How to Write an Effective Ad Copy That Converts

As our attention spans get shorter and we get bombarded with countless online ads, the burden of today’s advertisers becomes heavier: they have to use everything in their power to get just a few seconds of our attention. But simply catching attention is not enough – it also has to be converted into tangible results (even if those are just clicks). That’s why each little detail of an ad should be considered as something that can potentially attract people’s attention. 

 

Effective ad copy, in a way, is like a short story: you have just a few sentences or even words at your disposal to convey a specific meaning, and you need to make every word count. It's the art of capturing attention, telling a compelling story, and convincing your audience to take action with these 3 elements: a headline, a description, and a CTA. 

 

A catchy headline will attract people’s attention, a well-rounded description will give your customers an idea of what your product/service is about, and a CTA will invite them to take action that is beneficial both to them and your business. 

 

Here are some specific benefits of putting more effort into writing good ad copies:

• Attracting more customers and getting more clicks and conversions by making your ads relevant; 
• Spending your budget more wisely by allocating more resources to high-converting copies; 
• Avoiding ad fatigue by rotating different ad copy versions; 
• Increasing your competitive advantage by making original and creative ads that stand out. 

But what does a good ad copy look like? Usually, an ad copy that does its job is: 

• Unambiguous & informative

Ad copies that convert don’t beat around the bush – they clearly communicate what a particular business can offer to potential customers, how it can improve their lives, and how it can deliver all of these benefits to them. 

 

Ineffective ad copies are too vague, sometimes misleading, and usually lack the details that might help customers make the right decision. If you want to avoid this, keep your copies clear, honest, and self-explanatory. 

• Fresh & creative 

Even when you’re advertising something that doesn’t seem glamorous enough to call for an original and eye-catching copy, it doesn’t mean that you can’t get creative or come up with something unusual. 

 

In many cases, uncommon and new approaches to advertising products or services that aren’t particularly inspiring (for example, home supplies or a B2B business) can help you outshine your competitors and differentiate your brand from others on the market. In the oversaturated online space, creativity can go a long way, so don’t be afraid to go against the grain and add some flavor to your ad copies. 

• Consistent with the business’ branding strategy 

A good ad copy also aligns with the brand’s personality, values, and communication style. Advertising is just a part of the holistic strategy of promoting and growing your business, which means that everything from visuals to copies should correspond to the brand image you’re presenting to the public. 

 

So, make sure that you use an appropriate tone of voice for your copies and adjust it when needed to tailor your ads to specific audience segments or platforms. 

 

Things to consider for writing compelling ad copies 

Before you jump right into the creative and analytical process of writing copies for your ads, you need to answer these questions: 

 

1. Who’s your target audience? 

Depending on the audience segment you’re targeting, you’ll need to choose a specific communication style, draw attention to particular aspects of your products, and so on. In short, you need to know who’s going to see your ads to write ad copies that align with their values, needs, and preferences. 

 

For example, B2C and B2B advertising are very different in terms of what your potential customers will be receptive to. If you’re running ads targeted at key decision-makers in large companies, your ad copy is likely to be more formal and you’ll need to draw attention to the whole buyer’s journey (e.g. by promising a sufficient client onboarding process and continuous support) since your goal is to retain the customer in the long-term. If you’re running B2C ads targeted at regular customers, on the other hand, you can allow yourself to be more liberal with the words you’re choosing for your ad copy and focus on short-term results (like sales and conversions). 

 

2. What are the intentions of your audience?

Your audience’s intent can be either low (they’re not ready to buy yet), medium (they’re in the stage of exploration), or high (they’ve made up their minds and are ready to purchase). 

 

Depending on the level of intent, your strategy for ad copywriting can look very different: 

• When you’re just introducing people to your brand, you want to leave a good first impression – memorable and catchy ad copies will be the best for this; 
• When you’re targeting people who are exploring their options, your goal is to make your brand stand out from the competitors – this means that you can point out the advantages your business offers that your competitors lack;
• When your ads are intended for those ready to convert, you need to show them that your business will be the best fit and address possible objections to convince them. 

3. Who are your competitors and what do they offer? 

Every advertiser wants to show off the products they’re promoting in the best light and let customers know why they should choose it. However, without understanding the position of your business and products/services within the market or niche, it’s hard to get it right. 

 

As the saying goes, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer", but in this case, we’re talking about your competitors. Keeping a close eye on them is incredibly useful, and here’s why: 

• Understanding your competitors helps you stand out

Knowing what your competitors are saying in their ad copies allows you to craft something unique and attention-grabbing, and outshine them. That’s why it’s helpful to regularly check ads run by businesses that provide similar products and services on ad libraries of popular advertising platforms (like Google Ads Transparency Center, Meta Ads Library, TikTok Ads Library). 

• You understand what does and doesn’t work and learn from your competitors’ mistakes

When you keep an eye on your competitors, you get a sneak peek into what's resonating with the target audience that you both have in common and notice what doesn’t work that well. 

 

You can see which ad copies are getting likes, clicks, and shares, and what your competitors draw attention to – this might help you differentiate your business from everyone else’s. Sometimes, on the other hand, you’ll see that your competitors’ ad copies are confusing, out of touch, or they miss the mark on the communication tone or style. Learning from these mistakes helps you avoid making the same blunders.

 

Keep in mind that when you find something in your competitor’s ad copy that worked for them, you shouldn’t blindly copy it (pun intended). Instead, analyze and modify it to fit your business while retaining your unique approach to advertising. 

• You can find the gaps left by your competitors and fill them 

By analyzing your competition, you might spot areas they're not covering or keywords they're missing. For example, their ad copies can lack certain details that you know will pique the interest of your audience, or they might not be using specific keywords that can deliver good results – this is the perfect time for you to act and turn the weaknesses of your competitors into your strengths. 

• You can stay up-to-date with the recent trends 

The advertising landscape changes faster than the blink of an eye, which means that getting the inside scoop on what's happening in your ad space can help you elevate your advertising game. Knowledge is the power that helps you adapt to the latest trends and keep your ads fresh and relevant. 

 

Now that we covered the things that you need to consider when approaching copywriting for your ads, let’s dive right into the best practices that can help you write compelling and effective ad copies. 

 

1. Solve customers’ problems and address their concerns 

One of the best strategies for writing effective ad copies is shifting the focus to problems, solutions, and benefits because that’s basically how your customers perceive your products or services. More often than not, they want to solve specific problems, which is why they either search for specific products or services or decide to check out brands whose ads they see while surfing the web. 

 

Here is a simple formula for making your ad copies persuasive: 

As this is one of the basics of brand positioning on the market, hopefully, you’ve already conducted customer research and mapped out your buyer personas. If not, this is the perfect opportunity for you to do this – this is essential not only for developing effective marketing and advertising strategies but also for the growth of your business in the long run. 

 

Also, remember that your potential customers might not be consciously aware of a particular problem unless you point it out to them. This means that you can start by introducing a problem that your customers face but don’t pay enough (from your POV) attention to and then offer your solution. 

Mailchimp

 

In short, the key insight here is that your customers and their interests come first, which also means that focusing too much on the features of your products is not the best route to take. Of course, you shouldn’t forget about the features completely, but you have to present them in terms of how effective they will be in solving specific problems of your customers. 

 

Once you formulate the core problem your customers want to solve, you can also explore secondary problems and pain points that might be lower on priority but can help you connect with specific audience segments. 

 

For example, if you’re advertising an online clothing store, you might draw attention not just to the high-quality or attractive prices of your items: you can also let your customers know that you provide multiple delivery or payment options, point out that your company values sustainability, and so on. Addressing the concerns and pain points of different audience segments will help you tailor your ad copies to the demands of particular groups of customers and make your ads more relevant to them. 

 

In short, focusing on benefits allows you to: 

• Present your products/services in a more attractive light (as people want you to offer them specific solutions, not just wordy descriptions of various features); 
• Draw comparisons with your competitors (for example, pointing out how your business can provide a specific benefit faster and for cheaper); 
• Keep your copies SEO-friendly as benefit-focused content often naturally incorporates keywords that people use when searching for solutions to their problems;
• Incorporate testimonials and success stories in your copies – benefits serve as a great basis for storytelling. 

Besides promising benefits to your customers, you can also give them an additional incentive by minimizing the risks of engaging with your business. One trick that is often used by marketers is creating a feeling that your customers won’t lose anything if they choose to make a purchase. For example, many businesses offer attractive refund policies: if a customer won’t feel satisfied with their product/service or finds that the promises made by their advertisers don’t hold up to reality, their money will be returned. 

 

While you’re presenting your customers with the benefits your business can provide for them, remember that you can preemptively address the potential objections they might have. For example, if your product has a common drawback, you can acknowledge it in your ad copy and present a solution or a compelling reason why it's still worth it despite the limitation or why this limitation won’t be a dealbreaker. 

 

Another thing you can do to remove the risks of a potentially unpleasant surprise for your customers is to make your prices clear in your ad copies, especially if your products/services fall on the more expensive side of the spectrum. This way you’ll avoid getting unqualified clicks and making users waste their time on checking offers that are not relevant for them. 

 

Now, let’s cover one of the key ad copy elements that can make or break your ads and influence their performance. 

 

2. Use the right keywords

Keywords are the secret sauce for getting your ad in front of the right audience. No matter how original and creative your ad copy is, it is the keywords that will determine the discoverability of your ads. 

 

In short, your ad copies should include relevant keywords that your target customers are likely to use for looking up products or services. This will not only improve your ad's visibility but also ensure that it resonates with the right people.

 

You’ll need to start by researching your audience, their needs, preferences, and also the terms that they might use to search for products or services similar to yours. You can conduct a regular keyword analysis using platforms and services like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, SEMrush, and others to find the most popular and relevant queries. 

Ubersuggest allows you to see not only the search volume of a particular keyword but also the possible costs of ads with it, keywords and content ideas, and more. 

 

It’s also extremely helpful to analyze your competitors’ keywords to understand what strategies they’re using – you’ll be able to adapt some of them to your situation or come up with your own unique solutions. Depending on the advertising platform you’re using, you can check Google Ads Transparency Center, Facebook Ads Library, TikTok Ads Library, and other resources to get insights into the best ad copywriting practices in your industry. 

 

And here are some simple tips that can help you choose the right keywords for your ad copies: 

• Prioritize keywords that are highly relevant to your business and offerings and avoid broad, generic keywords that may not lead to conversions; 

• Try using long-tail keywords that are more specific — they can be highly effective because they often indicate a clear intent (for example, “best hiking boots for women” is more specific than “hiking boots”); 
• Assess the search volume and competition for each keyword – high search volume can be attractive, but it often comes with higher competition and costs;
• Consider the intent behind each keyword: are users looking for information, products, or specific services? Tailor your ad copy and landing pages to match the intent. 

