Hey there,
It is Matthew Larsen, back with my daily newsletter.
In today’s email, we will talk about the simplest type of paid ad you can create and why I think almost everyone should start with it.
One of my favorite marketing quotes is:
“Sometimes the best copy to sell a horse is ‘Horse For Sale.’”
That is the entire idea behind a Direct Offer Static Image Ad.
It is a simple image that does three things:
It calls out the specific type of customer you want.
It states your offer.
It tells them what to do next.
That is it.
Start With A Static Image
By far the easiest ads to produce are static image ads that do nothing except call out your ideal customer, state your offer, and explain the next step.
When I say ideal customer, I mean the specific type of person or business you want to attract.
These ads take almost no thought, skill, or time to create, which is why I recommend starting with them.
If you are just getting into paid ads, you likely have no idea what you are doing yet.
That is fine.
Starting with a static image lets you begin without buying camera equipment, lighting, microphones, or editing software. You do not need to hire actors, video editors, or a designer.
You can go into Canva and create one of these ads in a few minutes.
That makes it substantially easier to start.
Keep The Ad Obvious
The best-performing static image ads are simple.
Do not create some completely whack design or fill the ad with AI-generated garbage.
The ad should not be crowded.
Someone should be able to understand it immediately.
Use this basic structure:
Call out your audience at the top.
Put your offer in the middle.
Tell them the next step at the bottom.
If there is enough space, optionally add a short three-step checklist explaining how the offer works.
For example, imagine an advertisement selling qualified leads to business-financing brokers.
The top of the ad calls out business-financing brokers.
The middle states the offer of qualified, exclusive leads.
The bottom tells them to book a call.
The person seeing the ad immediately understands whether it is meant for them, what is being offered, and what they should do next.
You do not need to be more creative than that.
Sometimes the best copy to sell a horse is “Horse For Sale.”
Turn Winning Ads Into Videos
Once a static image ad begins producing results, the next step is to turn the winning concept into a video ad that says essentially the same thing.
This is sometimes called a VSL ad. VSL stands for video sales letter.
A video ad lets you show your face, which can increase trust. It also gives you more room to explain the offer than a single image provides.
You can learn to make the video yourself, which is what I recommend, or hire an actor to film it for you.
A rule of thumb I always return to is:
Good video ads almost always outperform static image ads.
Bad video ads always perform worse than static image ads.
The advantage of starting with the static image is that you have already tested the concept and offer.
You know people are interested in what the ad says.
If you turn the same idea into a video and it stops working, the problem is probably the video.
It is not proof that the offer suddenly stopped working.
It means you need to improve your video-ad skills.
The simplest video version needs only:
A banner calling out the audience at the top.
A one-sentence offer underneath it.
A 30-to-60-second video.
Captions underneath your chin.
Clean audio.
Subtle background music.
You do not need much more than that to succeed.
You honestly do not even need an editor.
Talk later,
Matt