Nine Elements of a Successful Facebook Ad Campaign

With so many companies competing for consumer attention on social media, creating unique and compelling ad campaigns is a great way to stand out. On Facebook in particular, there are a few key strategies that can help you effectively target your audience.

As successful business leaders, members of the Young Entrepreneur Council have extensive experience developing and executing successful Facebook ad campaigns. Below, nine of them each share what they think is the most important part of a good Facebook ad campaign and why it's so effective at capturing users' attention.

1. Visual appeal

Science says that first impressions matter a lot in personal and professional relationships. That's why I prioritize creating visually appealing and relevant ads that show up organically in my audience's News Feed. The first thing everyone will see before clicking on your headline is your image, so go for high-quality photography or video for ads. - Ron Lieback, ContentMender

2. A precious gift

With advertising saturation on Facebook and many other sites, it's hard to get people's attention. People become resistant to hype and hard sells. It's more effective to offer them something of real value, like a free white paper or consultation. The main goal of an ad is to get people to take the next step in your sales funnel. - Kalin Kassabov, ProTexting

3. One goal

I've seen many Facebook ads with multiple purposes. This is not common practice. Marketers should define a clear and unique objective for a particular type of Facebook ads, such as brand awareness, brand reach, lead generation, driving traffic to a page or website or more app downloads. Any single Facebook ad with multiple goals eventually fails to achieve all of the goals associated with it. - Kelly Richardson, Infobrandz

4. A sense of scarcity

An important part of a successful Facebook ad campaign is scarcity. Scarcity creates a sense of urgency and compels people to act. When people see that an opportunity is limited, they are more likely to act quickly before it's too late. Including a sense of urgency in your ads can be a great way to increase conversions and inspire people to take action. - Pratik Chaskar, Specter

5. Effective target...