Besides keywords that will be included in the headline or the description of your ad, we need to focus on a small element of an ad copy that can make it truly persuasive.  

 

3. Choose an appropriate Call to Action 

Call-to-action (or CTA for short) is an integral part of ad copy and acts as a bridge between your ad and the action you want your customers to take. If your ad was like a symphony, the CTA would be its crescendo, or the highest and the most intense moment that turns mere viewers of your ads into active participants of your brand's story. 

 

Your call-to-action has to be convincing, specific, action-oriented, tailored to your objectives, and what’s also crucial, appropriate for the audience you’re targeting. If you’re targeting low-intent audience segments that we’ve talked about previously, you might want to choose a soft CTA – the action requires only a small degree of commitment, which is suitable for cold audiences that are not ready to convert yet. In this case, CTAs like “Learn more”, “Sign up for a free trial”, or “Find out how” can be a better choice. 

Adidas

 

If your audience has already been warmed up to the prospect of converting, however, a stronger CTA can be more suitable as it prompts users to take a high-commitment action that they’re ready for. CTAs like “Shop Now”, “Book an Appointment”, or “Subscribe” will be your main options. 

Sephora

 

Here are more tips for making sure that your CTAs are just as good as the rest of your ad copies: 

• Keep your CTAs concise and short – while they should be easily visible, they shouldn’t distract from the other elements of your ad copy;
• Be clear and specify the action you want your audience to take – your potential customers should know what to expect when clicking on your ad; 
• Match your CTAs to the rest of your ad copy – use the same tone of voice and choose words that correspond to the content of the headline or description. 

If you want to learn more, check out one of our previous articles for more tips on writing truly effective CTAs for your ads. 

 

Now that we’ve talked a bit about what lies at the core of effective ad copies, it’s time to consider several tips that will help us with the writing process. 

 

4. Add numbers

Using numbers in advertising has been a favorite marketing trick for many decades now: they instantly attract attention by sparking our curiosity and adding credibility to the ad’s message. Whether it’s promising a 30% discount, mentioning a 98% customer satisfaction rate, or boasting about serving 10,000 happy clients, numbers and statistics can add weight to your claims.

 

Specific numbers and statistics that can be backed up by the research will be way more persuasive than vague statements. Here’s what they can help you with: 

• Increasing credibility: when you use statistics or specific figures, it shows that you've done your research and have the foolproof evidence to support your message, which makes your ad more trustworthy; 
• Providing clarity & specificity: numbers can give your audience a clear and tangible idea of the potential benefits of your product or service; 
• Drawing comparisons: numbers allow you to compare your product or service to competitors or show before-and-after scenarios, which paints a great picture of what your customers can look for if they convert; 
• Attracting attention: nothing can make people click on an ad faster than numbers that promise them great but also realistic results. 

In short, numbers and statistics can make your ad stand out among countless competitors and be more memorable for your audience. 

 

The simplest way to incorporate some numbers in your copies is to draw attention to the price or how much people can save. Numbers are great when you want to offer your audiences special incentives, discounts, or bonuses to motivate immediate action. These can include limited-time discounts, free shipping, or bundled offers. 

 

For example, “Save $50” or “Save 50%” sounds a lot more compelling than just “Save money”. You can accentuate the benefits your customers will get by giving them a numeric form: phrases like “Order now and get a free gift worth $50 with your purchase” or “Save 20% on all orders over $100!” will be perfect for conveying your point. 

Sephora, Asos, New York Times 

 

With numbers, you can also emphasize the results people can achieve with your products or services. For example, you can tell your customers how much faster your software is, how much time it helps to save, and so on. 

 

Another thing that numbers can help you with is sharing testimonials and reviews that demonstrate how many people have already benefited from your product or service. Social proof like this will reassure potential customers that they won't miss out on something that others have found valuable. For example, your ad copy can look like this: “Join the 95% of customers who reported increased savings with our app” or  “Our event sold out last year with over 500 happy attendees”. 

This Asana’s LinkedIn ad points out the benefits that many of their customers would be interested in, i.e. increasing the number of projects that are finished in time. 

 

This can help you instill in your customers a feeling that others have already discovered some secret key to success that they’re not yet aware of. More likely than not, they wouldn’t want to miss it, all thanks to our natural competitive drive. This is especially effective in the case of B2B advertising: you can emphasize the fact that your product/service has already benefited those your customers compete with, which will make it a must for them to convert if they don’t want to be left behind by their competition. 

Mailchimp uses numbers in their ad copies in different ways: to point out the increase in orders and revenue or to offer more useful features to their customers. 

 

Remember that the most important aspect of using numbers and statistics in your ad copies is to make sure that you can back up your claims with facts. Unsubstantiated claims can negatively impact your brand’s reputation and image, which leads to the opposite of what you were trying to achieve. You can research the benefits your business provides to your customers and present the most crucial of them in numeric form in your ad copies – just don’t forget to cite your sources! 

 

5. Use FOMO

All marketers know that the fear of missing out (or FOMO) is one of the strongest psychological triggers motivating people to take action, and it’s becoming even stronger thanks to social media. 

 

That’s why people’s purchasing behaviors change so much during times like Black Friday or holidays: with all the discounts and special deals around, we feel like this might be our only opportunity to buy something at a very good price. Despite not knowing whether a particular opportunity is actually relevant to us, we still don’t want to miss it – after all, who knows what benefits it may bring? 

