How to Build Better Ads With the Facebook Ads Library

What if you could see every ad currently live on Facebook? Imagine the data, ideas, and revenue you could generate.

You no longer have to imagine. Facebook Ad Library gives you free access to view any ad currently live on the Facebook ecosystem.

With one of the largest advertising audiences on the internet at an estimated 2.74 billion people and a ridiculously competitive CPC of $0.43, Facebook is one of the best places to advertise online.

Today I’m going to show you how you can use the Ad Library to make it even better and send the conversion rates of your Facebook ads soaring.

What Is the Facebook Ad Library?

Facebook Ad Library is a free, public database of every ad currently active on Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram. Users can view every detail of the ads, including the copy, the image, how long it’s been live, when it launched, and any versions being A/B tested.

Facebook initially launched the library to improve the transparency of advertising on the platform and avoid claims of election interference. But the Ad Library is so much more than this. It’s an incredibly powerful tool marketers can use to transform their Facebook Ad campaigns.

How Do I Get Started With Facebook Ad Library?

You don’t need a Facebook account to access Facebook’s Ad Library, but you won’t be able to take advantage of all its features, so you should get one. (That said, if you want to advertise on Facebook, you should have one anyway.)

Start by searching for a brand and clicking on the relevant name from the drop-down menu.

You’ll now see a page displaying information about the advertiser, including when they created the ad, how many ads they have running, and the location of moderators.

Scroll down a little further to see ads in a grid. You can click “See Ad Details” to see more information about a particular ad.

8 Ways to Use the Facebook Ad Library to Create Better Ads

There are many different ways you can leverage the power of the Facebook Ad Library to create better ads. Here are eight to get you started.

1. Explore Ads From a Variety of Industries

The first thing everyone does when they access Facebook Ad Library is search for their competitors and see what ads they’re running. Not only is this a perfectly natural reaction, but it also makes business sense to spy on your competitors.

Don’t get hung up on your competitors, however. There are hundreds of industries out there, and you can learn a lot from all of them, whether it’s high-end luxury retail, insurance, or the law.

Start by searching for any brand you love, then look at that brand’s competitors. See what they have in common.

Next, look a little closer to home and analyze brands tangentially related to your own. For instance, if you run a dog-focused e-commerce store, you could look at cat or reptile brands to see which strategies they use.

Find one or two angles you’re not using and start testing.

2. Find Similar Ads and See Which Was More Successful

One of the most underrated features of the Facebook Ads Library is seeing different versions of the same ad brands are split testing. A/B testing is a fundamental part of succeeding with Facebook Ads, but working out what to test is easier said than done.

That’s what makes Facebook Ads Library so powerful. In 10 minutes, you can build a checklist of ad features to A/B test the next time you create an ad.

Best of all, you know they are all worth testing because the biggest brands in the world are testing the same thing.

3. View Active Ads to Determine What’s Trending

Spend half an hour browsing the Ad Library, and you’ll quickly see a few trends emerging in terms of layout, offer, and imagery. It’s essential to bear these trends in mind, particularly if ads in a specific format have been running for a long time.

But don’t feel the need to run the same ad as everyone else. While it’s important to understand what works and what doesn’t, you don’t want your ad to be lost in a sea of faceless ads.

4. Check Out Ad Copy and Tone

Are your ads enticing? Do they sell? One way to tell is to compare them to ads by the biggest brands in your industry (or any other industry, for that matter).

Read a few dozen ads to quickly see the similarities in word choice, copy length, and tone. All the best copywriters take inspiration from the ads that came before.

Take note of how long the ads have been running, too. Tried, tested, and proven ads are worth paying attention to, even if you don’t think they read the best.

5. Identify Other Promotion Opportunities

Selling products or courses isn’t the only use for Facebook ads. Browse the Ads Library, and you’ll probably find dozens of other ideas and promotional opportunities.

For instance, you may find your competitors promote things like videos, ebooks, or other content. Advertising your versions of these products is a great way to build an email list and position your brand as an authority.

You’ll also find dozens of examples of branded ads that don’t promote anything in particular and just increase brand awareness. If you’re looking to grow your following through ads, you can find a lot of inspiration for that, too.

6. See Which Ad Formats Have Longevity

No one wants to have to create new Facebook ads every week. That’s way too time-consuming.

The trick is to find a message that resonates well over a long period, and doing so is easy with Facebook Ad Library. Simply search the database for a major advertiser, select active ads only, and scroll to see ads with the longest run time.

Make a note of the media, copy, and offers used, then do the same with other major advertisers in your industry. If many of the long-running ads share the same tone or offer, this can help you create a valuable ad of your own.

7. Discover Effective Media Types

Use Facebook Ad Library to find what media other brands in your industry use in their ads. If many advertisers use stories or carousels and you aren’t, for instance, it may be time to experiment.

Conversely, it may be you’re already using the most popular media type. If so, you can still get inspiration for other ways to implement it differently.

8. Find the Best Time to Run Ads

The creative isn’t the only thing to think about when it comes to ads. Timing is also critical. Your ads can live or die on the running times you set for them, so it pays to see what successful advertisers are doing and take cues from them.

Around big sales days like Valentine’s Day or Black Friday, you can also use the Ad Library to see when competitors start running their ads, so you aren’t left behind. You can even use historical data to beat them to the punch next year.

FAQs About the Facebook Ad Library

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Facebook Ad Library: Conclusion

Advertisers weren’t happy when Facebook made ads accessible to everyone, but you should be delighted. The Facebook Ad Library offers a huge opportunity to anyone looking to upgrade their ad creatives, nail down their copy and send conversion rates soaring.

Whose ads are you going to look at first?