Revisiting the Best Facebook Ads for Insulated Water Bottles

THIS WEEK’S FODDER
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You’re reading Marketing Fodder, a weekly newsletter dedicated to helping you improve your Facebook and Instagram ads.

Today, we’ll be examining the ads of:

1. Thermos

2. Owala

STARTER
Marketing Headlines

• OpenAI launches ChatGPT Search for Plus and Team users

• Particular emotions influence whether a marketing campaign goes viral, this article explores which emotions drive brand engagement

• Meta is developing a search engine to power its AI Chatbot

MAIN
Insulated Beverages

Trends:

According to Google Trends, US search interest (over the last 5 years) for Owala overtook Thermos in 2023 and has continued to surge:

How I Analyze Facebook Ads

A great Facebook ad communicates the benefits of the product or service, not solely the features. Think about it like this: a feature makes the product better but a benefit makes the customer’s life better. Features typically describe a physical aspect of the product, while benefits describe a change in the emotional state of the customer. Makeup companies do this well. Instead of focusing on features like ingredients, their ads highlight how much better someone will look or feel by purchasing the product.

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

#1: Thermos

The Good:

• The ad copy avoids overemphasizing features and instead focuses on benefits. The ad tells the viewer that the beverage will be “served just the way you like it,” and that they will “Enjoy the moments that matter, mess-free.”

• The image shows a person walking with the bottle, and the text on the image is large and eye-catching.

• The ad uses humor when talking about its leak-proof lids.

• The description section includes a free shipping offer.

The Bad:

• No major critiques, but I would include the website URL for Thermos below the image.

The Recommendation:

• The main thing I would test is different images with the same ad copy. Having a person drinking from the Thermos bottle is definitely worth testing.

#2: Owala

The Good:

• The ad copy is punchy and uses humor to highlight key benefits: “praise, applause, and probably a few high-fives.” While comical, these benefits describe the appreciation that many hope to receive after giving a gift, so the ad is smart to focus on them.

• Turning “holiday gifting” into a challenge makes the buying process feel like a game.

• The image uses vibrant colors and has a person smiling while holding the bottle.

The Bad:

• The ad misses the opportunity to use emojis as bullet points to highlight the features.

The Recommendation:

• A short quote or review from a happy customer would elevate this ad even more. I would test one in the image or in the Primary text ad copy.

Pro Tip

Best practices for writing meta descriptions:

1. Encourage action

A meta description can include a soft call to action. Phrases like “Learn more,” “Find out how” or “Get started today” can gently encourage users to click your link.

2. Spark curiosity

Leaving a bit of mystery can pique curiosity and encourage users to click. 

For example, hint at the information they’ll find on your page instead of explaining everything in your meta description. This tactic is particularly effective for informational searches.

3. Use Dynamic meta descriptions for ecommerce

For large sites like ecommerce platforms, manually writing unique meta descriptions for every product can be challenging. 

In such cases, dynamic meta descriptions that pull key information such as product names, categories and prices can be useful. However, ensure these are still readable and make sense to users.

For the complete list of best practices, check out the full article.