 

This is how you can leverage FOMO in your ad copies: 

• Emphasize time limitations 

If you have a great but time-limited offer for your audience, you can make it clear in your ad copy. Setting deadlines can help you create a sense of urgency and motivate potential customers to click on your ads to not miss out on a great deal – if you do it right, you can get way more conversions than ads with regular offers. 

Asus, Sephora

 

For this, use phrases like "Sale ends at X", "Limited time only", "Act now," "Last chance," or "Ends soon" to emphasize that the opportunity won't last forever. 

 

Here are a couple of ideas for inspiration: 

“Limited-time offer: Save X% on all products until midnight!”;

“Don't miss out on our one-day flash sale – ends in X hours!”;

“Last chance! The sale ends tonight!”;

“Act now to get XX% off!”.

• Point out the exclusivity 

Offering something exclusive can be a great advertising strategy since it appeals to one of the strongest forces that drive the consumption process – our ego. People like to feel special and receive benefits not enjoyed by others, and when they see exclusive offers, they perceive your products/services as having a higher value. 

 

You can capitalize on the feeling of exclusivity to increase the success of your ads. For example, you can use phrases like “Once-in-a-lifetime offer”, “Online only”, “Get VIP access”, etc. 

 

You can also offer exclusive access to a select group of customers or early adopters – this might help you increase customer loyalty and retention rates in the long run. For example, phrases like “Be among the first to experience our groundbreaking technology”, and “VIP members get first dibs on our new collection” can make your customers feel their significance and think that they’ve discovered something unique. 

• Bring up the scarcity 

Communicating that your product or service is in high demand and may run out or be unavailable can also be a powerful psychological motivator. When we know that a certain thing comes only in limited quantity, we subconsciously think that it must be more valuable than something that can be bought in bulk whenever we want. For instance, phrases like “Only 5 left in stock! Grab yours before it's gone” can create a sense of scarcity that will compel users to convert much quicker. 

• Include user-generated content

One more possible way to spark FOMO in your customers is to show that other people like them are already reaping the benefits of your products/services. You can share content created by your satisfied customers (such as photos, videos, or success stories) to give those who haven’t converted yet why it’s worth it. 

 

UGC, being an alternative to word-of-mouth marketing, can not only attract new customers but also enhance your brand’s authority: after all, if many people choose to get involved with your business, there should be a good reason for it. If you decide to incorporate UGC in your ads, you can use captions like “Join the movement” or “Don't be left out” in ad copies to encourage your audience to take action. 

 

As you can see, FOMO can be a powerful catalyst for driving conversions. However, keep in mind that it should be used wisely. Misleading or overly aggressive FOMO tactics can harm your brand's reputation, and using FOMO too often can lead to a lack of trust from your customers: if you offer “once-in-a-lifetime” deals every month, there might be something wrong with either the stuff you’re selling or your business model. 

 

Remember the story about the boy who cried wolf? If you don’t want to end up like that boy, be honest and transparent about your deadlines and the exclusiveness of your products, and make sure that your messaging aligns with your actual offer. 

 

6. Ask questions + give hints 

Another tactic that is often employed in advertising copies is posing questions that your audience will like to get the answers to. This method (called “Socratic method”, to be exact) is one of the oldest techniques for arriving to logical conclusions via a dialogue, and using it in your ad copies can help you encourage your audience to make the right decision.

 

Here are several reasons why you might want to include questions in your ad copies: 

 

1. Increasing engagement

By encouraging users to think, questions can capture their attention, prompt discussions, and make your ad stand out. For example, a question like "Ready to scale your ad campaigns?" can help you not only get more clicks but also start a conversation with your audience (if you’re running your ads on social media).  

 

2. Sparking curiosity

Asking your customers thought-provoking questions can stimulate their desire to learn more and drive traffic to your website or landing page. You can include words like “secret”, “hack”, “key”, etc. to trigger your potential customers’ interest, e.g. “Want to discover the secrets of top marketing experts?”. 

 

Asking rhetorical questions can also work well depending on the audience you’re targeting: in certain cases, engaging the imagination of your customers with questions like “Isn't it time you experienced true freedom?” can evoke an emotional response from them, making your ads more memorable.  

 

Asking the right questions can also prompt your potential customers to ponder their needs and discover those they weren’t aware of. Then, you can follow it up with a hint or a teaser that points them toward the solution – your product or service. 

 

3. Ensuring relevance

Well-constructed questions aimed at specific groups of people can help you directly address their needs or pain points and make your messages more relevant. When tailoring your ads to particular audience segments or buyer personas, choose questions that will hit right into the main issues these categories of customers are facing. For example, if you’re targeting people who care about the environment and conscious consumption, you can ask questions like “Looking to shop responsibly?” to acknowledge their preferences and offer specific solutions. 

 

4. Developing empathy

Truly relevant questions allow you to show that your brand can empathize with the experiences or challenges of your customers and make it more relatable. You can use pronouns like “you”/”your” and “we”/”our” to foster a sense of empathy and include words that establish a mutual relationship between your business and your customers, e.g. “struggle”, “problem”, or “pain” in combination with "help" and "support". For example, you can ask a question like “Struggling with the problem of [X]?” and offer your unique solutions to it with phrases like “We understand your pain. Let us help you”. 

 

5. Smoothly leading to a call to action 

Questions can naturally lead your audience to click on a CTA button and take the desired action, which makes it a great and super-effective combo to use in your ads. You can use a question that asks how a certain outcome/result was achieved and pair it up with a CTA that helps your audience find the answers. For example, your ad copy might go like this: “[Company X] achieved [Y]. You want to know how? Click here to find out”. 

