One would think it’s as simple as that: you just need to enter the ads library, set the criteria, and spy. The trouble is one can find ads in the FB library as long as they’re online. As soon as the ad stops running, it becomes unavailable in the library.
There are spy services that can solve this problem and more, as they offer a broader feature set than the Facebook library. Free spy services are as follows:
- GetSpyder (also called Spyder). It saves ads in the gallery.
- Swipe-Worthy. It’s a library and archive of ads with marketers’ comments.
- It’s a full-featured spy service with a free tariff plan.
Let’s review these services on a simple-to-complex basis.
GetSpyder
Link: https://getspyder.com
In this gallery, you can save your competitors’ ads even if they are unavailable, including the FB ad library.
It’s easy to sign up for the service: you just need to go to the login page and enter your email.
To save the ad, paste the FB gallery URL.
As you click Save, GetSpyder saves the ad to your library.
By clicking Details, you can display the full version of the ad copy and observe the details of the creator’s approach.
Service developers claim they’ll soon release the Google Chrome plugin so that users can use Spyder’s features without having to enter the website.
The key feature of the service is that you do not have to save the ad creatives on your device, you just paste the link and save the ad in the gallery.
Swipe-Worthy
Link: https://swiped.co
It is a library of categorized ready-made ad creatives. It will come in handy in traffic arbitrage. What makes it special is that it doesn’t provide ready-made creatives, but exemplifies. The examples are provided with comments explaining why they work.
That way publishers can make unique creatives based on copywriting and marketing approaches advised by the service providers.
To access the service, there’s no need to sign up: the basic features are available on the home page. If you want to discover new marketing approaches, you can sign up for their free newsletter.
In the All Niches section, select any vertical in the nutra. As a case study, let’s select the Health and Wellness niche. The pages below are illustrated in the Russian language translated with Google Chrome extension.
On the approach description page, red rectangles highlight the provision of a rationale for the thesis in the ad copy. In a rejuvenating cream case, these are as follows:
- When promoting health-related products, research studies are required to back up your statements.
- Free testers of supplements and creams are a popular option. When unbelief is great, the tester helps reduce the risk.
- There shouldn’t be any makeup, fillers, cover-ups, or injections to create a sensation of effortlessness and security.
- Before and After photos with captions are a must-have in anti-wrinkle ads.
- An actual doctor’s recommendation works well, but with a more engaging story.
Although these approaches date back to 2014-15, they are still in use on landing pages in tier-1. Besides the Health and Wellness niche, Swipe-Worthy offers other categories of merchandise like Adult or Gardening.
Bigspy
Link: https://bigspy.com
It’s a full-featured spy service, which may well replace the paid spy services. By the way, besides FB and Inst, it parses ads in YouTube, Admob, Pinterest, Yahoo, and Twitter. The last four services offer fresh and original ads.
Upon request, the system may select clickable or popular ads daily. Built-in AI helps you lower costs and maximize the profitability of future advertising.
Options
BigSpy supports the following options and filters:
- Target filter: page stories interaction, website conversion, app installation, and COD.
- Creative format: image/video or a carousel.
- CTA types: Learn More, Like, Email, Travel Now, etc.
- Time the ad was created and ad impression time. You can filter the ads for the last week, the last three months, or the past June.
- Keyword search: you can search by the headline, ad content, ad elements, website, product, or competitor.
- Devices: you can filter ads the advertiser has customized for Android, iOS, or desktop.
- Like-range: allows you to set a minimum or a maximum number of likes the ad has already received.
- Affiliate networks: you can select ads related to a specified affiliate network.
- Customizable date interval: if you search by the long-term ads, it’ll reveal some of the most successful ones.
The service allows you to sort ads by time of publication, likes, comments, or even by its outreach. Many of these features are available within the free tariff plan.
Bigspy displays detailed information on ads as well.
It displays the following ad parameters:
- Category
- Ad copy
- Range of dates the ad was running
- Performance (engagement/outreach)
- Country
- Device (PC/Android/iOS)
The service also analyzes the sociodemographic indicators of the audience and reveals which audience usually clicks on the ad and is most active (ad duration and the traffic volume analysis).
Such audience layout reduces the budget for testing ads.
There is a People Tracked section in Bigspy, where you can view which ads are being tracked by other people.
One of the service’s disadvantages is that it has no landing page loader. Although it seems appropriate as a service offers a free subscription instead of a demo version.
All the services mentioned above will serve well either to a beginner or an advanced publisher. As to the Bigspy, all it takes for a beginner is the free subscription plan. Advanced teams who drive large volumes of traffic might want to opt for a pricier plan that will provide them with tons of useful information.