How profitable are static UGC ads?
Two examples of UGC photos turned into ads that were launched on Facebook and Instagram and offered a profitable return on investment
Hey UGC and marketing friends!
After nearly a year, I think I’m finally figuring out what I want to dedicate this newsletter to (primarily). What better space to deconstruct top-performing ads and provide key takeaways for everyone reading to apply directly to their UGC business in future concepts for clients? Additionally, we did a training session in the UGC Social Community 2-3 weeks ago where we went over the ROI UGC photos turned into static ads can offer to your clients and how it’s super important to not sleep on their potential of them. You can access this training (and all archived trainings to date) with the 7-day free trial here.
In today’s article, I will break down the performance of two static UGC ads and the creative strategy that went into them. Without further ado, let’s dive in!
Allow listing: First call out for both ads; notice that they aren’t running on the brand’s account. It’s being run on a customer’s account, referred to as allow listing (formerly known as whitelisting). If you aren’t already offering allow listing as a service to your clients, this is your sign to do it! It can be a great supplemental source of income with very minimal to no effort (you have to grant the brand access to your Facebook and Instagram accounts with your Facebook Business ID). If you don’t know how to do this, the brand will direct you on how - so no worries!
Headlines: In the first static, the headline reads, “Keto friendly with 0g sugar and 1g net carbs,” and in the second static, the headline reads, End Your Sugar Addition for Good. In 2021/2022, I was trying to create new value prop winners outside the age-old “weight loss” rhetoric that’s been abused and overused. All this goes to say, I was testing roughly a dozen headlines having to do with different demo pain points, value props, and end results, and these two headlines were the ones that stood the test of time with the highest spend.
Value props: Similar to headlines, we were also A/B testing value props to learn what our target demo was most attracted to. Notice how each static has the same featured value props, “satisfies hunger,” “fuels body & mind,” “tastes like a dessert,” “fights sugar addiction,” “curbs carb cravings,” “get started for only $9” - these were the winning value props after extensive A/B testing over the timespan of months.
CTA: Just because it’s a static doesn’t mean it doesn’t include a call to action. In this case, it’s a value prop phrased as a CTA, “get started for only $9.”
UGC photo: In this case, the UGC photos are product-focused, with the angle leaning into the taste, and are very dessert driven. I planned this strategically as one of the popular “barriers” from commenters on ads was, “…but does it actually taste good?” I outsourced the work to a recipe photographer with an extensive portfolio of mouth-watering recipe photos for this client. So if you’ve got a passion for food and photography, know there’s a demand for your work!
Stats on this ad:
Spend: $451,582
1st Customer ROAS: 1.18%
CPCs: $1.88
CPMs: $19.70
CTR: 1.60%
Stats on this ad:
Spend: $521,333
1st Customer ROAS: 1.08%
CPCs: $1.97
CPMs: $21.12
CTR: 1.50%
As always, if you have any follow-up questions, go ahead and comment below; I’d be happy to answer them for you! I’m looking to get on a bi-weekly cadence with at least one of my newsletters deconstructing a top-performing ad to be used as inspo for future UGC concepts for clients. I also wanted to take out time and thank each and every one of you for being patient with me while figuring out the schedule, content, and overall approach to this newsletter. It’s taken me some time, but I’m confident we’re officially on a track I’m happy with and excited to keep chugging along. I wish you the best of luck on your UGC journey, continue to use me as a resource; I’m here to help!