Marketing Storytelling Examples: How to Use Stories to Capture Attention and Drive More Sales

In the Sunday Times bestseller The Science of Storytelling, author Will Storr cites research showing that when we read stories, our brains release chemicals like oxytocin and dopamine. These chemicals help us focus, engage, and remember what we read.

That matters for one reason: Attention is hard to earn and even harder to keep.

Thanks to AI, content is easier to produce at scale.  The result? More content that sounds the same, reads the same, and gets ignored.

So what still works?

Your story.

And the stories of the clients you’ve helped achieve real results. These are naturally unique because no two experiences are the same.

Effective storytelling is the lifeblood of capturing and holding attention. In the upcoming section on creating persuasive marketing campaigns, I'll dive deep into how to use storytelling, offering numerous examples to drive the point home. 

But first, let’s get something straight: Testimonials are not enough 

Here's a Fiverr screenshot. For $20, the seller offers to produce a video testimonial, posing as a satisfied customer. Once I pay the $20, he'll even claim that my laxatives made him look 20 years younger or that I taught his cat Mandarin in just 5 minutes.

In a TV show investigation, Inside Edition exposed a Fiverr seller who posed as a doctor, lawyer, and teacher, creating a series of fake video testimonials.

Having testimonials on a website doesn't automatically make the average reader believe in the claims. That's why, when I wrote a blog post for Copyhackers about helping a client achieve 3,118 opt-ins at £0.54/lead in 7 days, I didn't just make a claim. Instead, I detailed  my entire process, essentially saying to the internet, "Feel free to replicate my results; no thank you required."

I established credibility by educating the audience on how I achieved a specific result. More people will share and read credible content.

The Principles of Effective Storytelling

1.Be Specific

For over 20 years, Professor Dan and Chip Heath from Duke and Stanford University have studied what makes some messages more effective than others in capturing and retaining attention and increasing the likelihood that people will take action.

In their book "Made to Stick," they explained that being concrete and specific makes it easier for people to understand and respond to a message.

In one example from the book, researchers Shedler and Melvin Manis conducted an experiment at the University of Michigan in 1986. They had participants act as jurors in a made-up trial to decide if "Mrs. Johnson" should keep custody of her 7-year-old son. The jurors heard arguments both for and against custody, presented in these ways:

1. Arguments for custody without specific details.

2. Arguments against custody without specific details.

3. Arguments for custody with specific but unrelated details, like the child using a Darth Vader toothbrush.

4. Arguments against custody with specific but unrelated details, such as a nurse staining her uniform when cleaning the child's scraped arm.

The result? Jurors tended to favor the argument with vivid details, even if unrelated to Mrs. Johnson's fitness for custody. This experiment highlights the impact of storytelling. Dan and Chip Heath noted, "By making a claim tangible and concrete, details make it seem more real, more believable."

To be specific, avoid using abstract language. The following principle will help you with this.

2. Language is abstract, but life is not

Both the Holiday Inn, at $60/night, and the Ritz Carlton, at $500/night, claim to offer good service. However, simply saying "good service" doesn't explain why one hotel's service is superior. On the other hand, the story of a manager at Ritz-Carlton Bali arranging special eggs and milk flown from Singapore by his mother-in-law for a guest helps me visualize the elevated service experience at the Ritz-Carlton.

A tip to make your copy more specific and concrete is to write the way you talk to a friend. 

A few years ago, I booked a hotel room in London but ran into trouble when I got there. I mixed up the dates and booked for the day I was leaving, not arriving.

It was nighttime, and most hotels were full with a major sports event in town. I wandered from hotel to hotel until I mistakenly entered a company lobby with my suitcase. When I ask about a room, the security guard looks confused and says, "This isn't a hotel; it's a company."

When talking to a friend over coffee, I'll share the vivid details above, including how I asked the company about room availability. Instead of saying, "A mishap in London led to a nocturnal odyssey for lodging, shattering the illusion of accommodation."

Examples of Persuasive Business Storytelling

Storytelling in Social Media Posts

Many marketers complain that organic reach on Linkedin in 2026 is down and that organic engagement is hard to come by.

I came across a story about a US professor who rented an Airbnb room in London only to find it was a bathroom with a bed. Inspired by this, I used this story as an analogy in a LinkedIn post, explaining the process I used to help an SEO expert get better results from his ads.

The result? 

My profile has 2321 followers, and my post got 2163 impressions, which is great in terms of organic reach.

Storytelling in Sales Pages

Having a compelling copy on my website truly saved my ass after Facebook banned my fan page with 4.3k followers because I wrote a blog post comparing Apple and FB to two drag queens fighting for the last lipstick on Earth.

I could've made a new fan page or dealt with FB support, but I chose not to bother since my website attracted clients searching for a Facebook ads expert on Google. 

The copy on my home page tells the story of a client who was initially unhappy with my use of storytelling in their ads but later told me my work generated $700,000 in sales, and they asked if I could push it to $1 million. 

Storytelling and email marketing

Earlier this year, I had celebrity personal trainer David Kingsbury as a client. The email sequence I crafted boosted the ROI from his Facebook ads, turning it from 1X to over 7.08X.

The secret?

Instead of writing emails blindly, I sent a survey to David's email list to understand their struggles. So, I wrote an email explaining how David assisted Hugh Jackman in getting in shape at the age of 44.  (screenshot of the email opening below)

Storytelling in advertising

When I began running ads for Strategyzer, they made $0.40 for every $1 spent. With my help, they started earning $18.66 for every $1 spent on ads.

Below is what their ads looked like when they were losing money.

How did I turn the campaign around?

I studied Strategyzer's content, case studies, and business stories. I used storytelling to write ads that gave the users a taste of what they'd learn attending their conference. Here is an example of one of the ads I ran for them:

The best ads don't look like an ad. With 37% of internet users using ad blockers, it's evident that people dislike ads. Even when technology does not block an ad, our brains are programmed to ignore anything that resembles an ad.

I write ads that don't look like ads by focusing on educating the reader instead of making big claims.

Below is an ad I wrote that uses an engaging story as an analogy.

Notice In the comments section how someone said they read the ad without even noticing it was an ad.

Where to get inspiration from 

By now, we know that storytelling and analogies are powerful tools for capturing an audience's attention. But how on earth do I know which story to tell my audience? 

Below, I compiled a few examples of where I get my inspiration from.

Daily life 

In 2019, an airline made me miss a connecting flight and did not give me a hotel for the night. So I ran $10 of ads on LinkedIn ads and got them to fix the situation.

Later, I turned that experience into a blog post that positioned me as a LinkedIn ad expert and was shared 1300 times. The truth is that every day in our life is full of experiences that we can turn into content by finding an analogy with a teaching value to it.

For example, Celebrity copywriter Laura Belgray shares in an email the story of her brother-in-law, Dan, who often sends dishes back at restaurants. She uses this to convey a broader message: 

"Every great chef has someone who sends their food back. Remember: there's always going to be a Dan, someone who doesn't like it and wants it to be something else. It doesn't make you any less great."

The diary of a client

Imagine you stole a client's diary; what would it say about you and the product and service you sell?

I first heard of this exercise at a 3-day writing workshop by Laura Belgray in Cinque Terre. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I utilized this exercise to write what later became the homepage of my website.

A few years ago, I had a client that was part of the Shark Tank TV show. When Facebook ad costs rose, their ads stopped being profitable. 

I helped them craft ad copies that read like a client's diary. As a result, their ads became profitable again, and they achieved the highest number of sales in a single day from FB ads.

Check out a screenshot of one of those ads below.

Interview your clients

Your clients probably have amazing stories about how your product has helped them. Unless you talk to them, these stories might remain undiscovered.

When I wrote ads for The Copywriter Accelerator course, I conducted in-depth 30-60-minute interviews with past students on Zoom. I chose interviews over surveys or emails because I wanted to go deep and ask follow-up questions.

For instance, in my interview with Matt Hall, he mentioned the course helped him earn $17k/month. Naturally, I asked how, and Matt explained, "They helped redesign my website." I then had him compare his old and new websites side by side, pointing out the specific changes that made his website more persuasive.

The result? The Facebook ads delivered a remarkable ROI of 1,280%. Below, you'll find an example of one of these ads.

Reddit and discussion forums

"Keeping a job is the toughest challenge I've faced," I came across this statement on Reddit while researching Asperger's for writing ads.

To better understand issues faced by those with Asperger's, I decided to spend a few hours reading about the topic on Reddit, as I wanted to craft ads that scream, "I see you. I get it."

In my research, I discovered that Asperger's affects social communication skills, like understanding non-verbal cues, tone of voice, and sarcasm. These challenges can lead to misunderstandings and frustration.

If I needed to write ads on the New York rental market, I'd type into Google" rental nightmare New York Reddit," and many results about the struggle of renting in NYC would show up. 

Reddit and discussion forums are gold mines when it comes to customer research. Good copy is 90% reading and listening and 10% writing.

Comments from the targeted audience 

In September 2021, Anorak, an insurance broker offering income protection insurance, hired me as their Facebook ads expert due to their high cost per lead.

To understand what people thought about income protection insurance, I checked the comments on their ads. I observed skepticism about insurance companies paying out claims and a belief that UK unemployment benefits made such insurance unnecessary.

Armed with the newfound insights, I advised Anorak to create ads addressing the audience's objections and concerns. The outcome? I wrote a case study detailing how I helped them reduce the FB ads CPA by a remarkable 5.1X, ultimately saving them over $1.5 million in ad spend. 

Responses to your emails, blog comments, and social media comments (both organic and paid) are like finding gold nuggets. They give you a peek into what's on the minds of your target audience.

How I Used News Stories to Increase Facebook Ads ROAS 5.7X

What if I told you that the very handicap I once hated is exactly what helped me take a Facebook ads campaign from a 0.44 ROAS to a 2.52 ROAS, a 5.7X improvement?

Let me explain with a story.

Back in high school, I was reading a physics book when my French teacher approached me. With a voice full of disappointment, she said, "Sarah, just so you know, French is way more important than physics."

It took me a lot of self-control not to reply with: "Of course, because the light and electricity in this room exist thanks to French grammar, not physics."

The truth? I struggled with grammar and writing. Whenever we had to write a dissertation on Oscar Wilde or Voltaire, my work was nothing but pure disappointment.

Even in German class, I was told," With the mistakes you make, you might be dyslexic. You should get tested."

So, what does any of this have to do with creating high-converting ads? 

Because I couldn't write from a blank page, I was forced to find another way.

I stopped writing ads.

And started assembling them.

I researched the topic. I read articles. I listened to stories. I paid attention to the exact words real people used to describe their problems.

And without realizing it, my greatest handicap became my superpower: I learned to write ads that don't sound like ads.

In this case study, I'll share how I utilized the media and popular news articles to find stories that inspired me to write ads that outperformed a client's original campaign by 5.7 times.

How I Achieved a 2.52X ROAS on a $1,997 High-Ticket Course

Bob Diamond, a real estate attorney and investor you may recognize from FOX, NBC, CNBC, NPR, or TLC's Flip That House, sells a high-ticket course on recovering unclaimed funds, particularly tax and mortgage overages.

When I was brought in to run ads for his webinar, I uncovered something unusual: Bob wasn’t working with just one advertiser. He had 11 different ad accounts, each managed by a different advertiser.

The idea was simple: have us compete against each other to see who could deliver the best results, while also encouraging us to learn from each other's successful tactics.

Initially, the company's goal was to break even at 1X ROAS. But midway through the project, the target changed to: “now we needed to hit 2X ROAS within six weeks”

I surpassed that goal in just four weeks, producing the highest-performing campaign:

• ROAS: 2.52

• Ad Spend: $7,107.55

• Sales Generated: $17,901

For comparison, the second-best advertiser during that period spent $12,261.98 but generated only $5,389 in sales, a 0.44 ROAS.

