Know Your Enemy: Facebook Ad Library
Learn from your competitors’ successes and failures.
What is the Facebook Ad Library?
Facebook Ad Library is a compilation of active and inactive advertisements. These ads run on multiple Facebook-owned platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook Ad Library makes it easy to view specific advertisements, the audience it reached, the organization who funds the advertisement, and the cost of the ad.
How do I use it?
The library works like most search engines. In the search box you can search for a keyword, specific organization, or advertiser name. Above the search bar, you can select from multiple popular categories to narrow a search – most notably the category “Issues, Elections, or Politics.”
Once you complete your initial search, apply additional filters to get the most useful results. You may filter your search by region, active and inactive advertisements, potential reach, and impressions.
In the far-right hand corner, you’ll find a “sort by” drop down which organizes the results by impressions. Impressions are important to track because they show how many times an ad was viewed. When you use the “sort by” option to sort by high to low, you will see which advertisements were seen the most.
Underneath each ad, you will see the option for summary data. Here you can quickly see additional audience details, such as gender and location, as well as how much was spent on a particular advertisement.
Once you complete your initial search, apply additional filters to get the most useful results. You may filter your search by region, active and inactive advertisements, potential reach, and impressions.
In the far-right hand corner, you’ll find a “sort by” drop down which organizes the results by impressions. Impressions are important to track because they show how many times an ad was viewed. When you use the “sort by” option to sort by high to low, you will see which advertisements were seen the most.
Underneath each ad, you will see the option for summary data. Here you can quickly see additional audience details, such as gender and location, as well as how much was spent on a particular advertisement.
Information and Campaigns
There is no better way to know your enemy… ahem, competitor… than look at who they target and how they perform. When you analyze your competitor’s target audience, the message they send, and the medium through which they send a message, you can better prepare to create counter arguments and advertisements.
Look at the most successful ads and brainstorm how you can replicate that success to spread your own message. Make sure to note unsuccessful ads. Take note of those and you’ll learn what ads did not resonate with your audience. That way you won’t waste your money to replicate the same mistakes.
How you budget is everything in a campaign. You can advertise smarter when you look into what works for your opponent, and make it work for you.
Look at the most successful ads and brainstorm how you can replicate that success to spread your own message. Make sure to note unsuccessful ads. Take note of those and you’ll learn what ads did not resonate with your audience. That way you won’t waste your money to replicate the same mistakes.
How you budget is everything in a campaign. You can advertise smarter when you look into what works for your opponent, and make it work for you.