How to Use the Facebook Ad Library to Improve Your Ads

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But sometimes, there's more to it. In the business world, tunnel vision is a bad thing. You need to learn how to look around at what others are doing to learn from successes and mistakes.

With over 10 million businesses advertising on Facebook, there is a vast dataset of ads to analyze. What if you could tap into this knowledge base to improve your own ads? Now you can, with the Facebook Ad Library.

Understanding the Platform

Facebook hosts over 3 billion active users at any given time. That's a lot of data and insight into what works in advertising. The Facebook Ad Library allows anyone to access this data to see ads from both competitors and non-competitors. You can use it for competitive analysis, benchmarking, finding inspiration, and more.

Initially launched in 2018 following the political advertising scandals of 2016, the transparency offered by this feature has proven helpful for keeping advertisers honest and researching trends.

What is the Facebook Ad Library?

Since Meta's rebrand in 2021, the tool is now formally called the Meta Ad Library. It is a searchable public database containing details on all ads running on Meta's platforms. That includes the ad creative, targeting parameters, spending data, and more. It provides much-needed transparency into the world of advertising on Meta platforms.

{{cta-bench-01}}

Why Should You Use It?

There are many valid reasons to tap into this knowledge goldmine:

• Competitive analysis: Spy on your competitors' active campaigns to reverse engineer what's working for them.
• Creative inspiration: Discover new styles, formats, and messaging ideas that you can put your spin on.

• Track campaign progress: Monitor how your active ads are performing over time.
• Stay compliant: Verify that ads follow Meta's latest advertising policies.
• Monitor ad trends: Identify the latest trends in ad creative, targeting, platforms, etc. 

Accessing the Ad Library

The best way to understand the actual value of the Meta Ad Library is to get hands-on with it yourself. Here's a quick guide on how you can access this free tool.

How to Access the Library

Getting started with the Ad Library only takes a minute. Simply navigate in your browser to the Meta Ad Library homepage at Ad Library. By default, it will auto-populate the location as the country you are accessing from and the language as English. However, you can easily change these parameters if needed.

Search Functions

The Facebook ad library search bar is the most straightforward way to search for ads. You can enter keywords or names of advertisers, such as your competitors' business names. The database will then return a list of relevant ads matching your query.

If you want to filter further, utilize the available filters on the left sidebar:

• Language
• Platform (Meta, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network)
• Date Range
• Active status
• Ad type/format (image, memes, video, carousel, etc.)

Search Results

After entering a search query, you will be presented with a results page. These are displayed as rectangular cards summarizing each ad with information like dates active, media format, and high-level performance stats. To access more details, simply click "See Ad Details."

You'll find additional information in the full ad details view, including the actual ad creative, headlines and descriptions used, calls-to-action, and more. There is information on whether or not the ad was flagged for violation of Meta's ad policies.

For advertisers, the most valuable section here shows ad performance broken down by time and spending amounts. This allows you to estimate how much Facebook advertising costs. 

Leveraging the Ads Library on Facebook for Competitive Analysis

Here at Varos, we're all about using technology to benchmark performance. So naturally, we're fans of leveraging Meta's free Ad Library tool for competitive analysis.

The first step is identifying your competitors - these are other companies selling similar products or services. You can then directly search for each competitor by name in the Ad Library to analyze their active and recent ad campaigns.

View Competitors' Active Campaigns

Monitoring competitors' real ads gives you an insider look at the latest trends and tactics thriving in your industry. You can discover valuable insights into what messaging resonates, what creative styles capture attention, and what tactics convince people to engage.

Keep an eye out for patterns in the ad strategies and creative approaches used by rivals. For example, do interactive carousels or short videos dominate over static images? Are emojis and internet meme references common across multiple competitor ads?

Also, pay attention to what platforms competitors are leveraging - is there a surge in Messenger or Instagram ads vs the Facebook News Feed? See what formats are most utilized.

Analyzing these patterns allows you to ensure your ad strategies and creative approaches are up to date. It helps guarantee your messaging will be well-received by your target audiences. 

You can even uncover areas competition is missing out on by noticing avenues they fail to explore. Then, take the opportunity to swoop in and fill that gap.

