Updated: January 2, 2021
How To Create Facebook Ad Headlines That Get More Shares And Clicks, Templates Included
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The headline is the second most important part of the entire ad. A strong headline will dramatically improve the performance of your ads and increase your click-through rates.
In fact, the headline is second only to the importance of the overall imagery or video of the ad itself. The ad graphic is what makes people take notice of your ad, but the headline is what pushes the engagement. Think of it this way – you use the ad image to get their attention, so they read the headline which, in turn, convinces them to click.
Now if you have an engaging image that makes people stop and pay attention, but your headline is lackluster, they immediately lose interest and continue scrolling.
What Makes A Great High-Converting Facebook Ad Headline?
The Facebook ad headline is what appears directly below the image or video in the Facebook newsfeed, either on desktop or on mobile.
So, it’s that text that appears right below the creative (graphic, image or video).
In the above example the headline reads, Try Hundreds Of Gyms For Only £1!
5 Keys To A Great Headline
- Grabs attention and states immediately what the ad is about.
- Your ad is targeted and relevant so you're getting the right attention.
- Generates some base curiosity leading to a desire for more information.
- The ad imagery and the headline are perfectly aligned and work together.
- Your headline gets them interested enough to read the rest of your ad.
A great headline grabs attention, and it immediately tells the reader what the ad is all about. People don’t want to think while scrolling through their newsfeed, so you must make your headline essentially thoughtless. Be direct and compelling.
The imagery grabs their attention, but the headline keeps it and tells them instantly what the ad is all about.
But you don’t want just any attention. You want buyers, so the key here is that you want to grab relevant attention. Meaning, you want to grab the attention of your target audience and not just any random person on Facebook. Random people clicking on your ad will only cost you money.
And that headline also needs to generate curiosity. You want to entice people to click. Whether it’s to answer a question your headline has created for them or to learn more about the subject itself. Humans are curious creatures, and we all have that in common, so use it.
Your headline needs to be completely aligned with your creative. Remember, people scrolling through their Facebook feed don’t want to think – they want to be spoon-fed. If you select a strong image or video that gets their attention, but your headline has nothing to do with the imagery they just saw, you will lose them.
For example, I could use a wacky image like the one below in my ad, and that will grab a lot of people’s attention. And it should because it’s unusual and leads to curiosity.
But what happens when they read the headline, and it’s not related to the image whatsoever?
If I had a headline under that image for a local wedding dress expo, “Join Over 200 Area Wedding Experts For Free” there’s going to be a complete disconnect with the reader. Sure, they’ll look at the image, which will prompt them to read the headline. But, when the headline doesn’t fit the image, they get annoyed and keep scrolling.
The overall objective of the headline is just to get people interested. Facebook ads are a two-step process.
- The image stops them from scrolling and gets their attention.
- The headline builds their attention and convinces them to read the rest of your ad copy.
Templates with Examples of Great Facebook Ad Headlines
So now let’s look at some templates and some great examples of Facebook ad headlines so that you can use them for yourself.
Template #1
It’s a simple ad concept that works very well. The desire is anything that people want and the pain component of this template can be physical pain, financial or emotional pain or even a common complaint.
When Adobe released their stock photography monthly membership, they ran ads that tapped directly into this template, including:
Adobe knew that many people experience similar common pains when using stock image services; usage limitation and pricing.
Desire: Attention grabbing stock photography
Pain: No royalties, unlimited use.
Template #2
This template creates a comparison and gives the reader the idea that they too could be like the world-class example.
If you run an MMA gym and are trying to build up your virtual membership business specifically targeting women, you may do a headline like:
Learn to fight like Holly Holm
What this headline does is takes a world-class example and uses it to demonstrate what the reader might get.
Do Something: Learn to fight
Well Known Example: Holly Holm
Here’s the other reason why this headline is clever. Holly Holm is presented ranked second in the world for women’s MMA fighting. Essentially, she’s a big deal, but she’s not known beyond that particular industry. That’s why I didn’t choose Ronda Rousey who is ranked below Holm but carries wider name recognition.
By using Holms name, we grabbed only the attention of our target audience because only they will immediately recognize her name.
Template #3
This headline template is all about achieving a specific goal while acknowledging a widespread excuse or objection which convinces the read that he or she can actually do it.
If you’re a local French tutor, you may decide to run a few local Facebook Ads that look like this:
Learn to speak fluent French even if you don’t currently speak a word
Of course, I would use the first five words as the main headline and the remaining as the subheading. Let’s break this headline down:
Achieve Goal: Learn to speak fluent French
Common Objection: Don’t currently speak a word
So we start out with the goal and finish the headline with a common objection, such as not knowing a single word of French.