 

6. Discovering qualified leads

Correctly worded questions can help you qualify your audience and attract people who are ready to act on your offers. For example, if you ask questions like “Looking for your dream home?”, “Shopping for winter coats?”, or “Ready for better project management?”, you can increase the likelihood of getting ad clicks that will actually lead to conversions. 

 

In short, questions can be a great addition to your ad copies and turn them from simply preaching to your audience about the benefits of your products/services to having a dialogue with them. 

 

Also, asking questions that can create a sense of doubt can be useful as well in specific cases. For example, you might ask questions like “Is your company reaching its full potential?”,  “Concerned about your financial future?”, or “Are you sure you’re not overspending on [product or a service]?” to make your audience stop for a minute and ponder whether they’re not missing out on some important details. 

 

Remember that while questions can be compelling, it's essential to follow up with a clear and relevant message that addresses the specific needs or concerns of your customers and provides a solution.

 

7. Use active verbs, power & emotional words

Quite obviously, visuals are the primary conveyors of emotions and sensations, and we know that ads with quality visual content usually get more clicks and conversions. However, we shouldn’t underestimate the power that words can hold. With just a couple of correctly chosen power or emotional words, you can tell your audience a story, highlight the benefits of your products/services, compare and contrast them with those of your competitors, invoke specific feelings, and create a certain atmosphere for your audience,  and a lot more. 

 

One of the things that words can help you with is tapping into universal emotions like joy, fear, love, or sadness (when you lack or want to change something). 

 

When doing so, make sure to choose emotions and feelings that align with your product or service and the desired customer response. For example, you can incorporate words such as “dream”, “freedom”, “magic”, “safe”, “luxury”, “easy”, “happiness”, etc. to create feelings of comfort and peace. If you want to create a comforting feeling (which will be very fitting in the next two months), use various synonyms of the words “warm” and “cozy” to give your audience a sneak peek of what they can get with your products or services. 

Spotify’s ads hit right into people’s emotional nature: it’s all about immersing yourself and sinking into the music that fits your mood. Notice how emotional appeal is combined with the focus on the benefits: ad-free, 1 month of Premium for free, etc. 

 

Using vivid adjectives and adverbs that evoke emotions and sensations can also work well for certain products/services and audience segments. For instance, instead of “good coffee”, you can say “rich, aromatic coffee” to paint a more vivid and emotionally charged picture or draw attention to the high quality of your fabrics by talking about their  “velvety softness” in your copies. 

 

Another way to include some powerful words in your ad copy is through drawing comparisons. For this, you can link words like “unlike” and “more” with adverbs and adjectives that point out the main benefits of your products or services. For instance, you might say that your software is faster, more efficient, and more intuitive than the competition, or bring up the fact that, unlike other products on the market, your solution is eco-friendly and sustainable.

 

Here are some other examples of emotional and powerful words and phrases that you can use: 

• For building trust: “guaranteed”, “proven”, “tested”, “authentic”;
• For sparking curiosity: “secrets”, “key”, “code”, “unveil”, “discover”;
• For increasing excitement: “breathtaking”, “thrilling”, “unbelievable”;
• For creating a sense of comfort: “relax”, “enjoy”, “pamper”, “indulge”; 
• For inspiring action: “take charge of…”, “transform your…”, etc. 

When writing powerful and emotion-evoking copies for your ads, always keep in mind that the descriptive language you use should be authentic and relevant to your product or service. It should create a compelling and enticing narrative that resonates with your target audience, so don’t forget to do proper research if you want to choose the perfect words. 

 

While you can use power words like “revolutionize”, “supercharge”, “transform”, etc., to add excitement, keep in mind that less is more. Adding too many words that sound great but don’t signify anything specific (e.g. “innovative”, “revolutionary”, “unique”, etc.) to your ad copies can make them sound too clickbait-y. 

Asus, Under Armour, and Adidas evoke feelings of inspiration in their ad copies by using powerful words that motivate people to take action. 

 

Also, don’t turn your ad copy into a whole novel! While it should provoke certain feelings in your customers, oversaturating it with too many power/emotion words can make it seem like a high-school essay rather than an ad copy. If it takes longer than a few seconds to read, try to make it shorter. 

 

8. Go personal

It goes without saying that you should personalize your ads to make them more relevant to your audience. This can be achieved not only by presenting them with specific benefits and offers but also by choosing words that can help you create stronger bonds with your audience. 

 

One way to do this is to address your audience directly with personal pronouns – “you”, “your”, “I/me”, “we”, etc. This can make your customers feel like the ad they see was tailor-made for them, which increases the likelihood of clicks and conversions. 

 

For example, you can ask them questions like “What's your ideal vacation destination?” or “Are you ready to transform your skincare routine?”  to draw attention to their needs and wants. 

 

Possessive adjectives (“your”, “my”, “our”, etc.) are also effective since they can help you emphasize ownership or personal connection. For instance, you can use phrases like “Discover your dream home today” or “Enhance your productivity with our software” to make a customer feel like the main character when they’re seeing your ads. 

 

If you’re all about building a community around your brand, use more words like “we”,  “us”, and “our”  to create a sense of belonging or partnership between your brand and your audience. For example, you might use phrases like “Join us on this exciting journey”, “Our team is here to help you every step of the way”, etc.

