The Best Facebook Ads for Minimalist Wallets

THE SPREAD
Morning Marketers!

Q1 is over. Q2 is here. It’s a great time to refresh ad creative.

Today we have some quick bites on Google, OpenAI, and Reddit. Then, we’ll get into the main course and look at the Facebook ads of three companies that sell minimalist wallets. Finally, we’ll end with some SEO news and the meme of the week. And, because competition is fun, don’t forget to vote on the best ad at the end!

STARTER
Quick Bites:

• Google has some new personalized shopping experiences, including a virtual try-on tool, where you can see what the clothes look like on a variety of models ranging from XXS-4XL (Read more).

• Anyone can use ChatGPT now, no account required; other OpenAI products still require a subscription (Read more).

• Reddit updates its ads manager with new tools, including automation (Read more).

MAIN
The Best Minimalist Wallet Ads:

This week we are looking at the Facebook ads of three companies offering minimalist wallets:

1. Ridge

2. Ekster

3. Bellroy

What’s so interesting about wallets?

Did you know that, in 2024, the US Wallets & Little Cases market generated $4.43 billion dollars of revenue? Neither did I.

According to Statista, the US is experiencing a surge in demand for minimalist wallets. Let’s take a look at how some of the most successful minimalist wallet companies are marketing their wares.

How I analyze Facebook Ads

A great Facebook ad communicates the benefits of the product or service, not solely the features. Features are cool, but customers really care about what those features do for them (the benefit). For example, a wallet having a slim profile is a feature. But, describing how a slim wallet helps prevent your date from cringing when you take out your credit card, is a benefit.

Alright, let’s see how these companies market their wallets:

#1: Ridge Wallets

The Good:

• The Primary text in this ad has a lot going on. It starts with a bold statement: ”Shop the best-selling wallet of all time and choose from over 30+ colors and styles.” This immediately sparks curiosity because the potential customer will wonder why this wallet is the best-selling of all time.

• Then, the ad lists five features in bullet points, making it easy to digest.

• Below the bullet points is a GQ quote.

• And below that, the ad promotes free shipping and returns, along with a 99 day risk-free trial.

• Finally, the Primary text ends with a call-to-action: “Find Your Ridge Today.”

• The Primary text does a great job of highlighting what you get with a Ridge wallet, and the image encapsulates the benefit: thinner means more comfortable.

The Bad:

• The Primary text is throwing a lot of info at the customer, hoping something will stick and inspire them to buy. Shortening it may help, but testing is needed to confirm that.

• And, despite all the information, I don’t get a sense of why this wallet is the best-selling of all time. It needs something like this: “The best feeling. The best look. Make it yours.”

The Recommendation:

• Test shorter Primary text, and include a clearer example of a benefit like having a quote about how comfortable the wallet is, or how it impressed a date.

• Provide a reason why the wallet is the best-selling of all time, ideally in both the Primary text and the image.

Let’s look at another Ridge wallet ad:

The Good:

• The Primary text is much shorter in this ad, which can be a good thing but only testing can confirm that.

• The image coveys the main benefit of this particular Ridge wallet: you’ll have a “unique” and stylish wallet, even as it ages (in other words, your status in society won’t decrease because your wallet is falling apart).

• The Day 1 to Day 365 comparison is a great way to show that value.

The Bad:

• Again, the Primary text does not communicate the benefits of owning the wallet.

• Showing what the wallet looks like after a year is nice, but a longer period of time might be more effective. I would like to see a Day 1 vs Day 1000 comparison, it sounds more dramatic and interesting.

The Recommendation:

• Test including a sentence about the benefits of owning this wallet (how it makes the owner look better/more smarter).

• Test a longer period of time for the wallet aging comparison. A three image comparison, or even a carousel ad could provide a fun comparison between Day 1, Day 100, and Day 1000, for example.

#2: Ekster Wallets

The Good:

• This Ekster ad leads with a benefit: “Simplify your life with Ekster.” I like this approach because it helps the customer understand the value right away. And, it begs the question, how does it simplify my life?

• The image does the grunt work of helping the customer to visualize the benefit this wallet.

The Bad:

• The Primary text doesn’t do a great job of explaining how the wallet simplifies the customer’s life. Even one phrase about the benefits of having an organized wallet, like “the essentials at your fingertips” would help elevate this ad.

