The Best Ads for Countertop Water Purifiers

THIS WEEK’S FODDER
☀️ Good Morning

You’re reading Marketing Fodder, a newsletter dedicated to helping you improve your Facebook and Instagram ads. Here’s what we’re serving up today:

1. Brita

2. Clearly Filtered

3. Aquasana

4. AquaTru (By Ideal Living)

What do these companies have in common? They all sell water purifiers that fit on a countertop.

STARTER
Quick Bites:

• 13 interesting takeaways from Google’s Elizabeth Tucker, including why the March 2024 Core Update took 45 days to roll out (Read more)

• Pinterest is rolling out AI-powered ad tools (Read more)

• YouTube is testing crowdsourced annotations for videos; only approved creators and viewers can write and attach context notes to videos right now (Read more)

• An overview of SEO for Lawyers (Read more)

MAIN
Pure Water

What’s so interesting about the water purifier market?

According to Fortune Business Insights, the global market for water filters was valued at 32.65 billion (USD) in 2023 and is projected to grow to 62.88 billion (USD) by 2032. That’s a projected compound annual growth rate of 7.6%.

The global market for water purifiers is segmented into “point-of-use” filters and “point-of-entry” filters. Point-of-use filters include countertop filters, under the counter filters, pitcher filters, and faucet-mounted filters. Point-of-entry filters are installed at the mainline where water enters the house. We’re only looking at ads for point-of-use filters today, but it’s interesting to know that the water purifier market comprises these two segments.

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 point-of-use water purifiers:

#1: Brita

The Good:

• This ad is a great example of Brita leaning on brand recognition and being a household name instead of focusing on the benefit of their product. Industry leaders like Brita can use ads to promote new features because a massive number of people already know how the product benefits their lives.

• Pointing out that the customer still gets the same “powerful filtration” with the new feature (less plastic waste) is smart because customers are often nervous about losing something they valued when a product gets updated.

The Bad:

• Why can’t the filters use less plastic and be more powerful? Brita missed an opportunity to position themselves as an innovator with this product update.

• The image is very corporate and uninspiring.

The Recommendation:

• Because Brita has achieved household name status it doesn’t need to create inspiring ads, but I recommend testing images of a Brita pitcher with a happy family in the background and outlining the effectiveness of the product in the Primary text. There are always new customers looking for a product in this category.

#2: Clearly Filtered

The Good:

• This ad does a great job of:

  1. Using a popular social media phrase: “I don’t know who needs to hear this but…”

  2. Explaining how this product resolves a customer fear (bolding the text that says, “removes up to 99.9% of 350+ contaminants”)

  3. Using Instagram’s question format to ask and answer a common pain point that a potential customer would have (how to pick the right filter)

  4. Using the description section to push the customer toward a clear action: “Upgrade Your Filtered Pitcher Today”

  5. Creating trust by pointing out that these filters are built and tested in the USA and have free shipping

  6. Showing a realistic view of the pitcher on a counter

The Bad:

• This ad lacks social proof. It needs an endorsement or review.

The Recommendation:

• Replace the phrase “Stay healthy and hydrated with Clearly Filtered!” with a short quote or review.

#3: Aquasana

The Good:

• This ad does an excellent job of using a model that looks happy, which in my testing, is an effective way to boost CTR.

• Specifying how many contaminants this device filters out (77) helps the customer understand the effectiveness of the product.

• Calling out that water filter “looks good doing it” is also a useful benefit to point out because a significant amount of customers may hesitate to buy something that is considered an eyesore.

The Bad:

• Having text on the image that communicates another helpful feature or benefit could help this ad stand out even more.

The Recommendation:

• Explain why removing 77 contaminants is a benefit. It may seem obvious, but a potential customer scrolling on their phone needs to immediately understand why this benefits them (the water tastes better etc.).

• Test having text on the image, ideally a short review of the product.

#4: AquaTru

The Good:

• AquaTru does a great job of incorporating a review into the image. This is important because most people are going to look at the image first as they scroll their feed.

• The phrase, “Transform your tap water today!” is a good call to action because it captures the benefit of buying this product.

• Mentioning that this purifier uses patented technology is a great way to show authority and build credibility.

• Calling out that the offer is for a limited time helps the customer make a decision faster (a classic marketing technique).

The Bad:

• The Primary text is jumbled and salesy, almost like a radio ad.

• The quote is good, but the background and image of the purifier are uninspiring.

The Recommendation:

• Test a shorter version of the Primary text. Too much text causes some people to ignore the ad entirely.

• Test different backgrounds for the image and testing having a person smiling in the image.

Meme of the Week: