Chapter 5: 7 Ways To Write Ad Copy That Engages
In this chapter, we will cover why good ad copy matters and what you can do to make it engaging.
In this chapter, we will cover why good ad copy matters and what you can do to make it engaging.
Show How You’ll Solve the Problem Through Your Ad Copy
The number one thing your audience cares about is how your product/service will solve their problem.
Before you write your ad, think about what the user on the other end wants and how what you are offering is the solution.
For example, let’s take a look at what happens when you Google the keyword “recipes for cooking”
These ads instantly pop up based on the keyword search and are offering a solution to the user’s problem.
The main problem people have when it comes to finding recipes to cook is time, hence the usage of showing how easy these recipes are.
To create a great ad make sure you are focusing on the end goal that solves these user’s problems.
Helpful Tip: Type in keywords related to your product/service and see what pops up in Google. This will help you understand what your audience is searching for and how you can position your product/service to suit that problem.
Tie Your Text To Your Visual
One of the most important things to keep in mind is that people tend to go on their phones to relax and get away from everyday stresses.
So a key part of creating an ad that isn’t annoying is to keep it native to the social media platform — this means that you want it to blend into the feed and look like content.
The best way to do this is to tie your ad copy into your image.
Make sure all of the components of your ad (the description, headline, URL) all work together and deliver a story to users. This will make users more likely to want to learn more and not just “like” the ad.
The example below is a great reference:
We’ve talked about this particular ad previously but it’s so good we had to talk about it again.
As you can see it does a great job of tying in the ad copy to the visual in an easy-to-understand way and is done in a very cute way.
Helpful Tip: If you don’t have the time or the budget to create images, search for royalty-free images that match what you’re talking about. For instance, if your ad is about IT perhaps use an image of a broken computer, if it is about growth, play with some images of plants or seeds growing.
Tie Your Ad Copy Into Pain Points
Although some people are searching Google or other social media platforms for a solution to their problem, people need more of an incentive to push them to take action. This is where the importance of pain points comes into play.
In marketing it is common to hear the phrase “People don’t make decisions based on logic alone. Instead, they are driven by emotions.”. So to create great emotional ad copy, focus on resolving the fear or concern.
Here’s an example:
Smile Direct Club is not only pointing out that there are “No Monthly Visits”, “Ridiculous Costs” but it is also pointing out that they have “Safely Delivered 1Million New, Beautiful Smiles”.
This copy is great because it is not only reassuring the user that Smile Direct Club is here to help, but that they have the experience and understanding of the user’s pain points.
Helpful Tip: Follow these three steps and you’ll have great copy in no time.
Understand who your customer is.
Determine how you will appeal to that customer.
Write copy tying into their emotions.
Include a Timeframe
A lot of buyers need to feel that sense of urgency.
By including a timeframe in your ad copy such as “For a limited time” or “Sale ends tomorrow” you are creating that sense of urgency or FOMO (fear of missing out) that pushes the buyer to make the purchase.
Referencing the Smile Direct Club ad once again:
They are doing a great job at adding that FOMO by offering a code and setting that the offer won’t last long — ultimately motivating them to purchase before they miss out.
Helpful Tip: Using phrases such as “For a limited time”, “this offer won’t last long”, “24 hours left!” etc. Will help build that sense of urgency and get more people compelled to purchase.
Be Recognizable
When you think about recognizable brands that of Nike, Walmart, McDonald’s, Amazon, Tim Horton’s and the like are sure to come to mind.
When it comes to your brand, ensure that you have established colours and fonts that you can continue to use to help build recognition around your brand.
Helpful Tip: Ensure that you stick to your brand’s colours and fonts on your ads and website so the user knows it’s you.
Keep It Short & Sweet
A recent study found that the average human attention span has fallen from 12 seconds to 8 seconds.
With this in mind, capturing your audience’s attention is more important than ever.
We recommend that your ad copy is short, sweet, and to the point so the reader understands exactly what you’re offering, how much, and what they have to do next.
Helpful Tip: To keep it super simple, stick with one strong CTA so the user knows exactly what they have to do to take the next step.
Mention Price
When you include the price directly on your ad — on the image or in the copy — you are ensuring that people who click your ad know exactly what they are getting instead of someone clicking the ad and realizing how much something costs and bouncing.
However, this of course depends on the type of product/service you are selling and the cost. For instance, if you are selling a high-ticket item it may be worth it to put the price upfront to ensure that people who are willing to pay that much know what they are getting into.
Remember, people don’t want to feel cheated or lied to about a product/service, so ensure that if it makes sense to mention the price or the discount to do so.
Helpful Tip: More clicks may seem great but if you aren’t getting any conversions try including the price that way people aren’t bouncing once they discover how much the product/service is going for.
