Great copywriting skills are necessary for creating great ads that actually convert, but when it comes to Facebook ads specifically, images are king. You’ll still need great text to accompany your images, of course, but due to the nature of Facebook’s set up, choosing the right image can make or break your ad. It won’t matter how genius your copy is if you don’t have the right image to catch the user’s eye, too.

But trying to figure out what image is the right image can be a little nerve-wracking, especially if you are brand new to the game. To help you out, I’ve compiled some basic tips that you can put into practice right away to improve your ad performance:

• This is going to be obvious, but since it’s a cornerstone of effective Facebook advertising, it bears repeating: choose an image that is RELEVANT to whatever you’re pushing with the ad. That means whatever your image depicts needs to align closely with the subject of your ad. For example, you could use a picture of a cheeseburger for your weight loss advert, because dieting is about food, but is that the RIGHT picture for your ad? Do pictures of cheeseburgers make those looking to lose weight WANT to click on your ad to lose weight, or just want to run down to the local McDonald’s instead?

• Use pictures of people whenever possible. In general, both men and women tend to respond more to ads with photos of women in them, but you can use men or kids, too, if you like. Look for attractive, smiling, happy folks. Or you can go the other way and look for weird-looking folks, but I’d suggest using that tactic with caution, because it could backfire. Ever see those car insurance contextual ads that feature photos of men that look like they might’ve just walked out of prison after serving time for some nefarious deviant behavior? Yeah. Avoid those.

• If you’re going to use text in your image, be careful with it. This is ostensibly a good way to cram some more copy into your ad, but Facebook ad images are pretty small (110 x 80, to be exact), and your text might end up unreadable if you’re not careful.

• Go amateur. Professional photos are neat, clean, and look great, but they may not be the right choice for your Facebook ad. Facebook users are particularly susceptible to ad fatigue because they spend so much time on Facebook, and ads are ever present. You can increase your chances of being noticed and getting a click if you go for an image that isn’t as polished as something Coke might use. Why? Amateur photos don’t scream “ad!” to users. If your photo looks more like something the average Facebook user might post to their own photo albums, then you may look more like a “real” person and not just someone trying to sell something.

• Consider your demographic. Who are you targeting? Use a photo that represents them somehow. People like to see other people that look like they do. Using an image in your ad like that will let them know that whatever you’ve got is something specifically for them. Targeting middle aged men? Show one. Targeting parents? Show one. Or maybe a baby. Or an older child. Targeting cat owners? Then LOLcat away. You don’t have to stick with just that, though – there are other ways to represent your demographic in your image. For example, younger users may be more drawn to cartoonish images and gamers may be more drawn to an 8 bit style picture. Get creative, but stay relevant, and show them something they can relate to.

• Make it stand out somehow.Look at other ads for products or services similar to yours. What do they look like? Study that, and then do something different to make your image stand out. You can add a border (preferably something that contrasts with the blue Facebook uses), or use more white space than the other ads do, or different colors.

Using any of these tips won’t negate your need for testing and tweaking, of course, but they will give you a head start and get you moving along the right track right out of the gate.