Not being able to learn to speak fluently without any previous experience is their objection. So we put that in the headline to prove that they still can achieve their goal of fluency.
Template #4
In this template we’re using a single fact as our evidentiary support which will grab attention and possibly invoke an emotion of loss, dread or concern. If you’re running a digital advertising agency you may want to run the following headline:
Facebook ad costs doubled last year.
Here’s how the best are still thriving.
So let’s put that all together in the context of our template.
Negative Fact: Facebook ads doubled last year.
And then we simply put at the end, “here’s how the best are still thriving.”
We’re putting a fact in front of our reader. The face will likely grab their attention because they have probably noticed their Facebook ad costs rising sharply as well.
Meaning, this is a fact the reader knows all too well and has probably spent a few restless nights worrying about.
Finally, we simply add some curiosity by saying, here’s how the best are still thriving. This leads the reader to assume that we have a secret.
The reader thinks that there’s something I don’t know here that the best advertisers do, because obviously they’re still doing well.
So the reader wants to read more, and you get a highly-target and very relevant click-through.
Template #5
This Facebook ads headline template is very popular and very successful for our many coaching clients. It’s motivational, encouraging, and builds confidence by showcasing other people who accomplished exactly what the reader desires.
Here’s a great example that a ServerWise coaching client used very effectively for over a year:
10 examples of Facebook ads currently delivering 400% return on ad spend
People love case studies and examples.
This headline grabs attention and directs the reader to click through to get all the details on the amazing case studies you’re providing.
Number of Examples: 10
Your Audience: Facebook ads
Achieving Goal: Currently delivering 100% return on ad spend
So in this case, the target audience are Facebook ad users and the goal is simple, to get a higher return on their ad spend budget.
So winning the Facebook marketing war in this case. It’s a solution backed by real-life examples that are there’s for a click.
Where To Find Inspiration For Your Next Powerful Facebook Headline
These templates are great, but sometimes you’ll just get stuck and need some inspiration to spark your next converting headline.
Here are three places you may just find that spark:
YouTube Video Headlines
YouTube creators are amazing at creating phenomenal headlines. Head over to YouTube, type in whatever it is that you’re creating an ad for and search for similar videos. Take a look at those video headlines and make note of any video that has received a lot of views in a short period of time. Chances are that headline has already proven itself to get attention.
Media Headlines
The news media is the original creator of the attention-grabbing headline.
Those magazines and trashy supermarket rags at the checkout have some of the best examples of successful clickbait style headlines. If you think about it, they must be good at grabbing attention, as people are so preoccupied these days as they’re walking by.
Online publications, including just doing a quick Google News search for your product niche, is a very quick way to pour over dozens of different headline concepts.
Remember, you’re not outright copying these headlines. You’ll need to adapt them and make them your own.
Blog Titles
Head over to Google and search for blogs in your product category and look for blog titles. In my experience, blog titles are like YouTube thumbnail titles, meaning that those blog authors are trying to get as many clicks as possible.
So, these blog authors come up with some really creative headlines for their blog titles, and you can get some ideas and inspiration from those as well.
Facebook Ad Headlines Best Practices
Watch your headline length and preview it.
The first thing is to watch the length of your headline. When you’re typing the headlines into the ad manager, have a look at the preview and make sure that your headline isn’t getting cut off, particularly on mobile.
There is a limit on how long your headlines can be before they simply get cut off, but don’t just rely on the preview in the ad manager. It’s not uncommon for the ad manager to provide inaccurate results.
You can click the button up in the corner (see below screenshot) to send a preview to your laptop, mobile phone or even to Instagram. Make sure your headline isn’t getting cut off on any device.
Pay attention to compliance issues on Facebook.
It’s quite easy to get caught up in compliance issues on Facebook, meaning your ads get either rejected or your account gets shut down because you didn’t follow policy.
Here’s a few quick things you can do to lower your chances of facing the Facebook compliance wrath:
- Never use a dollar amount.
- Never use a date range or time period.
- Avoid using words that Facebook considers to be low-quality, like secret or hacks.
Test, Test and Test Again
If you haven’t tested ten different headlines for the same ad, you’re missing the point of headline optimization and ROI.
The first ad you write will never be the greatest one, and it will never outperform the third or sixth concept. It takes time and a lot of testing, but once you nail down your best performing headlines, you’ll see a huge spike in your ad spend return, and it’s an amazing feeling.
So, make sure you’re testing regularly. It will help you continually improve the performance of your headlines and the performance of the click-through rates of your ads.
Above all else, don’t get discouraged. Your first few ads won’t perform very well, at least, they never do in my experience. Facebook advertising is a continuous learning process that you will get the hang of unless you quit.
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