a website and knows that conversion rate and sales are key success factors for their business.
It also scares the browser by stating that 1 word decreased converions by 31%. Browsers thought process goes “Wait a second, do I also have 1 word costing me 30% of my revenue”.
Image – Unlike the ad above Click Funnels has used the video on option and boy do they have a lot of engagement on this ad which means it is probably working and they have a super cheap CPC and CPA.
Remember in terms of engagement “shares are the golden goose”.
The Cons to This Ad
Text – Hard to find many things wrong with this one but the title is probably the weakest point. They could have made it a little more impactful by using the stats in the text or playing into the fear of something costing you 30% of your sales.
Something like “Find Out Why this Landing Page Decreased my Sales by 31%”
Image – Again this ad could have used an image instead of a screen grab from the video. You can add text to the image and come across as a little more authoritative. Remember to keep your first frame of a video under 20% text.
So now you have a pretty good understanding of what makes the best B2B Facebook ads work.
The key takeaways are:
- Always try and use emotion to encourage a click.
- Your image has the largest statistical difference when testing ads.
- Using faces and humans can make your ads more relatable.
- Always identify a pain point.
- Remember all the browser/potential customer wants to know is how you can save them time or money.
Its also crucial to keep in mind the audience that you are targeting with your Facebook Ads. This way you can tailor your ads to meet that audience’s needs.
In doing so, you will end up with better results from your Facebook Ad campaigns.
The best way to start is by grouping your audience into Prospecting and Remarketing. More on this in te video below.
If you run your own Facebook ads definitely check out the FREE offer below as it will drastically help improve your CPA’s and CPC’s.
Jack Paxton is the co-founder of VYPER, a marketing tool that helps brands build email lists, social followings, and revenue using viral giveaways, referral, and reward programs. After millions of dollars spent testing different marketing strategies at his marketing agency. He then also co-founded Hyax a fast, conversion & design-focused course and funnel builder for creators.
Thank you
Just found out about this site through a friend. Still, helps a lot and relevant up to this day. Thank you for this list, Jack!
That’s a huge informative article. I loved #2, 6 and 8. in my cases I use #6 but I guess its time to change it and try some different ad.
Thanks for sharing.. it’s already answered a lot of my questions.
Most of them aren’t corporate in the least, so not applicable for bigger brands in my opinion, some good ideas in there though..thanks for sharing!
Nice examples. I loved that Posi Rank ad. Its so creative. Can you please suggest which one would perform better for legal tech firm ads?
Interesting content! Thank you for sharing.
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Hi Ronit, Sorry about that, this was a very SaaS B2B focused post. I will try and get some more out for different industries. Some of these same rules apply however in the medical niche validation, quality, testimonials and referrals are key.
I have had some success with partnering with other websites that publish a review or post on your service and then you drive ad traffic to those. Of course make sure there is a strong CTA on the website you partner with. This can be a longer sales funnel though!
Agreed, It can be however be hard to include human interaction without it looking forced with B2B (you know all those horrible stock board room images). A challenge a lot of brands struggle with.
np guys, great ad 😉
Hi Jax/VYPER! thx for the FATBOY shoutout 🙂 we’re thrilled to be featured in your article!
Very interesting break down of the Ads, Jax! I agree with your point that using faces and humans can make your ads relatable. Facebook Ads must be 70% visual and 30% text, so also B2Bs must learn the art of conveying more in short sentences and have catchy CTAs
Interesting, yet most of the examples you gave are from Marketers or Saas companies. I market for a medical device manufacturer that sells very basic yet crucial equipment that hospitals and labs are required to have. We’re doing adwords successfully, but were considering trying facebook,. Are there samples of these types of ads?