# The Hello Radio Blog

> How to research the ads your competitors are running, write hooks that stop the scroll, and test creative without burning budget.

Written for people who make ads for a living.

## Posts

- [What Call to Action Should You Use on Facebook Ads?](/blog/what-call-to-action-to-use): Nearly half of all ads in a 300-brand archive use one call to action, and the split by category is remarkably consistent. Here is what the data says about choosing yours. (October 21, 2026)
- [How to Build a Black Friday Ad Campaign That Is Ready Early](/blog/black-friday-ad-campaign-plan): A four-part plan for Black Friday advertising that gets built in October, so November is spent scaling proven creative instead of discovering it. (October 19, 2026)
- [Apparel Facebook Ads: What 28 Clothing Brands Run](/blog/apparel-brand-facebook-ads): Ninety-eight percent of apparel ads use one call to action. What that uniformity reveals about selling clothes, and where the real differentiation happens instead. (October 16, 2026)
- [Why Your Facebook Ad Costs Go Up in the Fourth Quarter](/blog/why-ad-costs-rise-in-q4): Fourth quarter costs rise for structural reasons, not because something broke in your account. Here is what is actually happening and how to plan around it. (October 14, 2026)
- [How Retail Brands Prepare for Fourth Quarter Advertising](/blog/how-retail-brands-prepare-for-q4): Twenty-four retail brands, 9,082 ads, and a creative approach built for volume. What big retail does before the holidays and which parts a small store can copy. (October 12, 2026)
- [Carousel Ads vs Single Image: Which Should You Use?](/blog/carousel-vs-single-image-ads): Carousels sell catalogs and sequences. Single images sell one idea fast. Here is how to tell which job you actually have before you build the creative. (October 9, 2026)
- [What Is a Good Click-Through Rate on Facebook Ads?](/blog/good-click-through-rate-facebook-ads): Published click-through rate benchmarks are mostly useless for your account. Here is what the number can and cannot tell you, and what to judge instead. (October 7, 2026)
- [Beauty Brand Facebook Ads: What 20 Beauty Advertisers Run](/blog/beauty-brand-facebook-ads): Beauty runs the highest share of discount-led ads in the archive and produced its longest running ad. What the category does differently, and what to copy. (October 5, 2026)
- [When Should You Start Your Holiday Ad Creative?](/blog/when-to-start-holiday-ad-creative): Most small advertisers start holiday creative weeks after the auction has already tightened. Here is a realistic timeline and what to have ready at each stage. (October 2, 2026)
- [When Should You Turn Off a Facebook Ad?](/blog/when-to-turn-off-a-facebook-ad): Most advertisers kill ads too early and keep losers too long. Here are the conditions that justify turning an ad off, and the ones that only look like they do. (September 30, 2026)
- [Do UGC Ads Still Work?](/blog/do-ugc-ads-still-work): User generated style ads still perform, but the version that works has changed. Here is what the format is actually doing and where it now fails. (September 28, 2026)
- [Car Brand Facebook Ads: What Auto Advertisers Actually Run](/blog/car-brand-facebook-ads): Twenty auto brands, 10,812 ads, and the highest version count of any category. What car advertising reveals about selling something nobody buys this week. (September 25, 2026)
- [What Is a Good Facebook Ad Frequency?](/blog/facebook-ad-frequency): Frequency is not a number to hit, it is a warning light. Here is what rising frequency actually tells you and what to do before it costs you money. (September 23, 2026)
- [How to Scale Facebook Ads Without Breaking What Works](/blog/how-to-scale-facebook-ads): Most accounts break when they scale because they change too much at once. Here is the order of operations that adds spend without destroying a working campaign. (September 21, 2026)
- [How Furniture and Mattress Brands Sell Big-Ticket Items on Facebook](/blog/furniture-and-mattress-facebook-ads): Thirty home brands, 7,135 ads, and one ad that has run for 880 days. What high-consideration home advertising does differently from fast-moving retail. (September 18, 2026)
- [Facebook Ad Targeting: Does It Still Matter in 2026?](/blog/facebook-ad-targeting): Detailed targeting matters far less than it did, and creative matters far more. Here is what changed, what still works, and where to spend your effort instead. (September 16, 2026)
- [Why Do Brands Run So Many Versions of the Same Ad?](/blog/why-brands-run-many-ad-versions): One Mazda ad in the archive carries 110 versions. Here is what versioning is for, which categories do it most, and how to use the idea on a small budget. (September 14, 2026)
- [Do You Need a Landing Page for Facebook Ads?](/blog/landing-page-for-facebook-ads): Sending ad traffic to your homepage is the most common way to waste ad spend. Here is when a dedicated landing page is worth building and when your product page is fine. (September 11, 2026)
- [How Much Do Facebook Ads Cost?](/blog/how-much-do-facebook-ads-cost): There is no fixed price. Facebook ad costs are an auction outcome set by your category, your creative, and your timing. Here is what actually moves the number. (September 9, 2026)
