3 Ways to Source Creative for Facebook Ads that Won’t Break the Bank

It’s no secret that the key to high converting and profitable Facebook ads is creative.

Don’t just take our word for it, this is what Facebook reports about creative below:

If you’re an ecommerce founder or someone who has interest in running ads on Facebook and it’s related networks this is something that you’ve probably heard before. Unfortunately this can sometimes be a barrier for many founders who don’t have the access to a full content production team. It can also seem like a blanket statement used to prove why your ads aren’t performing as best as they could. Now, while lack of creative may be a reason to low performance it doesn’t provide much of a solution to the problem at hand.

That’s why we’ll be sharing 3 ways to source ad creative for your Facebook ads that don’t break the bank. We’ll start from lowest cost to highest and share some of the ways that you can generate a steady stream of ad creative that’ll fuel your online advertising efforts.

1. Gifting Influencers

Cost: Free

Gifting is one of the best ways to get your product into the hands of influencers. Influencers play an integral role in most (if not all) ecommerce brand advertising. Millions of brands rely on them to help promote their products and services to their audiences.

The key thing to note about influencers is that creating content, making thing look palatable and enticing to their audience, is their job. If you do this correctly, you can be opening up the door to generate a raging fan and or receiving premium content at little to not cost.

We recommend coming up with a list of influencer who fit your requirements (they have the attention of your target audience) and connecting with their reps (or themselevs directly) to see if you can send them free product. Nothing more, nothing less.

You don’t want to be adding in requirements like, “Please post this to your story!” or other asks in this first interaction. The goal is to lead with value. What tends to happen as a result is that, for those who actually receive the product, regard it and enjoy it. Ultimately leading to posting about it. While it might not be a full length feature film, it’s still a piece of content from a recognized figure that you could probably ask to use in your advertising. This is what you want to achieve: a relationship. You can then continue to send product and gifts to this influencer and build a sustainable relationship with them without having to go through more official channels.

Also the content that’s created, when received in this manner, tends to feel more authentic anyways.

Pros:

• Low Cost (product cost only)
• Ability to select the creator you’d like to use
  • Access their community
• Chance to be showcased to the creators community
• Chance to build an authentic relationship with creators
• No surprises

Cons:

• Not 100% guaranteed you’ll get content
• Sending product to multiple folks in hopes of generating content
• No revisions
• Long (unclear) turnover time

As with all things in life not everything free is good and good things don’t tend to come cheap. If you plan to do this on your own, you’ll need to be organized and have a dedicated strategy. You’ll need to know how you plan on finding the right influencers in the right niches with the right customer base and the ideal following to execute.

With this method what you gain affordability but lose in time. This method has proven to be profitable enough that people have built entire agencies that focus on generating content via gifting. The benefit here is that as opposed to paying the influencer to create content, you build a relationship that has the creator promoting and providing content because they genuinely like it, and at no cost. It may sound unbelievable but this happens all the time, you just have to be willing to take a chance.

Billio

Cost: Starts from $59 /video

Billo is an online platform that connects ecommerce brands with video creators. For the low cost of $59 you can receive a Facebook ad ready video made by an actual person with the intention of showcasing your product and your product alone.

So how does it work?

First you’ll have to add the product you want to star ini the video. You’ll be asked to insert the name as well as the pronunciation and a few additional identifiers to aid the creator in the creation of your content. 

You’ll also be asked to identify if your product is physical or digital. This is great for both ecommerce brands and brands that have a bigger focus on digital products/services verses physical products. 

Next you’ll be asked to select the type of content you’d like the creator to make for your brand. You’ll be asked to select 1 of 5 options:

1. Unboxing Video
2. Testimonial Video 
3. How to Video
4. Video Ad
5. 360 Product showcase

The great thing about Billo is that you can select if you’d like your content to have a casual or studio level of quality. This is specifically ideal for creating ads that appear to be user generated content or if you’re looking for something higher quality you can use for your website and/or marketing materials. 

After selecting your video type you also have the ability to add a plethora of add-ons to make the video more to your taste. You can select your desired aspect ratio, subtitles, call out & call to actions as well as suggest scenes (how you envision the ad). You’ll also be asked if you’d like to include the full body of the creator or for the creator to only use their hands. These options are perfect for brands who focus on wearable items.

Pros:

• Low Cost
• Access to a variety of creators at a fraction of the cost
• Can control script and general direction of the video
• Revisions (limited to 2)

Cons:

• Not 100% sure who your content curator will be
• Could get costly with add ons and additional video length
• 2-3 week turnaround time. 

As with all things everything takes time. You’ll probably have to use the platform a few times to find the creator, video style, and deliverables you find works best for you and your business. 

Give Billio a try and see if you can create a system of content generation that can propel your Facebook ad efforts forward at a cost effective rate.

Hire a Content Creator

Cost: ~ $500 +

Now if you want to have much more control over your content strategy you can also bring on a contractor or part timer to create the content you’re looking for. There are many freelance content creators who aren’t necessarily influencers but have an eye for what performs well on social and have the capability to create it as well.

If you have a little more budget in your pocket we’d highly recommend getting a content creator to work with. You can work together with them to share the inspiration you have for the content you want to create and brainstorm ideas for what you want to produce. Often times freelancers will have insight to the trends going around online and may possibly give you and your brand an advantage over the competition.

Pros:

• Completely custom
• Reliable work
• You control script and direction of the video
• Low Cost (in comparison to hiring an agency or designer full time)
• No surprises
• Near unlimited revisions

Cons:

• Will have to dedicate a more significant budget for this 
• Could possibly be a recurring cost

Using any of the above listed method will allow you to create Facebook ad specific content for your ecommerce brand at affordable rates. If you have any questions about sourcing creative or Facebook ads in general don’t hesitate to ask! The Take Some Risk team is here to help.