Next, I’ll explain how I achieved these results.

The Storytelling Approach That Improved Facebook Ads ROAS 5.7X

When I first reviewed the ads promoting the webinar, one thing stood out: the copy wasn’t persuasive.

Improving the ad copy was the only thing I changed. The targeting,  campaign structure, and everything else remained 100% the same.  

Here’s the ad another advertiser was running:

The ad sounded like every other “make money” pitch out there, promising a secret loophole that no one else knew about. But really, what loophole? French kissing tax officials to score real estate deals? Selling frozen pizzas online with a 10,000% markup?

That’s the problem: it was vague, unbelievable, and easy to ignore.

I knew I needed a different approach. A story. Something real. Something people could instantly connect with, and that would naturally explain what tax overage is, and why this is a real business opportunity.

So I turned to Google to try to find such stories, which led me to a story that multiple newspapers and TV stations had covered.

If a story is powerful enough to go viral in the media, it’s powerful enough to stop the scroll in an ad.

Here’s the ad I wrote based on that story.

We can break the above ad into four main blocks:

1) The Emotional Hook: I used an emotional story as an opening hook to capture people's attention, get them to stop scrolling, and read the ad.

2) The Proof: Instead of saying “just trust me,” I backed the story with third-party stats to prove the problem is real.  (In the health niche, where I’ve run a lot of ads, this is where I’d reference scientific studies.)

3) The Authority Bridge: Here is where I bridged the gap and showed why Bob Diamond is the expert worth listening to. At the same time, I built a desire for the webinar by connecting the story to what the audience could gain. A good ad doesn't stop at a story; it shows how the offer directly benefits the reader.

4) Offer/Call to action: Finally, I invited readers to join the free training.

Of course, this wasn't the only story I turned into an ad, but for the sake of this blog post, one example will suffice.

Want to learn how to turn everyday stories into high-converting ads?

There’s only so much I can teach in a single blog post. That’s why I’m creating a  “look over my shoulder” course where I show you exactly how I turn a blank page into high-converting, money-making ads. You’ll see every step, every tweak, every trick, and all those “aha” moments that make an ad irresistible.

Want in? Click the link below to sign up, and I’ll let you know the moment it’s live. You’ll also get 50% off the course and a free eBook showing how I used customer interviews to create ads that generated 1280% ROI on a $2,000 high-ticket course.

Click this link to sign up now!

Saving £1.2M: How I Helped an Insurance Broker Slash Lead Costs with Persuasive Facebook Ad Copy

Could a viral TV interview with 127 million views teach us how to get more conversions from Facebook ads at a lower cost?

In 2017 the British Channel 4 interviewed Mo Gawdat about happiness; the interview went viral with 80 million views in 11 days, making it the most-watched news clip in the history of Channel 4.

As a result, the CEO of Channel 4 called Mo Gawdat, saying:  

"Who are you? "

Why are people interested in this happiness topic?"

"This is impossible; we broadcast violence because it is what people want."

Channel 4 was following the media's conventional wisdom that violence sells.

Likewise, many companies today follow the conventional wisdom in the industry regarding Facebook ads. They hesitate to test new strategies that could enhance the performance of their ads.

In September 2021, an insurance broker named Anorak hired me as their  Facebook ads expert because their cost per lead was sky-high.

When I started running ads for them, their cost per lead was at £92.9; in this blog, I'll explain how I successfully managed to reduce their cost per lead down to £18.2, all while spending £295,454.90 on ads. 

Reducing Facebook Ad Costs by Addressing Sales Objections

Upon reviewing the active ads, I saw ads with the same exact copy, many image split tests, or ad copy using different wording but conveying the same message.

For instance, one ad set consisted of 18 ads, all conveying the same message but using different images. The cost per lead for this particular set was £108.88.

One common conventional wisdom about FB ads is that the image is the most crucial element and that the copy should be short, which I debunked in a blog post for Copyhackers, which ranked among the top 45 marketing articles in 2019.

