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Images have an impact, especially when it comes to Facebook page likes. Before you even clicked on this blog, the cute dog picture caught your eye. I noticed trends on SOCi’s platform that particular images often had higher SOCi Scores than others. I ran tests to help discern what kind of images received the most Facebook page likes and what other factors affected “like-ability.”

Having the Perfect Picture Is Key

Facebook page likes are an essential piece of the social media marketing puzzle. Without them, key insights could be missed and determining how to effectively improve strategy of a brand’s Facebook page becomes infinitely more difficult.

Tests occurred during the month of October, using Facebook Business Manager as well as AdEspresso. The main goal was to measure the potency of various ads in multiple regions of the country. AdEspresso, is a third-party Facebook advertising platform that helps improve efficiency when it comes to creating and optimizing ads for small to medium size organizations. After running ads numerous times on both platforms, I expected to see similar results in average cost per page like (CPL). However, this was not the case.

The Platform Test

I ran identical page like ads, featuring the two images below, on both AdEspresso and Facebook Business Manager. These ads targeted the greater Boston area and contained the same copy. I assumed that the outcomes would be comparable; instead, there was a notable discrepancy due to platform choice.

football and foliage ad photo test for east coast

AdEspresso Results
Football Image Advertisement CPL = $1.75
Foliage Image Advertisement CPL = $3.32
Facebook Business Manager Results
Football Image Advertisement CPL = $0.80
Foliage Image Advertisement CPL = $1.11

After running the ads multiple times on each platform, it was easy to discern that there was a considerable disparity based on platform used. The CPL on AdEspresso was more than double and almost triple for the same ads; Facebook Business Manager was clearly the more cost-efficient choice for obtaining page likes.

The Numbers

In addition to the platform test, I analyzed the high and low performing page like ads on AdEspresso and Facebook Business Manager to see if there was a notable difference.

  • The best performing ad on AdEspresso cost 40% more per like than the best preforming ad on Facebook Business Manager.
  • The worst performing ad on AdEspresso cost 126.8% more than the worst performing ad on Facebook Business Manager.
  • The average of the five top performing ads on AdEspresso cost the same as the average of the top five best performing ads on Facebook Business Manager.
  • The average of the five lowest performing ads on AdEspresso cost 86.67% more than the average of the five lowest performing page like ads on Facebook Business Manager.

It was evident, Facebook Business Manager performed significantly better than AdEspresso when it came to advertisements for Facebook page likes.

Make the Image Suit the Audience

It’s more than just choosing the right picture and platform, you need to take the location of your audience into account. This is a key factor in discerning what picture you use for your Facebook page like ad. Reactions to the same type of photos varied widely by state.

  • People in California were most responsive to sunset skyline and pool images, and didn’t respond as well to pictures of foliage or daytime skylines.
  • People in Oregon and Washington responded positively to fall foliage images, and didn’t respond as well to daytime skyline photographs.
  • People in Texas were most responsive to photographs of pools and sunset skylines; not as responsive to photos of foliage or football, and did not respond at all to an image of the Texas Flag.
  • People on the East Coast responded extremely well to fall foliage images and not as well to pictures of food or football.
  • People in Nevada responded very well to images of pools but not as well to daytime skyline pictures.

california ad pictures collage

The Winner

Identical picture advertisements performed differently depending on the target location. Yet, there was one photo category that did well in every region, can you guess what it was? That’s right, cute small cats and dogs. Pictures of pets did well in every state, providing an average CPL of $0.65.

Cute animals, cat and dog

Advertisements featuring pet pictures provided consistently low CPL in various areas around the country. Cute small animals are one of the most popular topics on the internet, use them to your advantage.

So Remember…

It’s more than the just the image that gets the “like,” platform choice will also impact the effectiveness of your ad. Run tests of your own and build on these tips; there are plenty of images out there to help you get the “like.”

Don’t be shy about using the tools provided by Facebook Business Manager. Choose high quality images for ads directly through Facebook using their free stock images tool that gives you access to a wide variety of Shutterstock photos for no extra charge!

There are over 3 Million Facebook likes per minute, will your company get one of them?

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