The last check on our creative list is the easiest to skip: a relevant visual. It sounds like decoration. It behaves like targeting, and in one of our best ads it did more of the targeting than the copy did.
The nail salon ad
The ad asks “Running your business on 24% credit cards?”, says a business line of credit costs less, up to $500K, and invites the merchant to compare. Nowhere does it name an industry; the headline is “business owners”. The photo behind the text is a nail salon, rows of pedicure chairs and all. The leads it produced were nail salons.
That is the creative-is-the-targeting rule working through the image rather than the words. A merchant scrolling past sees their own kind of business before they read a line, and self-selects on it. Whatever is in the ad is what comes back as a lead, and that includes the picture. It cuts both ways: even a weak brand ad with a real person in it will tend to attract that kind of person.
What to put in the picture
| If you want | Show |
|---|---|
| Restaurants | A real kitchen |
| Construction companies | A job site |
| Trucking companies | A broken-down truck, or an owner working under an open hood |
| Nail salons | The salon floor |
| Any industry | Plain text laid over a real photo of the business |
Trucking is the clearest case. One of our best-performing creatives is nothing more than a man working on a truck engine with the hood open, visibly frustrated, with the text laid over the photo. It is a relevant visual and a situation in the same frame, and a trucking owner recognises it before reading a word.
The picture still has to leave room for the rest of the checklist. One idea per ad applies to the image as much as to the copy: one industry, one scene, and a situation on top of it if the ad has one. It is also one of the cheapest things to change when an ad wins, because a new photo of the same industry under the same message is one of the ten variants every winner gets. The full formula is on the creative checklist.
Questions brokers ask
What images work best for MCA Facebook ads?
A real photo of the merchant’s own industry: a working kitchen for restaurants, a job site for construction, a broken-down truck for trucking. One of our best-performing creatives is a visibly frustrated man working on an open truck engine with text over it.
Can the image in an ad target an industry by itself?
Yes. One of our ads said only “business owners” in its copy, over a photo of a nail salon, and the leads it produced were nail salons. Merchants read the picture first and self-select on it.
Should I use stock photos in funding ads?
A stock or phone photo is fine if it shows the merchant’s actual world. What does not work is a generic image of nobody in particular, or illustrated characters, which give the merchant nothing to recognise.
Does every MCA ad need a photo?
No. One of our best ads is a plain black card with a $500,000 deposit notification and no picture at all, and it produced at least 250 qualified leads. A relevant visual is one of five checks, not a requirement.
What text should go on top of the photo?
One idea in a few short lines. The nail salon ad has five: business owners; running your business on 24% credit cards; a business line of credit costs less; up to $500K; click to compare your rates.
Alex Makowski
Founder, Infinite Bookings
Runs the lead generation operation behind Infinite Bookings — paid traffic, the funding application, and the delivery pipeline that puts records into brokers’ CRMs.
Reachable directly at alex@infinitebookings.com or 732-609-7182.