These 2 free digital tools will give you serious creative insight
From checking out political ads to seeing what your competitors are up to, these are 2 powerful tools for your toolkit.
Hello!
It’s been two weeks. Great to see you again.
And welcome to the new folks just joining our community. Excited to have you here! Reminder that you can find previous issues of this project at freetools.digital.
Today, we’re exploring the extremely powerful Facebook and Google Ad Libraries.
So let’s dig in!
Facebook Ad Library
Tool type: website
Whether you manage millions in Facebook Ads, or you’ve never “boosted a post,” this tool is worth checking out.
Following the 2016 election, the big platforms did some work to get more transparent. One of the tools born from that was the Facebook Ad Library.
Head there and you can see any political ad that’s run in the last 7 years (though only ads post-2018, so not quite). And, because Facebook is gonna Facebook, political ads aren’t just for campaigns. Facebook applies the political designation to any ad related to “social issues, elections or politics”. It’s a wide range.
Along with being able to search 7 years worth of political ads, you can see ANY active ad on the platform. Want to know what Wendy’s is spending money on? Or Gap? Or… whoever? You can search by advertiser or keyword and start scrolling.
I just did a search for Wendy’s (first time). And guess what: they have A LOT of active ads. Here are just a few:
When you click “see ad details” you don’t get much. On non-political pages.
On political ads, you get a whole lot more.
Along with searching for brands, you can also search for keywords. So it can be a great place to find interesting creative from competitors, influencers or just orgs in your field.
You can also search in other countries as well. Which can be very useful if you’re trying to get inspired by something totally different.
I spend a ton of time in the Ad Library. Let me know if you think you will as well.
FREE or FREEmium: FREE
This powerful is just sitting there, waiting for you to start exploring!
Google Ad Library
Tool type: website
Until pretty recently, Google’s Ad Library (called the Ads Transparency Center) only showed political ads. (Same deal as above regarding what constitutes political ). But they just opened it up to all ads.
Which was actually the inspo for today’s round-up!
So with Google you cannot search by keyword. Which is kind of a bummer. But you can search by brand or by website.
You can see ads in all forms, or just images, text or video.
And then you can just scroll. (FWIW, I don’t eat meat. So I’m not a Wendy’s fan when it comes to food. But I’m definitely a Wendy’s fan when it comes to digital — hence them being my example 😇)
Speaking of things I’m not a fan of, I used Ron DeSantis as my political example. You’ll notice there is quite a bit of extra info here, as compared to Wendy’s.
Super helpful if you’re running for office. Or just care about politics. Or you’re not political at all and you’re just looking for inspo from others in your field.
FREE or FREEmium: FREE
This one too is completely and totally free. Enjoy!
Hope you enjoyed today’s 2 free digital tools.
If this was helpful for you, please forward it to 2 friends.
Thank you!
See you in a fortnight,
Josh
joshklemons.com