- [Facebook Ads for Restaurants: What the Big Chains Actually Run](/blog/facebook-ads-for-restaurants): Restaurant ads work differently from retail ads. Data from 29 restaurant brands on what they optimize for, how fast they rotate creative, and what to copy. (September 7, 2026)
- [Should You Boost Posts or Run Real Facebook Ads?](/blog/boost-posts-vs-facebook-ads): Boosting is the easy button and it is not the same as advertising. Here is what you give up, when boosting is genuinely fine, and when it quietly wastes money. (September 4, 2026)
- [How Many Facebook Ads Should You Run at Once?](/blog/how-many-facebook-ads-to-run): Most small advertisers run too few ads to learn anything. Here is what concurrent ad counts look like at brands that advertise daily, and how to set your own number. (September 2, 2026)
- [Facebook Ads for Local Businesses: Will They Work for You?](/blog/facebook-ads-for-local-business): Do Facebook ads work for local businesses? Yes, with the right goal and geography. Here is how local advertisers, from real estate to services, make them pay off. (August 31, 2026)
- [How Does the Facebook Ads Algorithm Find Your Customers?](/blog/facebook-ads-algorithm): A plain explainer of how the Facebook ads algorithm works, the auction, the learning phase, and signals, and why your creative is the lever that steers it. (August 28, 2026)
- [Facebook Ads for Ecommerce: Do They Actually Drive Sales?](/blog/facebook-ads-for-ecommerce): Do Facebook ads work for ecommerce? The best DTC brands are built on them and never stop running them. Here is what their live ads reveal about driving real sales. (August 26, 2026)
- [How to Test Facebook Ads Before Spending Big Money](/blog/how-to-test-facebook-ads): Learn how to test Facebook ads before you scale spend. Big brands test relentlessly before committing budget. Here is how to do the same on a small budget. (August 24, 2026)
- [How Long Does It Take for Facebook Ads to Work?](/blog/how-long-for-facebook-ads-to-work): How long for Facebook ads to work? Plan for a learning phase of days, judge after that, and know that real winners run for months. Here is what live ad data shows. (August 21, 2026)
- [Facebook Ads vs Instagram Ads: Which Should You Use?](/blog/facebook-ads-vs-instagram-ads): Facebook ads vs Instagram ads is a false choice. Real data from live ads shows the pros run both at once. Here is what the numbers say and how to decide. (August 19, 2026)
- [How Much Should You Budget for Facebook Ads as a Small Business?](/blog/facebook-ads-budget-for-small-business): How much to budget for Facebook ads? Skip the magic number. Use these frameworks to set a budget from your goals and margins, including whether $500 is enough to start. (August 17, 2026)
- [Why Are My Facebook Ads Not Working? A Diagnosis Framework](/blog/facebook-ads-not-working): Facebook ads not working? Most failures trace to one of five causes. Use this diagnosis framework to find yours, backed by what long-running ads actually share. (August 14, 2026)
- [Do Facebook Ads Actually Work for Small Businesses?](/blog/do-facebook-ads-work): Do Facebook ads work? The most honest proof is behavioral. Sophisticated brands that measure every dollar keep running the same ads for years. Here is what that means for you. (August 12, 2026)
- [How to Do Creative Testing on Facebook Ads (Without Wasting Budget)](/blog/facebook-ad-creative-testing): A practical guide to Facebook ad creative testing. What to test, how to structure tests, how much budget to spend, and how to feed the queue with proven ideas. (August 10, 2026)
- [Pet Brand Facebook Ads: What the Best DTC Pet Companies Do](/blog/pet-brand-facebook-ads): A breakdown of what makes pet brand Facebook ads work, from hooks to offers to formats, with a repeatable way to study the category for yourself. (August 7, 2026)
- [How to Do Competitor Ad Analysis (A Repeatable Process)](/blog/competitor-ad-analysis): A repeatable competitor ad analysis process. Find rivals' winning ads, name the angles behind them, and turn them into your own tests that convert. (August 5, 2026)
- [Static vs Video Ads: Which Actually Performs Better?](/blog/static-vs-video-ads): Static vs video ads is the wrong question. Here is when each format wins, what the trade-offs really are, and how to decide with your own creative testing. (August 3, 2026)
- [How Often Should You Refresh Ad Creative?](/blog/how-often-to-refresh-ad-creative): Ad fatigue sets in within days to weeks. Here is how often to refresh ad creative, the signals that tell you it is time, and how to keep a pipeline of new ideas. (July 31, 2026)
- [21 Facebook Ad Hooks That Stop the Scroll (With Examples)](/blog/facebook-ad-hooks): The best Facebook ad hooks earn attention in the first second. Here are 21 proven hook patterns, why they work, and how to find real ones in the wild. (July 29, 2026)
- [How to Write Facebook Ad Copy That Converts (2026 Guide)](/blog/facebook-ad-copy): Great Facebook ad copy leads with the customer, makes one clear promise, and reads like a person. Here is how to write ad copy that converts, line by line. (July 27, 2026)
- [What Makes a Good Facebook Ad? 9 Traits of Ads That Keep Running](/blog/what-makes-a-good-facebook-ad): A good Facebook ad earns attention fast, sells one clear idea, and keeps running for months. Here are the nine traits the best performing ads share. (July 24, 2026)