 

The same goes for your CTAs – you can personalize them just as your copies by including pronouns “you”, “your”, etc. For instance, CTAs like “Start your journey today” or “Find your perfect fit”  have much better chances of being clicked on because they shift the focus to the customer. 

 

Keep in mind that personalization does not always mean personal pronouns – you can address a particular group of customers in another way. For example, ad copies like “Parents, make mealtime easier with our products”  or “Students, get the best deals on textbooks” address specific audience segments directly, speaking to the pain points they’re likely to have. 

 

And remember that the key to effective personalization is relevance. Make sure that the tactics used in your ad copies align with the needs, preferences, and interests of your target audience (as you can see, we always go back to audience research as the necessary prerequisite for ad creation). 

 

This approach will help you write more meaningful and engaging ad copies that resonate with your readers and make them feel special and cared for, which is exactly what you need if you want to establish a strong relationship with them. 

 

10. Leverage trends and humor 

Taking advantage of online trends and humor in your ad copies can be a highly effective way to connect with your audience (especially its more digitally savvy part) and make your brand stand out, but it takes some mastery and online expertise to do it right. 

 

Here are some recommendations that can help you with it: 

• Keep up with the flow 

No matter whether it’s the trends or the humor we’re talking about, it’s essential to be aware of the current cultural milieu to use them correctly. Timing is key when leveraging trends in your copies, so you have to capitalize on them while they're still relevant – being too late to the party can make your ad feel out-of-touch. 

 

When it comes to humor, it can also be a hit-or-miss kind of situation, so you’ll need to stay up-to-date with social media, news, and pop culture trends relevant to your customers to choose jokes that will 100% land with them. 

 

For example, you can use tools like Google Trends and perform social listening to identify what's trending in real-time and what your customers partake in and perform quality audience research to figure out their preferred type of humor. 

Burger King’s Halloween ads put a unique spin on a popular marketing trend, adding humor related to their products. 

• Ensure that your copies are relatable and relevant

When leveraging trends or humor in your ad copies, you have to ensure that what you’re using will be relatable to your audience and also fit your brand and the products/services that are being advertised. 

 

Every joke, no matter how small, should align with your values and messaging (which, in turn, should resonate with your audience). Don't force humor or trends that feel out of place or don’t fit your brand personality or style of communication.

Liquid Death made their ad copies one-of-a-kind with an edgy humor that matches their public image.   

 

• Use memes (in moderation & when it’s appropriate) 

Memes can be a goldmine of fun and creative content for your ad copies, but you have to take necessary precautions when using them. 

 

For starters, you have to make sure that a particular meme is 1) timely (i.e. it’s not already fading into oblivion), 2) not offensive, and 3) not subject to copyright or intellectual property laws that you can’t follow. Remember, memes have to make your audience laugh, not feel excluded, which means that they have to fit your customers’ sense of humor, match the content of your ads, and not be connected to any controversies. 

• Inject humor and trends gradually

This is necessary if your brand doesn't typically use humor in its messaging. In order to make your audience get used to sudden changes in your communication style, you’ll need to start small and gradually integrate humor into your ad copies. 

 

For example, you can start adding low-key jokes that most people will understand into some of your ad copies and see how it goes by running A/B tests. Over time, you can increase the level of humor as your audience becomes more accustomed to it. 

 

If you’re not ready for the full-scale humorous approach in advertising just yet, try infusing some wordplay and puns into your ad copies. However, be mindful of cultural and linguistic differences that could affect the impact of wordplay, which is very important if you’re running ads for customers in different regions.

Pizza Hut, Advil, and Social Lite chose to include bits of humor and original puns in their ad copies to make them stand out. 

 

Using humor and trendy language in your ad copies can easily make your ads stand out, but you have to be sure that people from the audience segment you're targeting will understand your references. 

 

For example, if you’re targeting specialists of a particular caliber in your B2B ad campaign, you can add some professional humor or mention current industry trends in your ad copy to instantly catch their attention. The same goes for targeting young customers (e.g. Millenials or Gen Z-ers): they’re more likely to react to ads that capitalize on trends relevant to them or use niche jokes they can get. 

 

Also, keep in mind that humor is subjective, so it's vital to test and refine your approach to find what resonates best with your target audience.

 

So far, we’ve covered the internal aspects of ad copies, i.e. their contents and the style used for writing them. There are still some recommendations that we have to consider if we want to make sure that our ad copies are as good as they can be. 

 

12. Match your ad copy to the content of your landing page  

As we all know, consistency is key when it comes to ad creation. However, many advertisers tend to forget that ads have to align not only with things like brand positioning, customers’ needs, or the latest trends but with the landing pages they lead to as well. 

 

As you’re writing your ad copies based on the specific needs of your customers and the stage in the buying journey they’re in, you have to make sure that your landing pages are also designed this way. Both ads and landing pages are responsible for people’s perceptions of a particular business, and if you want to leave a good impression, you have to present your brand in a coherent way. This includes your headlines, sub-headlines, CTAs, etc. – in short, all textual elements of your ads. The tone of voice, communication style, and phrasing also have to match to maintain consistency. 

 

Here are several reasons why this is important: 

• Providing seamless user experience and increasing conversion rates

When your landing page content aligns with your ad copy, users are more likely to find the information that they expect and see a consistent message both in the ad and the landing page. In this case, they’ll be more likely to take the desired action, whether it's making a purchase, signing up, or contacting you.