Evaluate Past Campaign Performance

The Facebook media library won't provide explicit performance metrics for competitors' campaigns. For instance, you can't know how many click-throughs or conversions a rival's ad generated. However, by carefully reviewing the available data, you can still make educated guesses about what's resonating. All it takes is the power of deduction. 

The most important things to look at are:

• Timing and dates ads ran.
• Ad formats used
• Spend amounts and changes.
• Locations targeted

For instance, if you notice a significant uptick in spending around a particular holiday or event relevant to your industry, that likely indicates positive ROAS from campaign tactics worth mimicking in your strategy. 

Or look at budgets. Are specific competitors outspending you substantially? Consider adjusting budgets to stay competitive. Noticing lower costs and engagement for your geographic area vs others? Refine your localization strategy.

Drawing Inspiration from Successful Ads

Let's say a pet food company was noticed running video ads focused on the freshness of their ingredients. These ads clearly resonated with their target audience as ad spend grew 3x over a six-month period. By showcasing their cooking process in a fun, engaging, and creative video, they likely captured consumer interest and saw corresponding increases in sales.

Of course, it's essential to stay true to your unique brand identity when deriving inspiration. Find ways to put your own creative spin on trends and maintain authenticity in your messaging. Test what does and doesn't align with your target audience. Tools like Meta's free Ad Library make exploring new ideas quick and easy.

{{cta-bench-01}}

Improving Your Ad Creative and Messaging

Beyond spying on competitors, the Ad Library presents endless opportunities to refine your ad strategy.

Find Inspiration

Use the search functions to uncover novel styles, formats, design elements, messaging ideas, and value propositions. Facebook's database contains millions of ads with boundless creative variety.

However, it's critical when taking inspiration to customize it for your brand's unique identity and audience. Use competitors' ideas as a jumping-off point, but make sure the end result aligns with your company's voice, style, products, positioning, and other elements that set you apart.

Improve Relevance

The Ad Library allows you to make your ads hyper-relevant by keeping up with the latest interests and trends. Check out what creatives, messages, or products seem to work well right now amongst others in your field. Test using those winning elements in your own ads, too.

For example, say multiple pet stores are advertising natural, grain-free recipes. You could create test ads spotlighting those attributes for your own pet care brand. If how-to videos are popular, craft engaging tutorials showcasing your product's features.

Likewise, pay close attention to what competitors avoid including or highlighting - often for good reason. Maybe sappy family stuff backfires for your market, or complex tech terms make eyes glaze over. Adapt your strategy to ditch those unpopular elements.

Now, something competitors don't show could still have untapped potential. Like if no one does short videos yet, even though they bring success for many industries now. So consider trying formats, messages, or offers that nobody touches yet in your space but roar elsewhere.

Benchmarking Your Facebook Ads with Competitors

When it comes to comparing your ad performance against competitors, Meta's free Ad Library is helpful but limited. It doesn't actually provide the concrete metrics needed for true competitive benchmarking analysis.

For that, you'll want to use a purpose-built platform like Varos. Powered by insights across 4,500+ companies, Varos enables you to see precisely how your Facebook and Instagram ads measure up on key performance indicators like:

• Impressions
• Reach
• Clicks
• Engagement Rates
• Conversions

Because Varos pools data from thousands of companies in your industry, you can benchmark your ads against real-world standards. See if your engagement levels or conversions are truly above average or if there's untapped potential still left out there.

The most valuable metrics depend mainly on your campaign goals and desired actions. But with Varos, you'll gain clear visibility into where you over or underperform rivals.

Complement Facebook Ad Library With Varos

In summary, Meta's free Ad Library presents invaluable opportunities for research and learning from 10+ million active advertisers. Use it for competitive analysis, inspiration, industry research, and enhancing your creative strategy.

Varos completes the picture on the benchmarking side. It instantly answers questions like – Are my ads actually performing better than my competitors' ads or worse? What KPIs are strong versus lagging? Where exactly do I over or underperform the norm? 

If you want robust industry benchmarks for Facebook/Instagram advertising, Varos is the platform built for you. 

Schedule a free demo today to see Varos in action! Our team is happy to answer any questions or tailor a custom pilot.