The easiest way to start writing more compliant ads for FB, YouTube, TikTok, etc.

But before I can explain the “writing part” here’s some quick context:

I’ve been reading “What To Say When You Talk To Your Self” (a fantastic book recommendation from my friend in the cowboy hat, Robert Segelquist).

And I have to say — it’s given me some fantastic insights into how the human brain works.

But the juicy goodness you probably care about is the stuff that makes people obsess over a product, believe your claims, and ultimately buy whatever you’re selling.

And today’s inspiration comes from some French Toast I had for breakfast.

See, I’m the type of person who feels bad when I have to throw out leftover maple syrup on my plate. It feels like a waste to wash that delicious concoction of pure Ceylon cinnamon and Maple tree blood down the sink!

But that’s when I realized something…

I just told my subconscious mind “I always feel bad” when I thought to myself:

“I always feel bad when I throw out leftover food… Maybe I should lick it off the plate or something.”

Normally, I would have NEVER noticed that small NLP-esque language pattern, but thanks to my new positive self-talk, it stood out like a panhandler wearing a freshly pressed zoot suit.

So I quickly flipped the message in my head to:

“I’m so happy and grateful that I get to eat delicious food like this.”

And that’s when it struck me…

I used to have a TON of trouble writing FB compliant ads because you can’t use negative imagery. You can’t make claims that assume things about a person.

There’s a whole laundry list of things you can and can’t do…

But in general the rule is:

Don’t make FB’s users feel bad.

And more ad platforms are moving in this direction (looking at you TikTok and YouTube…).

So if you can flip negative self talk into positive self-talk…

How much easier is it to flip negative ads and attributes into positive ones?

Instead of: “Get rid of that ugly belly fat.”

You can flip it to: “Feel confident, sexy, and empowered.”

But whether or not you even care about “compliance”, now you can approach all of your claims and benefits from 2 different directions.

(and surprise, surprise… FB REALLY prefers when you make their users feel good VS telling them what’s wrong with them and how they need to buy your stuff.)

And while I can’t prove it, you’ll likely get lower CPMs, higher AOVs, and better traffic if you play by their rules.

Plus, “negative attributes” go against FB policy anyway.

It’s like being able to go from black to white, or adding another color to your palette.

You can leverage contrast by going from the “hell” to the “heaven.”

Fat to thin.

Weak to strong.

Unattractive to sexual tyrannosaur.

And because it’s so much easier to flip the way you see things, you can have more split tests too.

Example: Starting with pain vs starting with future paced benefits

But that’s enough for today.

Let me know if this was helpful in the comments.