• Reducing bounce rates 

A mismatch between your ad and landing page can lead to a high bounce rate: if users don't find what they're looking for, they'll leave your site pretty quickly. By matching your landing page to your ad, you can reduce bounce rates and retain visitors, making them stay on your website longer. 

• Maintaining a high ad quality score 

Top search engines like Google use quality scores to assess the relevance of your ads to the intended audience. When your landing page matches your ad copy, you're more likely to have a higher quality score, which can result in lower costs and better ad placements. Sounds good, right? 

 

Here’s how you can make sure that your landing pages correspond to your ad copies: 

• Mirror the message

Ensure that the message and offer in your ad copy are consistent with the content and value proposition on your landing page. If your ad promises a specific product, service, or information, the landing page it leads to has to deliver on that promise. 

• Use the same keywords

If you're using specific keywords in your ad copy, you need to include them on your landing page as well: this not only reinforces the message of your ads but also helps with the SEO and increasing your quality score.

Sephora’s landing page and the content of their ads are a perfect match in terms of the messaging and keywords – this is the right combo for building up the brand’s credibility and letting customers know what they can expect. 

 

• Match headlines and CTAs

Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean that you should always use the same headlines and CTAs in both your ads and on your landing pages. 

 

For example, your ad might be just the first step to get people interested in your offers (thus you might use a CTA like “Learn more” and a matching headline), while the content on the landing page will provide them with more information necessary to make the final decision (hence you can choose a harder CTA like “Sign up”). 

 

The main lesson here is allowing your customers to start with an action that takes less commitment (e.g. simply click to find out more about your offers) in your ads and then letting them proceed to your landing page to find more information and finalize their decision in form of clicking on the CTAs there. 

 

In short, the promises you make in your ads should be carried over to your landing pages – your customers need to know that they clicked right and that they can find the solution to their problem on your website. The right message match can drastically decrease the time it takes for a user to convert, so never neglect to create the perfect kind of ensemble out of your ads and their corresponding landing pages. 

 

13. Optimize it for mobile  

Nowadays, with a significant portion of web traffic coming from mobile devices, your ads (copies included) have to be mobile-friendly. This is crucial for ensuring a smooth user experience, higher CTR, and relevance: if your ad is hard to read or interact with on mobile devices, users are likely to leave without taking the desired action.

 

So, let’s check some tips on how to make your ad copies more mobile-friendly: 

 

• Keep your copies concise 

Mobile screens have limited space, and people don’t have a lot of time to read your ad copies, which means that your ad copy should be 1) concise in order to fit on a customer’s screen and 2) impactful in making them click on your ad. 

 

If you’re able to clearly convey the main message or benefit of your product or service in as few words as possible, your ad will look good on every device. 

• Choose ad formats that fit mobile screens 

Using ad formats that are optimized for mobile devices (such as responsive ads and mobile-specific ad creatives) can help you make your ad copies more readable as well.  These formats will automatically adjust to fit various screen sizes and orientations, so you can be sure that your ad copy fits well within the ad as a whole. 

• Focus on device-based ads 

To make your ad copies even better for being viewed from mobile devices, create ad sets targeted specifically at people who use their phones to go online. For example, if you’re running Google ads, you can choose to create a mobile-only campaign or choose the device type for your display campaigns. 

• Utilize ad assets or extensions 

Ad assets or extensions provide additional information (such as headlines, descriptions, links to specific pages on your website, location, etc.) about your products or services, which is very convenient for users who will see your ads from mobile devices – they won’t have to browse your website or click on your ad to find the right page or piece of data. This removes the friction from the user experience and makes the conversion a lot easier. 

• Localize ad content 

If you sell your products or provide services in specific locations, you can tailor your ad copies to make them more relevant to particular segments of your audience. For example, you can specify the location of your business in your ad copy or ad assets to be more specific and get clicks from people who are actually likely to become your customers. 

• Use dynamic keyword insertion 

Dynamic keyword insertion (or DKI) is a very useful feature often used in PPC advertising (especially with Google ads). It’ll allow you to dynamically insert a keyword into your ad copies to personalize them based on the user's search query, which can be very useful for mobile advertising. 

• Consider the fold

Mobile users may not immediately see your entire ad since they need to scroll to view more content. That’s why it’s crucial to ensure that the most critical information and your CTA are visible without scrolling, or at least encourage users to scroll for more details (which can be achieved by including a small cliffhanger into your copy to make people click “Read more”). 

 

Hopefully, by following these tips, you’ll be able to create ad copies that will be appealing and relevant to your customers no matter which device they’re using.  

 

Now, it’s time to consider a few final aspects of picking the best copies for your ads. 

 

14. A/B test your ad copies

As with any other element of your ads, running A/B tests for your ad copies is essential to select the best ad variations and achieve the desired results. A/B testing involves creating two or more ad versions (A and B) with slight differences and then comparing their performance to determine which one is more effective. 

 

To test your ad copies, you’ll need to keep all the other elements of your ad the same to get accurate data. For example, you can test copies that bring attention to different benefits of your products/services, offer different discounts, and have different lengths, rhythms, tones, and so on. 

 

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to A/B test ad copies effectively:

• Define your goal

To get reliable results, you have to start by specifying the objective of your A/B test. What do you want to achieve? Maybe you want to increase your click-through or conversion rates, get better engagement, and sales, or figure out which communication style your audience prefers more. 

• Identify elements to test and create variations

You also need to determine which elements of your ad copies you want to test: headlines, the texts itself, keywords, or CTAs. 

