5 Ad Creative Best Practices from Analyzing 250 Top Brands

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🗓️ Tuesday, 25^th Jul 2024

Hi, and welcome back to Growth Espresso - your one-stop destination for everything e-com.

Over the past few months, we’ve engaged with leading eCommerce experts globally and analyzed hundreds of brands to identify the key elements of the most effective advertisements.

The top brands don’t focus solely on creating a viral sensation. Instead, they consistently perform A/B testing on best practices and refine their creatives, target audiences, and ad formats based on the results.

We’ve compiled some of the most effective eCommerce ads from various industries—home decor, fashion, electronics, apparel, beauty, and more.

In today’s edition, we will explore the top best practices used by the world’s leading eCommerce brands.

Let’s dive in.

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1. Show Me, Don’t Tell Me

When creating a visual ad, it’s essential to use the medium effectively. Instead of merely listing your product’s features or value proposition, demonstrate them to your audience.

Consider this excellent example from Hydrow, a rowing machine company offering live on-demand training by professional athletes. In their video, a customer discusses the benefits of the rowing machine while demonstrating how to use it. This approach is simple, engaging, and perfectly suited for platforms like Facebook video ads.

This means focusing on creating ads that visually showcase your product in action, highlighting its benefits and usability through real-life examples. This strategy not only grabs attention but also builds credibility and trust with potential customers.

2. Use multiple image carousel posts

When a single image isn’t enough to demonstrate how to use your product, many brands default to videos and overlook other ad formats. However, using multiple images per ad can be just as effective. This is where Facebook carousel ads come in handy.

Carousel ads allow you to display a series of images within a single ad, providing a dynamic and interactive experience for your audience.

You can also divide a single standard image into several blocks to create a cohesive, multi-part visual story.

Take TOMS, for example. In one of their ads, they use four images to showcase their Bonsai Green shoe from different angles, display the packaging, and highlight the unique sole. This approach provides a comprehensive view of the product, engaging potential customers with a more detailed and appealing presentation.

3. Use 30-second product video ads

Ecommerce brands have increasingly turned to product videos to better showcase their offerings. However, there’s a common misconception that these videos need to be several minutes long. To create an effective video ad, keep it under a minute, ideally 15 or 30 seconds.

For example, Corkcicle, a beverage container brand, has a fantastic 30-second video ad. In this brief video, they display available colors, highlight three different features, and show the bottle from multiple angles—all within 30 seconds.

Hydrant, a vitamin supplement company, also excels with a 30-second video. Their ad succinctly demonstrates the product’s benefits and how to use it. It’s straightforward and effective.

Another best practice is to incorporate text from product reviews alongside high-quality images. This approach combines visual appeal with authentic customer feedback, providing powerful social proof that enhances your product’s credibility.

Bespoke provides an excellent example of this strategy in action. By integrating positive reviews with attractive visuals, they create compelling ads that resonate with potential customers.

These concise video ads and the strategic use of customer reviews can significantly boost your product’s appeal and effectiveness in capturing your audience’s attention.

You could also use customer testimonials or success stories depending on the industry that you’re in.

4. Proudly display user-generated content (UGC)

An even More Powerful Way to Display Social Proof: User-Generated Content (UGC). A highly effective way to showcase social proof is by using images created by your customers, known as user-generated content (UGC).

While many brands rely on models or staged photoshoots to display their products, using real customer photos is far more authentic. This approach is especially common in industries like home decor, electronics, and food.

For instance, consider this Instagram ad from Aerie, which features an image created by a customer. This not only highlights the product but also demonstrates genuine customer satisfaction and usage, making the ad more relatable and trustworthy.

Now, let’s talk about the best practices of displaying the product itself.

5. Let the influencers do all the explaining

Last but not least, let’s talk about influencers.

This is by far one of the more powerful best practices, so brace yourself.

Combine everything we just talked about - show me don’t tell me, show the result & benefit to the customer, focus on short videos, etc. - and add an influencer to the mix and you get a high-converting advertisement.

Here’s a great example from Corkcicle.

Instead of concentrating on creating a single viral image or video for your next ad campaign, consider applying some of these best practices and testing them with your target audience. Observe how they respond, identify which ads generate more engagement and higher conversions, and then create more ads based on those successful principles.