• The quote, “The Tesla of Wallets,” is a nice idea, but the ad fails to explain how or why this wallet is like a Tesla. Is it the design, the materials, or something else that makes it Tesla-like? And, who is J. Zeballos? A customer or a wallet aficionado?

The Recommendation:

• Test different image backgrounds. The wallet is a light silver color in this ad and doesn’t contrast well with the light background of the image.

• Test different quotes within the image text, ideally one that species style of comfort.

• Also, test different text color within the image. Text color can have a surprising effect on click through rate.

Let’s look at another version of Ekster wallet ad:

The Good:

• The Primary text starts off strong with a 20% off callout, and Business Insider’s assessment that this is the “Best smart wallet overall.” Showing that a third party has endorsed the product is a great way to signal to the buyer that purchasing this wallet is not a risky choice.

• I like the simplicity of this ad and the alliteration of “Subtle Is Sexy,” which conveys the benefits of any desirable fashion product: social status & sex appeal.

• The description, “World’s best-selling smart wallets | SALE 20% OFF,” works well here because of its close proximity to the call to action button, “Shop Now.”

The Bad:

• The text above the green checkmark bullet points states that the wallet is “trackable” and has “instant card access.” That’s great, but the second and third bullet point are merely restating those features. And, “Quick card access” sounds worse than “instant card access,” “Anti-loss features” sounds clunkier than “trackable.”

• The top of the image looks cut off. Maybe that’s on purpose but I would like the entire wallet to be visible.

The Recommendation:

• Add meaningful, benefit-focused text to the bullet points.

• Test additional text within the image.

• Test alternate background colors.

• Test different text within the description.

#3: Bellroy Wallets

The Good:

• The image above is a screenshot from a 14 second video ad, which does a great job of showing off the top five features:

  • 1. “The smooth eco-tannned leather”

  • 2. “Two quick-draw cards slots”

  • 3. “Pull-tab access to four more cards”

  • 4. “Hideaway slot for folded bills”

  • 5. “Super slim & pocket-friendly”

• Presenting these features in the form of a video with someone’s hands demonstrating where the pockets are is a much better experience than reading about these features in a bullet point list.

The Bad:

• Both the Primary text and the video itself fail to explicitly mention the benefit of owning this wallet. “Pocket-friendly” is the closest it gets to describing how a slim wallet will enhance the buyer’s life.

• The Primary text states that the wallet has “surprising storage for cards and bills.” Does that mean the customer will be surprised by how much storage the wallet has? A different word choice might be better or an explanation of why it’s surprising.

The Recommendation:

• Communicate the benefits of the wallet clearly.

• Test quotes and/or bullet points in the Primary text.

• Include text within the video (at the beginning or the end) that describes how this wallet solves a problem for the customer.

Let’s look at another Bellroy wallet ad:

The Good:

• The phrase “ninja-like access to your cards” is a clever and effective way of describing how quickly and smoothly this wallet opens.

• This 41 second video ad (see screenshot above) does a great job of showing the viewer how the wallet’s “magnetic trapdoors” function, and reenforces the ninja-like access mentioned in the Primary text.

The Bad:

• This ad does not clearly communicate the benefits of this wallet. Ninja-like access is a great feature, but to be a benefit, the ninja-like access needs to solve a problem for the customer. So, something like, “ninja-like access to your cards so you don’t waste a second looking for the right card” might give the customer a better idea of how it helps them.

• Using the description section (below the image) to reenforce a benefit or counter a customer objection would be better than promoting “Free Shipping.”

The Recommendation:

• Focus on testing variations of the Primary text, and include examples of how this wallet solves a customer problem. Focusing on how the wallet makes the customer more ninja-like could be especially effective for a customer segment like gamers, so test that as well.

• Also, test a bold statement in the description section (like Ekster did). Something like, “The World’s Most Covert Wallet.”

SIDES
SEO Morsels:

• Improve your blog posts with this On-Page SEO Checklist

• Perplexity, an AI search engine, is growing rapidly. 60% of its citations overlap with the top 10 organic search results on Google (Read more)

• Diagnose why your page isn’t ranking on Google with this helpful article

Marketing Meme of the Week: