Welcome to The Paid Social Performance Battle: The showdown where your favorite brands compete to see who is winning on paid social.

How it Works

1. I compare two paid social Facebook Ads library accounts and see who is killing it

2. You vote for your favorite for a chance to win a prize (worth €997)

This week I analyzed 2 brands that promise to change human behavior with their product. Noom has been the darling of D2C mobile apps since the beginning (my former boss used to love their onboarding) but MyFitnessPal has joined the race and are also in the running.

Both mobile apps use cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is a form of talk therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave.

Important: For a better appreciation of the ads, I recommend watching the ads first. These ads are hosted on Foreplay, a great platform that allows me to save ads for inspiration even after the brands have deleted them (they also have a discovery feature where I find good ad concepts to steal).

The Positioning

Noom is a weight loss app that uses a cognitive-behavioral approach to help users change their habits and attitudes towards food and exercise. It offers personalized meal plans and coaching from a virtual support team.

On the other hand, MyFitnessPal is a calorie-tracking app that allows users to log their meals and exercise to help them manage their weight and stay healthy. It has a database of over 6 million foods and offers personalized nutrition goals based on users' height, weight, and activity level.

While both apps have similar tracking features for food, exercise, and weight monitoring, Noom stands out with its cognitive-behavioral approach and personalized coaching. MyFitnessPal, on the other hand, has a larger food database and offers more flexibility in terms of setting nutrition goals.

You get the idea. In the ad examples, you’ll see Noom focus on weight loss and MyFitnessPal on weight gain and other use-cases, but both have a similar offering in my opinion.

For those who are interested, Noom is valued at $4B and MyFitnessPal was sold for $475M to Amazon in May 2021.

If you're a skimmer, jump to the end for my TL;DR.

Ads that appeal

I only evaluated ads older than 30 days to see if they performed well. Let’s look at Noom first.

Noom

Ad #1 - Authentic customer transformation

Most companies suck at showing, claiming, or promising a tangible result. I am saying this because I’ve seen it and worked for brands that never get to the point where they can make a claim.

But not Noom. Noom is a weight-loss app and it claims and owns it.

This first ad has so many things to love about it:

1. The visual hook (first frame)

Why it works: It shows the food we love but feel guilty whenever we eat it. It’s fast food, loaded with carbs, salt and fat. This is a pattern disrupt. You might also think it’s a food ad but no, it is an anti-food ad.

2. The lead-in visual (before)

You’re expecting to hear a transformation story of an overweight woman. This is true, and you really see her journey from overweight to underweight. Spoiler alert – the woman now looks totally different.

3. Authentic customer testimonial

The fine print reveals that this is an actual customer testimonial so you have a huge believability factor right there.

4. The script is powerful because it is actually real

Let’s look at it. Pay more attention to the bold part.

There are many things to love about this ad but most importantly other than hooks, I loved how it increases credibility and trust. She was initially skeptical but she saw her friends losing weight. It smashes all the objections left and right.

5. The CTA

The ad is not asking viewers to try Noom, instead it cleverly asks, “what have you got to lose?” — Duh! Nothing but losing weight.

So what can we steal?

• Visual hooks that creates desire but turn up the dial on the problem too

• Address the objection in the ad with social proof

• Show authentic customer transformation

• Claim your value prop

• Ask rhetorical CTAs

Ad #2 - Customer testimonial mashup with a single idea

This ad is still running for 87 days and here’s why I love it:

• Headline and thumbnail leads to the outcome

• Comes from customers

• Easy to make

Here’s what we can immediately steal:

• Tell a story with your headline and thumbnail: I went from X to Y

• Use power words to describe the transformation: It’s “insane”

• The transformation is so relatable & gripping as if it’s an organic video (especially with the mirror selfies – we all do that).

Ad #3 - Singe image that pops

This ad is simple but there are so many things to learn from it:

• Headline: Change HOW you do ____, not WHAT you do _____

• CTA: Take the quiz button to make people click

• Image: Unlike Apple Notes, it’s pink ice cream

• Copywriting that digs deep to answering objections:

  • I don’t need to change my food

  • I don’t need to spend a lot of money

  • I can lose weight without feeling like I’m losing something

But most importantly, they positioning themselves even better than the competition (MyFitness Pal) with this “how you eat” approach. See the headline on MyFitnessPal’s website:

Genius or not?

This ad sells one idea so well that I became a fan of this product (even though I don't even need a weight-loss app.).

So something that these ads don’t reveal is that Noom takes 5 minutes to first help you personalize your diet plan. They have 85+ questions in their onboarding, and yet most of the prospects do go through.

Their quiz could be a huge friction point, so instead of telling users to “install” the app, it focuses on “Take the quiz” to prime users about what’s ahead.

The rest of what Noom taught me will be shown at the end.

Okay, now let’s look at MyFitnessPal.

MyFitnessPal

They only had 12 ads running, so I chose the best ones.

Ad # 1 – Day-in-the-life with how-it-works ad 

Here’s what I love about this ad:

• This story comes from a personal trainer using the authority principle

• Shows the transformation within 2 seconds

• Day in the Life (DITL) concept has native storytelling embedded in the ad so you definitely want to watch more (especially when the hook is strong)

• Product-led: The ad shows how she is using the app to stay fit

• The ad is so organic looking that it does not feel like an ad

• The food has ASMR effects which creates an internal desire to eat and stay healthy

Here what we can steal:

• Exploit the day in the life (DITL) concept with your product to prime prospective users

• Show the transformation in the first few seconds

• Use of personal trainer as a credibility factor

Ad # 2 – Education-led Ad with an Influencer

Here’s what stands out:

• Somehow this hook, “Bulking season is upon us,” seems like a common theme among weight gainers and trainers.

• Teaching how to track food so you can gain weight

• Selling the concept to sell the product the way the influencer said it: “it takes more time to track.”

• Selling the benefit with another benefit – removes the guesswork out of micronutrients and macronutrients

• And even more benefits added on with the CTA at the end

So what can we steal:

• Use a hook that’s familiar to your audience to gain attention

• Teach the concept, rather than selling directly

• Layer on additional benefits with the CTA

Key lessons after evaluating these two brands (TL;DR)

• Visual and ASMR hooks that create desire but kick the problem up a notch too

• Address the objections in the ad with social proof

• Show authentic customer transformation

• Claim and own your value prop

• Ask rhetorical CTAs

• Tell a story with your headline and thumbnail: I went from X to Y

• Mirror selfies effect: What does your customer commonly do at home that you can show in your ad

• Showing the transformation within 2 seconds to convince the viewer instantly

• Try product-led content embedded in day-in-the-life of a customer

• Use language familiar to your customers in your text

• Single image ads: Use copywriting that digs deep to answer objections:

  • I don’t need to change my food

  • I don’t need to spend a lot of money

  • I can lose weight without feeling like I’m losing something

Now it’s your time to decide

Let me know which brand’s ads you liked the most.

Respond to this email and cast your vote for a chance to win!

The prize (worth €997):

• Paid Social Yearly mastermind subscription (228€)

• 300€/hour for a free call with me

• One-time entire marketing audit for your brand (469€)

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Happy Growing with Paid Social,

Aazar Shad

Since this newsletter is free, I do it to follow my curiosity. But I’d love it if you could leave some feedback so I know if I am helping you or not.