I checked the ad comments to get inspiration for a new Facebook ad copy to learn what people who saw the ads thought; after all, why try to blindly guess what might make people convert when the current ad had a lot of comments giving us insight into people's thoughts? 

To gain insights into people's thoughts and preferences, I examined the comments section of the ads. It seemed logical to draw inspiration for new Facebook ad copy from the comments rather than blindly guessing what might resonate with viewers. The ads promoted income protection insurance, and I came across objections in the comments, such as skepticism towards insurance companies paying out claims or the belief that unemployment benefits in the UK made such insurance unnecessary.

To overcome these objections, I advised Anorak to develop a Facebook ad copy that directly addressed these concerns and educated the audience instead of solely focusing on selling insurance. We created ads that tackled objections such as the doubt surrounding insurance payouts or the notion that savings or sick pay rendered income protection unnecessary.

Within a month, one of the ads was generating leads at a significantly reduced cost of £9.57, a considerable improvement compared to the previous cost per lead of £92.9.

Over the 14 months I managed the ad account, Anorak spent a total of  £295,454.90, generating 16201 leads, resulting in an average cost per acquisition (CPA) of £18.2. This CPA was 5.1 times cheaper than their previous cost per lead. By continually testing new ad copies, we further reduced the cost per lead to £8.71 by September 2022.

Without the more persuasive ad copy, Anorak would have needed to spend over £ 1.5 million to get the same amount of leads. That is a saving of at least £1.2 million. 

Furthermore, even if they had invested an additional £1.2 million without addressing the ad copy, there was no guarantee of obtaining 5 times more leads, as inside Facebook's ad bidding system, ads become more expensive the more an advertiser spends.

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Better Facebook Ad Copy = Better Sales + Better Cost 4 BetterBack [Case Study]

an older version of this article was originally published on the AdEspresso blog

BetterBack is a company that appeared on the TV show Shark Tank and got an investment offer from Lori Greiner, and before that raised $1.2 million on Kickstarter.

They were doing a great job on many fronts, except their Facebook ads were not profitable.

Then they got in touch with AdEspresso Concierge service, and I was the one on the other side of that phone call (and of the world, for that matter).

After 3 months of managing their ads, their cost per sale decreased to $28.588 while getting 1998 sales, which was profitable for them.

Including many days where they did have the highest number of sales in a single day from Facebook ads.

Here’s how AdEspresso helped BetterBack run profitable campaigns on Facebook.

When Olympic champion in freestyle mogul skiing Jennifer Heil decided to take a year off to build her strength, everybody told her she was making the biggest mistake of her life and jeopardizing her career.

Except her move was the difference between a 4th place during the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City and, later, winning five Overall World Cup titles (including 4 gold) as well as two Olympic medals.

Ignoring conventional wisdom and what other did, was the key to her success.

It is also how I helped BetterBack run profitable campaigns on Facebook.

Here are some numbers!

So how did I go against conventional wisdom to achieve such results?

Many say images are everything in Facebook ads, the copy is unimportant.

In a previous article, I shared how Strategyzer got 1866% ROI by improving their ad copy.

Just in case those results were not convincing, this time I’ll show you how a good ad copy can make a huge difference.

I mean like... night and day.

BetterBack and AdEspresso, a match made in... Facebook

During my call with BetterBack founder Katherine Krug, she mentioned that

I remember saying

So we decided to begin the optimization of BetterBack Facebook ads by working on the ad copy.

This is where we started:

And below is an example of a Facebook ad copy that worked and got a great ROI.

BetterBack as see on Shark Tank

The Four Powers of a good Facebook ad

We all know that people aren't on Facebook to buy, they're on Facebook to peep in their contacts life and to look at cute kitten picture. And in between a gossip and a laugh, they also get your ads in their newsfeed.

That's called "interruption marketing",  and nobody likes to be interrupted, or do they? To grab Facebook users attention you non stop need to come up with new ad creative to combat ad fatigue.

#1 - The power of a good ad copy

When creating new campaigns for each new Facebook ad copy, we also tested using new images, as well as reusing images that did well in previous campaigns.

For example, after running for a while the ad I shared above, the cost per sale increased.

So we replaced it with a new Facebook ad copy, that helped us keep the average cost per sale down.

Below is a screenshot of the ad, even using the same image just by changing the ad copy BetterBack was able to keep the cost per sale down.

Yet some will still argue that Facebook ad is all about the image, the copy does not matter. Keep reading then.

#2 - The power of Retargeting

Someone who visited your website is someone who raised their hand and showed an interest.

Sometimes they just need a gentle push before they open their wallet. In the world of Facebook ads, this push is called retargeting.

Check the results from a retargeting campaign BareBack ran, bringing sales at $5.547 CPA.

And below is the ad creative they used.

This Facebook ad copy is basically telling the user: we know you are hesitant, let us give you a few reasons why you should come back and buy.

And that is where a tool like AdEspresso proves to be your best marketing tool.

It allowed BareBack to quickly split test multiple retargeting audiences and find the winners.

Just a quick look at the results of their retargeting campaigns (through Adespresso clear and simple analytics), showed that those who raised their hand in the last day or so, were more likely to convert.

#3 - The power of Specificity

I want to tell you a story. Let's pretend I'm selling you tickets to a motivational meeting on how to become self-preneur and live a happier life.

In 2013, the chief of a $2 trillion investment firm resigned, after his daughter handed him a list of milestones he had missed.

Mr. El-Erian will ask her to brush her teeth, but she wasn’t listening. When he asked her why she gave him a list of 22 things he had missed (from her first day at school to Halloween parades).

Notice how the concrete language above, made it easy to understand the story.

What if I'd said:

Mr. El-Erian was a white-collar worker, with a stressful job. One day he quit.

Suddenly the image becomes less clear and interesting.

When writing ads for Facebook don’t assume users who already suffer from attention deficit, will figure out the benefits of your product or service by themselves.

Instead spell them out as clearly and as specific as possible.

Have a specific story that drives the point? Use it. Stories are easy to read and understand.

Our ad did not just say: because of back pain, she needed to take a break from work.

We mentioned how, being on disability, she only got 60% of her pay, forcing her to use the money she saved to take her son to Disney just to get by.

#4 - The Power of Why

The reason why many marketers think that copy is not important on Facebook is that they mimic what works for them when using Adwords.

They write multiple ads that basically say the same thing but with slight variation in the wording.

On Facebook, it's not that easy. Crafting an ad that converts on Facebook, is all about uncovering the different reasons that might push someone to convert.

Let me give you an example.

If I was New York Tourism board, not everyone visits NYC because of the food.

So writing ad1: “We have delicious food”

Ad2: “Enjoy some of the world’s best cuisine”

Those are similar ads.

Some will visit NYC because of the food, other because of the fashion, nature, nightlife, architecture, museums..etc

It is about writing ads for the different hot buttons that might push someone to convert.

Final Thoughts

When the CEO of Air Dining presented a dessert made with the world most expensive coffee to Gama Aviation executives. When he asked if owners of private jets would buy it, the answer was:

Understanding the level of craftsmanship that goes into this dessert, is going to be key to having this in the best menu. Food tastes better when you’ve got the story.”

Facebook ads are no different, cleverly done storytelling beats ads that only say: This is what I offer, please buy it.

Often, when doing either campaign reviews, concierge duties or coaching calls for AdEspresso customers, I start by:

Imagine that there are 456 other companies out there offering something exactly like yours. Why should anyone choose you?

or:

Can you tell me a specific story of a client you helped?

For example during a campaign review for an SEO company I advised to do the following in their Facebook ad copy:

• Mention the story of a client you worked with and their niche.

• How you helped them and the outcome

According to him, it made a huge difference to his campaign!

Actually, it was the technique that worked same with BetterBack -and it can work with you too

Just by thinking about why should a customer choose you can make a big difference between a boring ad and a Facebook ad copy that will focus users attention on you.

Courtesy of: Marketoonist

One last takeaway:

Often marketers make a mistake when writing ads: they just describe the service/product, find a nice picture or use the company logo, and then focus all their energies thinking:

How do I target via Facebook ads someone who need what I offer?

Change the mindset! Starting with asking:

How do I clearly explain why my solution/offer is the best option for anybody out there?

It can make a huge difference. Give it a try.

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Need help getting better results from your ads? Let's talk! Send me a message in the below form, and I'll get back to you ASAP.

Facebook ads Targeting myths debunked

This article was originally published in French on Hootsuite blog

The internet is full of advice and secret formulas for Facebook ad targeting. An ever-growing touting of strategies guarantee skyrocket conversion and cheaper Facebook ads campaigns. 

Yet, a good portion of this hype around Facebook targeting simply isn’t true. Self-proclaimed “gurus” even encourage people to use Facebook ads to steal competitors’ clients…That’s just not how it works. (Spoiler alert: that’s NOT possible). 

Say for a minute we were talking about food instead of targeting.

1. If I tried a horrible mashed potato ice cream, I couldn’t generalize and say all potato dishes taste bad. 

2. Chocolate ice cream might be great, but can I generalize and say any dish with chocolate tastes good? How about adding chocolate sauce to a hotdog. Dare to try?  

The same applies to Facebook ads targeting; just because a case study about Lookalike audiences getting cheaper conversions exist, that doesn’t mean Lookalike will always convert better. 

It all comes down to testing. 

This said, there’s huge benefit to understanding how targeting works and clearing myths around it. That’s why we’re here.

Facebook ads targeting: the naked truth

Facebook can deliver ads to people based on their interests and behaviors. But that can be problematic as people can think Lookalike is always better or that targeting XXX all the time is more effective. And they end up making campaigns they assume are the better option when they haven’t tested other targeting possibilities. Here’s the problem with those one box wonder targeting strategies as I call them:

1. First, you might target the wrong audience for your niche. (Just like finding sausage in the middle of chocolate ice cream)

2. Second, you might avoid testing & targeting an audience that could have converted well out of assuming that a certain type of targeting always works better. (What if that “sausage” was actually made of chocolate, too?)

The proof is in the pudding. Well, translated to advertising language, I’d say: “the proof is in the testing.” The more we understand Facebook targeting and how it works, the better we can use it to our advantage and avoid costly mistakes. 

This blog post will dispel the # most common Facebook ads targeting myths, and we’ll debunk them based on Facebook’s own documentation. 

So, let’s start by shedding some light of knowledge on those myths.

#1 - Interest Targeting doesn’t equal targeting a page’s fans

Let me put an assumption to the test.

If I try “Lady Gaga” as an interest, I get the following:

Interest targeting gives me an audience of 110 million people, but when I visit the fan page, there’s only around 55 million fans.

On the other hand, MySQL at Facebook has 323,625 fans, but interest targeting returns an audience size smaller than the number of fans (unlike with Lady Gaga).

Then, there’s London's Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium cat cafe with 64,697 fans.

And people ask me: “I checked the cafe fan page, there are a lot of fans, but why can't I target her as an interest?”

That’s because interest targeting doesn’t equal targeting Page fans. (if it makes you feel better, here is a cat inviting herself to my drink at a cat cafe)

Then what’s interest target really? 

Let’s go back to FB's own definition from their Facebook blueprint course below.

Image source: Facebook Blueprint

An older definition from Facebook included: “Interests may include things people share on their Timelines.”

On Facebook Business’ help center, they mention “what they've included in their profiles, as well as the Pages, groups and other things on Facebook they've connected with.”

Even keywords in a status update can play a role, as well as engaging with posts that contain such keywords.

Below’s a screenshot of an article on AdWeek in which someone from Facebook admitted to “showing related ads based on keywords used in status updates.”

Of course, we would never know the exact recipe of what constitutes an interest to target. And how Facebook algorithms define an interest targeting is something that continuously mutates. 

A while ago, I posted horrible food pics on my profile for the sake of a laugh. A friend commented saying: ‘STOP SARAH’. FB confused her engagement with my post as the same as having an interest in the topic. 

Later, she sent me a screenshot of the groups Facebook started recommending her.

Engaged shoppers aren’t people who love shopping 

So many blogs with targeting tips say: If you’re running e-commerce ads, then target the ‘Engaged Shoppers’ behavior, because people who are known to purchase products from Facebook will see your ads.

So are ‘Engaged Shoppers’ people whose passion is shopping and buying products from Facebook? 

The screenshot below gives us Facebook’s definition of an ‘Engaged Shopper’

Facebook terms it as: “ People who have clicked on the Call-to-Action button “Shop Now” in the past week”.

Based on this definition, let’s break down why just targeting this single audience might not magically give an advertiser more sales at a cheaper cost. 

1. It includes people who clicked on the “Shop Now” button in the past week. So, no one who clicked on a Facebook post 17 days ago and bought a product will be a part of that audience.

2. Anyone who clicked on a post that didn’t have the “Shop Now” button will fall out of that audience even if they bought a product right after clicking on the post.

3.  Just clicking a post with the button “Shop Now” doesn’t mean the person is a buyer.

4. A person might search for a book on Amazon, let’s say, and so Amazon will retarget them with an ad with the “Shop Now” button. In this case, they already bought a product for which they were looking, which isn’t the same as buying a product from a total stranger.  

I’m not saying you shouldn’t target a precise category.

I’m just saying you shouldn’t blindly target that category and assume it’ll always convert better than not targeting that category or other targeting options.  That’s like saying caramel sauce always makes food more delicious, which is not true if you’re eating mashed potato.

Lookalikes isn’t always the best option 

An error I’ve seen in targeting orthodontists has to do with targeting 2100 orthodontists in France, for example, by using a 320,000 people lookalike audience. 

Facebook lookalikes are set as people with common qualities in demographic or interests. But that can mean a broad set of multiple criteria; such as user behavior, profile data on age, gender, location, liked pages and clicked ads. 

If you’re targeting a very tiny niche and orthodontics is the only similar factor, the stretch is too wide for targeting to make sense.  

For narrow B2B niches, look alike might not be the best option. 

Job Title targeting and Targeting CEOs

You could target job titles, for example. 

Say something along the lines of “CEO” or so. People write their titles on their Facebook profile. The problem is a lot of people don’t add those to their accounts, also, and others play around with roles and add word play to their bios. Results thus aren’t 100% reliable. This isn’t LinkedIn where results are more exact. 

For example there are 24,000 people on FB with the CEO job title who happen to work at Apple, Google or Microsoft. 

The same can be true for people stating in their profile that they have a PhD from the school of life.

The above doesn’t mean you can’t get value from targeting some job titles. Just don’t imagine your ad is being served to the CEO of the world's most powerful companies.

People interested in Ferrari are rich

I’ll let the screenshot below do the talking. 

There are 1.1 million kids on FB you can target with the ferrari interest.

An Interest targeting doesn’t equal a person who can afford a Ferrari. Facebook can be a place for daydreaming and dreaming costs nothing.   

Which Targeting to use 

Often, people ask me what strategy or audience targeting works best. And I say:

Test, test, test!

Marketers continuously talk about laser targeting ads, but you can’t get 100% of an audience to want a product or service. 

Targeting is all about wondering, instead: To which audience is a potential client more likely to belong? And it comes down to testing multiple audiences, letting the user vote with their mouse and letting that number tell us which audiences worked better.

Leveraging the power algorithm for Targeting 

The algorithm has a learning phase. Often, when we get enough conversions, FB can take care of the targeting.

Unless you have a very narrow niche, I recommend going broad.

It might convert well, it might not, but this all comes down to letting numbers speak.

How copy can help reach the right audience

Ad copy can help reach the right audience. 

I once helped a financial adviser in the US who assisted parents paying for college. 

At first, the ads attracted a lot of single mothers.

By changing the copy to mentioning that a couple with a job and a high salary can get a lower interest rate on a college loan for their kid, we started targeting a different audience. 

Nothing else changed in terms of the targeting. We just changed the copy and attracted a different audience.