 

For each element you want to test, you’ll have to create multiple ad variations. For example, if you want to test headlines, create different headlines for each variation, and so on. Ensure that only one element is changed at a time, so you can isolate the impact of that specific change. And don’t forget to make sure that the subset of users you're testing on is representative of your overall target audience (which means that it has the same characteristics, behaviors, and demographics as the audience as a whole). 

• Set a timeline

Decide on a specific timeline for your A/B test: Give it enough time to collect sufficient data, but don't let it run indefinitely. It’s also more reasonable to run different ad variations simultaneously to account for external factors that could affect ad performance (like seasonality, time of day, etc.).

• Track and analyze the results 

When running split tests, make sure that you have the tracking set up in place to measure the effectiveness of your ad variations –  this will help you determine which version is achieving the desired goal. Once your test has run for the designated period, you can analyze the data (especially the key metrics relevant to your goals) to determine which ad variation performed better. 

• Make data-informed decisions 

Based on the results, make informed decisions about which ad variation to keep, and which to discard. You can choose to implement the winning variation or use it as a baseline for further testing to get a more objective view and continue refining your ad copies continually.

 

So, keep in mind that A/B testing is your go-to strategy for fine-tuning your ad copies, increasing their effectiveness, and ultimately achieving better results as you constantly adapt to the changing needs and tastes of your audiences. 

 

However, now you might have a question: how are you supposed to come up with so many different ad copy versions to test? Luckily, nowadays there is a good solution to this problem. 

 

15. Generate ad copy variations with ChatGPT 

We all know the feeling of struggling with a creative block when the right words just don’t come to mind, and also the feeling of being overwhelmed with all the responsibilities that don’t let us focus solely on writing. That’s where AI tools like ChatGPT can be extremely useful: they can help us generate multiple versions of ad copies to get the necessary inspiration and new ideas. 

 

Here's how to use ChatGPT effectively for ad copy generation:

• Choose the right prompt

Your prompt should be clear and concise enough for the AI to understand: if you’ve tried ChatGPT before, you probably know that sometimes it struggles to deliver the outputs that you wanted to get. That’s why it’s important to clearly state the context, the product or service you want to advertise, the target audience, and any specific messaging goals you have in mind. 

 

Don’t forget to mention the essential selling points of your product or service in the prompt: ChatGPT can craft ad copy more effectively when it knows the unique features, benefits, or value proposition you want to highlight.

• Set the tone and style

A great tip for using ChatGPT is to specify the tone and style you want for your ad copy. For example, you can request a professional, casual, humorous, or formal tone depending on your audience and brand personality. Correct human guidance helps ChatGPT to give better responses, so don’t forget to provide it with enough clues to see some ad copy variations that match your brand’s voice to a T. 

• Multiple iterations

As you may know, ChatGPT's responses can drastically vary in quality, so be prepared to iterate and refine the generated content. Ask for multiple versions of the ad copy (specifying the number is a must), provide examples, try different approaches, and finally, select the versions that best align with your objectives.

• Tailor for specific platforms

If you’re advertising on several platforms, it’s crucial to customize your ad copies for specific places. Different platforms may have their own character limits, display guidelines, and audience preferences, so you can ask ChatGPT to generate ad copies suitable for your platforms or choice. 

• Ensure ethical compliance 

The online advertising industry constantly evolves, and so do the ethical guidelines rolled out by the leading advertising platforms. So, be aware of these guidelines when using AI-generated ad copies and ensure that the content aligns with legal and ethical standards in your industry and region or specific requirements for the kind of ads you’re going to run. 

• Always review 

This may sound obvious, but you should always have a human review and edit the generated copies if you choose to use them in your ads. It will help you ensure the accuracy, compliance, and relevancy of your ads. 

Not all of the versions generated by ChatGPT will sound good, but you still can get a couple of options that you can work with. 

 

Keep in mind that while ChatGPT can be a powerful tool, it's important to have a strategy in place and provide clear guidance to get the best results. Additionally, always monitor and refine your ad copy to optimize performance based on real-world feedback and data.

 

P.S. Don’t forget to check out one of our previous articles for more tips on how to leverage ChatGPT for marketing purposes. 

 

Final word  

A good copy is like a cherry on top of your ad: it holds the whole ensemble together and adds a nice touch to it. It’s no less important than the visuals, and in the case of text ads, it will be the main thing that can either captivate your audience or fail to attract their attention. 

 

Investing more time into brain-storming and writing quality copies for your ads can help you achieve higher quality scores, conversion rates, and ROI, as well as lower costs per click. In short, a good ad copy can not just help you curate a particular brand image but also benefit you in other (and perhaps more tangible) ways. 

 

With all the tips above, you’ll be well-equipped to write the best copies for your ads. Keep in mind, though, that in order to find the right option among the sea of possible ad copies and not let your audience get bored, you need to do the following things: 

1. Test them to find the most successful versions, 
2. Rotate them to prevent ad fatigue,
3. Make sure that your copies are tailored to specific channels or audience segments but also maintain a coherent and consistent message in all of your ads.  

Here’s another pro tip: setting up automated rules can help you optimize your campaigns with ease, allocate your budget to ads with the best-performing copies, and ensure that you don’t waste your money on ads that don’t deliver the expected results. 

 

AutomatedRules can become your true ally on the road to taking your ads to the new heights of performance. If that sounds good, sign up for a 30-day free trial today to unlock the power of automation!

 

Need some help or have questions? Book a demo with our Customer Success Team or contact us to start your marketing automation journey.