The Best Ads for Portable ACs

THIS WEEK’S FODDER
☀️ Good Morning

You’re reading Marketing Fodder, a newsletter dedicated to helping you improve your Facebook and Instagram ads. Hope you’re staying cool, it has been crazy hot lately.

Here’s what we’re serving up today:

1. Midea

2. Whynter

3. ZERO BREEZE

4. Evapolar

What do these companies have in common? They all sell portable air conditioners. We’ll take a look at how these companies position their products and how they could improve their ad copy and images.

STARTER
Headlines

• Why your website’s bounce rate looks high (Read more)

• Google ads makes broad match the default for new search campaigns, which can affect your campaign performance and spend if you don’t change it (Read more)

• How to improve your internal linking (Read more)

• 4 tips for making your images load faster, from Google Search Central (Watch the video)

MAIN
Staying Cool

How big is the market for portable air conditioners?

According to Future Market Insights, the global market for portable ACs was valued at 1.17 billion (USD) in 2023 and is projected to grow to 1.59 billion (USD) by 2033. That’s a projected compound annual growth rate of 3.1%.

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). So, ideally, a Facebook ad communicates how the features of a product or service create a result or transformation for the customer (the benefit).

Alright, let’s see how these companies market their portable AC units:

#1: Midea

The Good:

• This ad reveals something that far too many advertisers forget: viewers almost always see the image first. The image tells the viewer that this AC is Wirecutter’s number one for a reason; the viewer discovers what the reason is in the Primary text. This format of leading the viewer from the image to the Primary text (instead of the other way around) is clever because the image is the piece of creative that is most likely to stop someone from scrolling past, so it makes sense to create a hook within it.

• The casual tone of the text also works well in this ad. “Wirecutter’s fav AC” is more relatable and less stable sounding than “#1 on Wirecutter.”

• Emphasizing that this AC unit is quiet, U-shaped, and still let’s you close the window helps differentiate it from competitors.

The Bad:

• The image looks too produced. The blue background doesn’t seem to be adding much and makes the text at the bottom of the image harder to read.

The Recommendation:

• Test an image with a natural background (in a house), or some other scene where an AC unit is helpful. Helping a viewer visualize the value of a product often helps boost CTR.

• Test a “Shop Now” call to action button instead of “Learn More.”

#2: Whynter

The Good:

• This ad does a great job of identifying an event (a heatwave), and positioning the product as a solution to the pain point created by the event (excessive heat).

• Highlighting that Good Housekeeping ranked this AC unit “Best Overall” for 2024 is a good way to build credibility, especially for viewers who’ve never heard of the brand Whynter.

The Bad:

• The Primary text is too long. The information is good, but this ad has too many words.

• The image isn’t terrible, but it also isn’t eye-catching.

The Recommendation:

• Test a shorter version of the Primary text, with shorter bullet points.

• Test an image with people in it; having people near the product, or using the product, can boost the performance of an ad in my experience.

#3: ZERO BREEZE

The Good:

• This ad does an excellent job of marketing a solution to a specific problem, a hot tent, for a specific audience, people camping with their families.

• Unlike the previous ads, this ad shows the AC unit being used by the target audience, and has smiling people in the image (bravo).

• The quote/review in the bottom left of the image reenforces the message of the Primary text.

The Bad:

• The quote/review is not attributed to a person. This would help it feel like it came from a real customer.

The Recommendation:

• Test a more compelling version of the description text, something like, “Yes to Family Time, No to Sweating,” or “Make Family Time Fun, Not Sweaty.”

#4: Evapolar

The Good:

• This ad is relatively short, but that can be highly effective if the value of the product is communicated properly.

• The image does a decent job of showing what the unit looks like in use, and what makes this product different (being a 3-in-1 cooling system).

The Bad:

• Ending the Primary text with “Buy online” is not the best use of the space.

• The description section under the URL is not well utilized, the viewer has already been told about a 15% discount via the image text.

The Recommendation:

• Test a quote or review in the Primary text.

• Explain why the 3-in-1 cooling system solves pain points that other brands can’t or don’t solve.

• Remove one of the 15% off messages.

Meme of the Week: