Stop the Scroll: Tips for Standing out on Facebook

“So your goal with your Facebook ad creative is to stop the scroll,” Andrea Vahl explained at our recent live event, Social Marketing for Women in Business. “Your goal is to be interesting” in order to entice people to stop scrolling and pay attention to your content. Check out our video highlights and then read on for Andrea’s tips for stopping the scroll.

Stopping the scroll with text

When you set up a Facebook ad, you’ll have a few different places to add text. There’s space for text above your image, like the description in an organic Facebook post. Then, below the image or video in your ad, you’ll have a headline, complete with a title, description, and CTA button.

These text fields offer nice opportunities to stop the scroll, and Andrea offers up a few tips:

• Maximize your headline. The headline is the largest text on your ad, so Andrea recommends making it a little longer. Try coming up with a headline that uses as many of the 45 characters available as possible.
• Use caps and emojis. Using capital letters or emojis can help capture people’s attention and put the emphasis on specific keywords. Note: Use these tactics sparingly so your post doesn’t appear spammy.
• Include text in your ad creative. When you create a video ad, use text to make sure that it makes sense to viewers watching without sound, and include text on images to make them stand out even more. Note: Facebook will not allow more than 20% of an image to be covered with text. Text is fine in videos, but make sure to select a thumbnail with less than 20% text coverage. You can also use Facebook’s captions feature to ensure your message gets across.
• Think mobile first. “Remember that 60 percent or more are viewing your ad on mobile, so you have to make your ad really stand out on mobile.” Preview on mobile before posting to make sure that your text is legible on smaller devices.

Stopping the scroll with imagery

“Think about catching people’s eye,” says Andrea. And what better way to catch someone’s eye than with compelling imagery? Whether you’re creating an ad with a photo or a video, think about what types of images will attract your target audience.

And you don’t have to rely on your intuition alone—Andrea is a huge proponent of testing. At the event, she shared a couple examples of ads where she tested two different images and was surprised by the results. In this example, the image of the three puppies converted better:

And images aren’t the only thing you can test. You can literally test any element of an ad, including different variations of the same video. Learn more about this in our series on A/B testing for video.

Interested in learning more? Check out Andrea’s full talk and learn from our other speakers when you watch our entire event on Facebook.