Beauty Ads Blacklisted? The Surprising Copywriting Secrets That Facebook Doesn’t Want You To Know
If you’re running ads for a beauty salon, cosmetic surgeon or medi-spa, you know how tricky it can be to run Facebook’s gauntlet of ad policies when it comes to ad approval.
You’re not allowed to call out personal attributes and you’re also not allowed to show too much skin in the ads.
As a refresher, personal attributes, according to Facebook’s Ad Policies, are “direct or indirect assertions or implications about a person’s race, ethnic origin, religion, beliefs, age, sexual orientation or practices, gender identity, disability, medical condition (including physical or mental health), financial status, membership in a trade union, criminal record or name.”
Sometimes, it’s easy to feel like you’re creating ads just to have Facebook slap a big, ol’ “disapproved” stamp on them.
First up, what NOT to do…
So here’s an ad that was approved, that I feel strongly violated Facebook’s ad policy of calling out personal attributes. But I’ve included it below as an example of how things slip through and what NOT to do.
Why do I think it’s violating the personal attributes ad policy?
- It implies that the reader has imperfections
- It implies that the reader suffers from breakouts
- It implies that the reader is unhappy with the way they look and want to transform it
Of course, this is subjective, but if the ad was reported as inappropriate, those points would stand out to me.
Having worked with a few beauty-industry clients, I’m here to help you with what I’ve learned from having ads disapproved and how to stay within Facebook’s ad policies so you still get the green light.
Here’s what one of the approved ads looked like:
How to create ads that Facebook (and your target audience) approve of…
Images
Women like to see women 10 years younger than what they are for Medi-Spa ads (it may work for Ezra Firestone’s ads for BOOM! to have women of the same age, but he’s selling skincare to 55+ so you can expect different results.)
You can use a little bit of text to call out the prices. In fact, the ad we ran (above) got the attention of a competitor, who started running similar ads with the price in a bubble on the image.
Don’t show too much skin. For example, you can’t show a close up of a women’s arm, hand, torso and upper thighs without showing her face. Before and after images can also be problematic too.
Copy
You can’t call out personal attributes in the copy. You can, however, reword things. For example, “Lose weight” becomes “Fit into your favourite skinny jeans!”.
Don’t focus on the “treatment technology”. Women don’t care about the fancy names that they don’t understand. They get confused by this. Focus on the benefits and results of the treatment.
Using affirmative statements like “Give you more radiant, glowing skin” works fine and Facebook has approved these kinds of statements for ads I’ve run in the past.
A scarcity tactic and call to action (CTA) in ad copy. I’ve found this works well — “But hurry! Limited to the first <number> ladies this month! Hit the ‘Message Now’ button to get your coupon via Facebook Messenger!”
Swipe this Facebook Ad copy for your medi-spa ads
Here’s how you can write copy for your medi-spa ads. (I created this a little while ago, so make sure you do your due diligence and ensure it’s still within Facebook’s ad policy, as they do update it.)
⚠️ You can callout your audience at the top of the ad — e.g. “Attention Ladies Who Want To Say I Woke Up Like This!”
Here, talk about your offer NOT the treatment itself in 1–2 sentences. Make it a crazy one-time offer. Don’t get bogged down in the “tech” of the treatment e.g. laser, lipo, etc. Just mention the offer.
Mention your treatment benefits here in bullet points:
💎 Benefit 1
💎 Benefit 2
💎 Benefit 3
💎 Benefit 4
Use a scarcity tactic here — e.g. “Hurry! The offer is only for the first 5 ladies who book now!”
Finally, include a call to action — e.g. “Hit the button below to get your coupon via Facebook Messenger!” 📲
Now you’re armed with the script — it’s time to create your ads!
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