The Best Facebook Ads for Meal Kit Companies

THE SPREAD
Morning Marketers!

Today we have some quick bites on Google. Then, we’ll get into the main course and look at the Facebook ads of three popular meal kit companies. Finally, we’ll end with some SEO news.

STARTER
Google Bites:

• What Google says about its March 2024 core update

• Google updates their Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines to include more examples of how to identify untrustworthy websites

• Google unleashes barrage of manual actions targeting sites it sees as spammers

MAIN
The Best Ads:

• This week we are looking at the Facebook ads of three popular meal kit companies:

  • 1) Blue Apron

  • 2) HelloFresh

  • 3) Hungryroot

• Before we get into what these ads are doing well, let me explain the lens that we are looking through.

  • We are judging ads on whether they communicate the benefits of the product or service, not the features. Features are cool, but customers really care about what those features get them (the benefit), so we’ll be focusing on whether the ad communicates how the product or service solves a problem.

  Blue Apron:

  

  • The Good:

    • The Primary Text of this ad is conversational, and addresses one pain point that a potential customer might have: going to the store when it’s cold outside.

    • The blue triangle in the upper left corner of the image (“Easy Meal Kits”) is helpful by describing what the product is for those who’ve never heard of Blue Apron.

    • The image itself does a decent job of capturing how the product shows up and what the end result of using the product is: a nice salmon dinner.

  • The Bad:

    • The criticism I have for this ad is that the emphasis appears to be the low price of the meals rather than the other benefit of skipping a grocery store run.

    • The issue with emphasizing affordability is that you may attract a less ideal customer, who cancels their subscription after the promo period because of the price increase per meal. This may lead to higher churn and lower LTV (Life Time Value).

  • The Recommendation:

    • Focus on solving the pain points of a customer that is looking for convenience rather than low prices.

• Let’s looks at another Blue Apron ad:

  

• The Good:

  • This ad is a significant improvement over the first because it emphasizes the benefits of the service rather than highlighting the affordability.

  • The Primary Text immediately communicates what the customer gets: 1) it’s simple, 2) it’s delicious, 3) no shopping for groceries.

  • The “Hassle-free Home Cooking” text on the image helps reenforce the value of the product.

• The Bad:

  • This may be subjective, but what that man is doing with the salmon may not look like a “simple step” to everyone.

  • The image lacks emotion, something like a thumbs-up would give it some levity.

• The Recommendation

  • Test images of food being prepared against images of a completed dish. I know from experience that CTR on food-related images can vary significantly, so testing a variety of images would be ideal. It’s possible Blue Apron discovered that salmon dishes get higher click through rates, but it’s worth confirming that with multiple tests.

  HelloFresh:

  

• The Good:

  • The Primary Text states the benefit: easy and delicious home cooking. And, the fresh ingredients arrive at your doorstep with “exciting” recipes included.

  • This carousel ad provides a series of images that look like user-generated content (and it might be). This is effective because it shows the simplicity of the meal rather than just stating it.

  • Including a code as part of the Primary Text makes the discount feel more real.

• The Bad:

  • The carousel images may be too “real.” Some potential customers may choose a different meal kit because the meals are not aspirational enough.

• The Recommendation:

  • Test images of meals that look a little more gourmet, or with better lighting at least.

  • Sell the date night experience, not the TV dinner experience.

• Let’s look at another HelloFresh Ad:

  

• The Good:

  • The Primary Text immediately calls out the benefit to the customer: not having to make dessert themselves.

  • The green background of the ad stands out and is on brand as well.

  • The big offer of getting free dessert for life is eye-catching and will likely stop many from scrolling past.

• The Bad:

  • The “Hurry! Order Now” sticker tries to convey urgency, but the ad does not mention anything about the offer being for a limited time.

  • Putting “Free Dessert For Life” as the central theme of the ad feels a little gimmicky, and invokes a “what’s the catch?” reaction (at least for me).

• The Recommendation:

  • Test a variety of background colors; it’s surprising how aspects like color can significantly affect CTR.

  • Test the “Free Dessert For Life” text within a circle or other shape, like “Hurry! Order Now” text.

  Hungryroot

  

• The Good:

  • The Primary Text is a quote from a customer saying that she reduced her cholesterol by 1/3 and lost 20 lbs. Using customer reviews in ads is effective because the ad feel less salesy.

  • Interestingly, all Hungryroot ads published in 2024 (so far), use Jessica K.’s quote as the primary text (which likely means the CTR is high).

  • The images are vibrant, the ingredients look fresh, and the dishes look elevated while still looking simple enough to make.

  • The text overlay on each image may help increase the engagement time with the ad.

• The Bad:

  • The quote from Jessica K. feels too clean. I’m not saying it’s fake, but some potential customers may perceive it as fake. The quote does not mention “Hungryroot” and doesn’t mention using a meal kit or recipes to achieve the remarkable results she experienced.

• The Recommendation:

  • Test different image overlay text; references to saving time cooking or shopping could be compelling.

  • Test other types of meals in a four image format.

  • Select and test customer reviews that sounds less polished, or ones that mention the company by name.

• Let’s look at another Hungryroot ad:

  

• The Good:

  • The Primary Text of this ad is another quote, and this time the customer gives credit to Hungryroot for helping her lose 15 lbs. The customer quote also mentions how easy and delicious it was and how making healthier choices became easier as well. This conveys a clear benefit that’s connected to the product and service offered by Hungryroot.

  • The images display a variety of unique looking food options.

• The Bad

  • Interestingly, this ad was published in December of 2023, and is still active, but the text of this quote has not been used in any 2024 ads (as of March 14, 2024). This might mean the CTR is lower than the quote used in the first ad.

• The Recommendation:

  • Test different text overlays on the images; use words that reenforce the benefits of the offer (easy, simple, hassle-free, healthy).

  • Test short customer reviews that mention the company by name.

SIDES
SEO Morsels:

• Mistakes to avoid as an SEO professional

• The 16 companies that dominate Google search results

• A look at the sites that have been deindexed since the March 2024 AI content manual action update

Marketing Meme of the Week: