In the following video and article, we’ll show you how to view your competitors Facebook Ads. This technique is a great way to generate inspiration from larger competitors’ with bigger budgets.
Let’s take a quick look in this 1.5 minute video.
What’s the Point of Viewing Competitors Facebook Ads?
The first thing you’re probably wondering is why you need to use the Meta Ads Library Tool to see you competitors ads in the first place. There are several reasons you need to use it, including it gives you a leg up on the things your competitors are doing that do and don’t work.
This means instead of wasting your time doing the same things, you can avoid making these errors altogether. It’s like being taught how to create a Facebook ads campaign the right way and ensure you don’t waste valuable company time and resources.
Another reason you need to monitor what your competitors are doing is to gain insight into what your target audience is responding to. If they respond to specific types of content more than others, you must begin implementing this content in your marketing strategy.
When it comes to your target audience, there are features in the ad campaign section that allow you to target your ads appropriately. If you don’t know who your target audience is, it means your ads won’t be seen by the right people.
Still not seeing a reason to watch your competitors? Okay, we’re going to let you in on the most significant reason of all, and it’s that it’ll save you money.
Where Can I Find the Ads?
We’ve told you why it’s beneficial for you to check out your competitors ads, so it’s time to figure out how to find them. Most people searching for ads launched by others use the Facebook ad library.
The ad library is in place because it’s one of the critical components of Facebook’s policy to increase transparency. This policy was created because of issues in transparency that occurred during the political election season.
It aided in preventing people from interfering with the election in any way. In the ad library, you’ll be able to see things including:
- How much was spent on the ad
- Who the ad reaches
- Who backed the creation of the ad
Using the Facebook ad library to find ads created by your competitors, you will first need to visit your competitor’s profile. Once on their profile, scroll to the bottom until you find the words ‘page transparency.’
In the top right-hand corner of the section, you’ll see the words ‘see all’, and you need to press it. After the tab has expanded at the bottom, you’ll find the button to take you to the ad library, where all of your competitor’s ads are archived.
If you don’t want to go through the trouble of doing all this, you can use the Facebook ads library app. The best part of this app is you don’t have to have a profile on Facebook to use it.
What to Take Note Of
Now that you know how to spy on competitors’ Facebook ads, you need to know what to devote your attention to once you’ve found their ads. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, you won’t understand what you should be doing as you create your own ad campaign.
If you’re starting to feel a bit crazy, rest assured your competitors are spying on your ad campaigns too. Performing competitor research is a massive part of doing business.
To maintain a competitive advantage over others, you’ve got to consistently know what they’re doing. This will help you stay one foot ahead, maintaining your position as the preferential company in your industry.
Media Type
As mentioned above, you need to implement certain forms of content in your ad campaign that will increase audience engagement. This is to ensure you maintain balance and cohesion throughout your campaigns.
Producing too much of one form of content will have the opposite effect on your audience. If you’re not sure which form of content gets the best reaction, you can use the impressions metric to monitor this.
Impressions
Speaking of impressions, this is something else that needs to be monitored. Impressions are when an ad is showing on a screen. As you monitor your competitor’s ads, you’ll be able to see how many times their ads are being shown.
This can help you determine what you set your ad frequency at within the Facebook ads manager section. Running your ad too many times can become overwhelming and annoying for consumers.
Not running the ad enough means you’re not standing out in the minds of consumers, which can directly affect your business sales.
Duration of Current Ads
To monitor this metric, you need to know which ads your competitors are still running. This means you might have to go as far back as sixty days to find them.
As you do this, you might begin to see a trend in the types of ads they run. The reason for this is that if a specific ad has been know to do well, your competition isn’t going to deviate from that.
In fact, they will continue to create future ads to monitor the one that brought them the most success. You’ll also find examples of others ads your competitors are testing to determine if they will get the same interaction as the previous ones.
Offered Deals
53% of millennials have admitted that when they are shopping, they look for some type of deal or coupon. People love to save money when making purchases.
If you notice more people are shopping with your competitors, see if they are running specific deals or coupons. If you find that they are, make a note of what they’re doing and find ways to improve upon their method.
By doing this, you’ll increase the number of people that begin shopping with your business. Why are these discounts being provided? Are they only provided for products that aren’t selling?
What type of coupon is it?
Landing Page
You can click on the ads and checkout the landing page that the advertiser is using (if they’re not using Facebook Lead Ads). This can also help you generate idea to help improve your own landing pages and increase conversions.
Messaging / Copy
If you want your ad to connect with people, you need to pay attention to every aspect of the copy. This means creating a title that will get people to pay attention to, then hopefully click on your ad.
If the title of your ad isn’t captivating, people are going to scroll over it. After the message’s title, you need to think about what you’re writing in the body.
Just because you’ve captured someone’s attention doesn’t mean you can’t lose it if you’re not sharing information they find beneficial. Remember, when you create products or offer services, it needs to fulfill your target audience’s needs or problems.
Otherwise, they won’t have a need to buy from you. Make a list of the points you wish to address, and ensure you touch on each of them in the body of your message.
Facebook Ads Library Tool FAQ’s
- What is the Facebook Ads Library and how can I access it?
- The Facebook Ads Library is a public tool provided by Meta (formerly Facebook) that allows anyone to view advertisements currently running across Meta’s platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. You can access it by visiting the Facebook Ads Library website.
- Can I see all active ads from a particular advertiser in the Facebook Ads Library?
- Yes, you can search for and view all active ads from a specific advertiser. Simply enter the name of the advertiser in the search bar, and the tool will display all their currently running ads.
- How can I use the Facebook Ads Library for competitor research?
- The Ads Library is an excellent resource for competitor research. By searching for your competitors, you can see the types of ads they are running, their messaging, and how they are engaging with their audience. This information can be invaluable for refining your own advertising strategies.
- Does the Facebook Ads Library show the performance of the ads?
- No, the Facebook Ads Library does not provide performance data like click-through rates or conversion rates. It only displays the ad creative, copy, and the date range during which the ad was active.
- Is there any way to see historical ads that are no longer running?
- Yes, the Facebook Ads Library provides access to both active and inactive ads. You can view ads that have been run in the past, although detailed historical performance data is not available.
Luke is the founder of LeadSync and, as a Digital Marketer, has been helping businesses run lead generation campaigns since 2016.