Cloud Ten / Library / Social proof ads
Social proof ads, ranked by days live.
A social proof ad leads with other people: star ratings, review counts, customer numbers, press quotes or a wall of testimonials. The claim is "people like you already chose this".
918dNodieeTech & Gadgets
563dNodieeTech & Gadgets
561dNodieeTech & Gadgets
“"The best baby investment ever!"⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️”
219dBeardbrandBeauty & Skincare
219dBeardbrandBeauty & Skincare
211dBarefacedBeauty & Skincare
82dJones Road BeautyBeauty & Skincare
79dRhealSupplements & Wellness
75dBarefacedBeauty & Skincare
72dTrue ProteinSupplements & Wellness
62dLucky SaintFood & Beverage
“Lucky Saint”
62dRose Skin CoBeauty & Skincare
61dMoon JuiceSupplements & Wellness
Days in market is measured from each ad’s first-seen date in the Meta Ad Library and re-checked daily. Mechanism labels are ours, applied to each brand’s longest-running ads.
Why social proof ads keep running
Social proof is the mechanism with the longest average lifespan in the library, carried by a few ads that have run for the better part of three years. Big, specific numbers do the work: a review count beats an adjective every time.
5% of the 276 long-running ads we have classified are social proof ads, across 9 brands. 6 of them have been live for more than 100 days. The full mechanism breakdown is in what makes ad creative work, and the ad creative brief guide turns it into a brief.
Want this for your category?
We’ll find the longest-running ads from your two closest competitors, name the mechanism behind each, and walk you through what we would test first.
Frequently asked
What is a social proof ad?
A social proof ad leads with other people: star ratings, review counts, customer numbers, press quotes or a wall of testimonials. The claim is "people like you already chose this".
Do social proof ads work?
Of the 276 long-running ads we have classified across 40 DTC brands, 14 (5%) are social proof ads, with a median of 80 days live and 6 past 100 days. An advertiser keeps paying for an ad only while it earns its place, so that is a real signal.
How do I write a social proof ad?
Start from the evidence: find the longest-running examples in your own category, write down the promise, the objection and the proof each one uses, then brief one idea per ad. Our guide to writing an ad creative brief has a template.
Where do these examples come from?
From the Meta Ad Library. We record the date each ad first appeared, re-check daily whether it is still live, and label the persuasion mechanism doing the work on the long-runners.