Best Social Media Ads of 2025: Examples To Use in Your Next Campaign

Businesses can advertise on almost any social media platform. The most popular of these are:

• Facebook: Has a broad userbase and a wide range of targeting to hit different customer segments
• Instagram: Has a younger userbase and excels in visual storytelling
• Snapchat: Has a young audience, and is best for creating personal and interactive ad experiences and local advertising
• TikTok: Very fast paced and led by trends, bold and experimental ad campaigns perform best here
• LinkedIn: Effective for businesses targeting corporations and workspaces
• Reddit: Authentic, value-driven recommendations and advice platform with high intent users

How To Choose

The social media platform you choose can make or break your advertising campaign. Before starting, ask yourself the following questions?

• Where is my audience? Compare your audience demographics against the user data from each social media platform to find where they’re most likely to spend their time online.
• What are my goals? Do you hope to build brand awareness, increase follows, or generate leads? Advertising tools vary between platforms so not every option will be suited to accomplishing your goals.
• How large is my budget? Advertising costs on LinkedIn are much higher than X and Reddit. Choosing a platform within your budget will help you to sustain ad campaigns without cutting them short.
• How do I want my ads to look? Do your ads use graphics, videos, or solely text? Perhaps you prioritize a full-screen viewing experience, or a vibrant call to action. It’s important that the most important parts of your ads are highlighted in the best way.

I’ve compiled five examples of effective social media ads I’ve seen across the above platforms, so you can learn from them.

1. A Personal Snapchat Ad: Calvin Harris

This social media ad immediately caught my eye when I opened the app. Why? Because it demands attention. Unlike typical newsfeed ads, “Calvin is typing…” appeared directly in my Snapchat messaging tab. When I clicked the notification, it opened a self-recorded video of Calvin Harris dancing to his new song.

The reason this is one of the best social media ads is due to its clever integration into the most personal area of the app. From the placement of the notification to the self-filmed video style, it perfectly mimics the experience of receiving a Snapchat from a close friend.

• Key takeaway: Creating relatable content that personally addresses your audience is much more powerful than high production videos.

2. A Funny LinkedIn Ad: Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft’s set of ads for Copilot are based around various comical scenarios, and show how Copilot saves the day. There are three key elements of each: a catchy one-liner, a statement image, and a snapshot of the Copilot feature in action. Microsoft strikes the perfect balance between humor and practicality. In combination with bold stylistic design, this creates a highly memorable ad that shows value.

• Key takeaway: Use storytelling to show, rather than tell, the selling points of your products.

3. A Relatable Instagram Ad: Emma Finance

Emma Finance’s Instagram Story ad shows a messy cell phone notes page full of monthly bills. Next to it, these same bills are organized neatly into the Emma app.

Compared to some of the other ads we’ve looked at, you might be wondering why this one made the cut. No, it doesn’t include flashy graphic design elements, but its to-the-point style is exactly what makes it work. If its ad simply showed the apps interface, the user would note that it looks neat and impressive. But the relatable “Before” image puts the user in the picture and shows how additional features of the app will improve their life.

• Key takeaway: Before and after comparisons speak directly to pain points and are a great way to demonstrate why a user needs your product or service in their life.

4. A Relevant Reddit Ad: Trade Station

Reddit is known for its authenticity and trusted recommendations, which means that overly promotional marketing materials aren’t well received. While it demands a different approach to advertising than other social media platforms, the highly-engaged communities found in Subreddits (Reddit groups based on a topic or interest) are a great place to attain customers.

Trade Station follows the Reddit playbook perfectly, with a modest snippet of text, and a subtle call to action linking to its signup page. What stands out most is the intentional targeting of this ad, which appeared in three dropshipping Subreddits I visited.

• Key takeaway: Where your ad appears is just as important as how it looks. Carefully consider the platform and targeting options to ensure you’re reaching the users who want to hear.

5. An Influencer Generated TikTok Ad: Adanola

Fashion brand Adanola is using TikTok micro influencers to create attention-grabbing advertising material. What stood out to me in this ad is Adanola’s clever editing to showcase a large product line in mere seconds, which shows an understanding of TikTok’s stylistic preferences. By chopping up an influencer’s outfit try-on video into short, snappy clips, users are introduced to the full range of clothes and accessories before they have time to scroll, which is the best way to grab attention.

• Key takeaway: Reusing your influencer partnerships and user-generated content (UGC) is a quick and easy way to produce new marketing material and maximize your resources. However, it’s important to optimize the content for the platform you’re using and the desired outcome of your ads.

These examples give key insight into areas that can take your ads to the next level. That said, recreating what works for other brands won’t guarantee you the same results – the very reason they’re so impactful is that they’re tailor-made for their audiences.

Below, I’ve created a checklist of the fundamentals of any good ad, which you can use as a guide to create your own.

◻ Focused on a goal

Your ad should aim to achieve one clear outcome, which every element of the ad can be optimized to achieve.

◻ One clear call to action

Similarly, they should include a single CTA, with text that accurately represents the link destination.

◻ Speaks to user pain points 

Target your ad towards one specific group and center your ad around the areas of highest importance to them, such as an inconvenience or problem that your business has the solution for.

◻ Relatable messaging

An impactful ad understands the perspective of its target audience and makes them feel heard. User generated content is a great way to achieve this.

▢ Recognizable branding

All visual and textual aspects of your ads should be aligned with your brand identity, including the tone of voice and any branded colors and fonts.

The cost of social media ads is impossible to define, since it varies by platform, industry, advertising goals, and length of your campaigns. Level of competition also plays a large role in the final price, so an ad can change price from one day to the next.

With so many variables, it can be hard to know how much you should invest. A good rule of thumb is to set aside 10% to 15% of your overall marketing budget specifically for this area. Of course, this is just a framework and your perfect budget will be found through trial and error. To avoid overspending, I recommend starting on the lower end of the scale and upping your spend gradually if needed.

These social media ads are full of valuable insights which will help you to create. The best social media ads are those that speak directly to the customer, deliver on what they need, and encourage action.

By now, you should be full of inspiration and be ready to start making your own social media ads! But before you start, it’s good to know how to make the most of your chosen platform. Whether you want to advertise on Facebook, learn the art of YouTube advertising, or master another platform, we’ve got you covered!