Eye Tracking and an A/B Split Test for Social Media Marketing Optimisation: The Connection between the User Profile and Ad Creative Components

In the era of digitally dominated competition, where the effectiveness of Facebook ads prompts the social media marketing strategy, new opportunities arise for most industries. In this context, this study aims to discover and summarize the key optimisations regarding the creative ad components needed to run highly personalized ads based on a user profile. The participants were Facebook users between the ages of 18 and 65+ who were interested in dental services. Qualitative methods were adopted in order to discover suitable options for professionals to grow their business. In the first stage, the A/B split test using the Facebook Ads manager labelled the most effective creative component. In the second stage, an eye-tracking experiment generated 30 heatmaps that showed the differences between the segments. The results show solutions for attracting users by increasing the level of personalization of the ads. They are more beneficial for social media campaigns aimed at brand awareness targeting women and showing them a happy human face. When the target audience is men, technical details are preferred in order for the ad to become more attractive for them. This study enriches the literature and empowers professionals to deploy social media marketing growth strategies to attract users and make them convert to their full potential.