Write Ad Copy That Converts: Dos and Donts
One aspect that is often overlooked in a good campaign, is the copy. Many people assume that writing copy that converts is simple, but that is untrue. To get your customers to buy what you are selling, you need to get them to have an emotional response that leaves a lasting impression.
Do you want to get more customers? Do you need more people to find your company? Then you need to focus on the copy across your platforms.
What is Copywriting?
Copywriting is the profession of writing text for various marketing materials. These can range from emails to social posts to advertisements and more. Copywriting is one of the most versatile fields in marketing. Ad copywriting specifically focuses on the copy that goes into advertisements on your e-blasts, billboards, social posts, mobile ads, as well as many more.
Copywriters create short-form, catchy ads that grab the attention of the desired audience and lead them to a conversion. This can be a tough challenge as it requires writers to fit complex topics, products, and marketing campaigns into a small, yet digestible, space.
Our guide will help you find the best ways to create ad copy that converts. We have laid out ad copy tips to help you sell your product to your desired customer.
How To Write Ad Copy That Converts
There are many qualities of good ad copy that drives sales. Primarily, you need to know a few main things:
- Your Hook
- Your Audience
- Your Competition
- The Platform
- What to Avoid
Your Hook
When you are pitching an idea, story, product, or even yourself to an audience, the main question that comes out of this pitch is, “Why?” Why is your idea better than others? Why are you the ideal person for this job? Most, importantly, why is your product the one we should buy instead of your competitors?
To start ad copywriting, you need to understand what makes you different than others. What hooks people in? Once you understand what sets you apart from others, you can begin your ad copywriting journey.
A couple things to keep in mind while finding your hook:
DO: Highlight Your Best Product
DONT: Depend on fancy logos or reviews to sell your product for you
Who is Your Audience?
Arguably the most important aspect of ad copywriting is your audience. Who are you writing for? Depending on who you are targeting, the copy that you use will significantly change. Think about these types of people:
- A young 25-year-old man who is starting a tech company
- A middle-aged stay-at-home mother
- A person in a retirement home
These 3 audiences are vastly different. Not only do they see the world in different ways, but they also have different needs. You wouldn’t use gen-z slang or social language for the elderly person and probably not with a middle-aged mother. You wouldn’t talk primarily about money with a young 25-year-old, but rather uses and specs. The way that you write your copy will speak to different people and come across entirely differently depending on who sees it.
DO: Find your target audience. Age, demographic, job, education, etc.
DONT: Assume that each person will understand your copy and react to it positively
Who Is Your Competition?
If you are at a loss for ideas on how to write good ad copy, study your competition. As a digital marketer, it is important to know who your direct competitors are and see how they are standing out from the crowd.
For example, if you run a clothing brand, it is important to notice your place in the market and what other clothing brands are doing. Are they running as many sales as you? Are they speaking seasonally about clothing? How are they speaking about their clothes? Do people focus on their quality or cost?
There are many things you can learn by looking at your competitors. How do they differ from your product? Can you use those differences to write a better ad? If your competition is reporting better sales each quarter than you, what are they doing that you aren’t?
DO: Study your competitors to find where you fit in
DONT: Assume you should speak about your product in the same way
What Platform Are You Using?
One question to consider when starting your copywriting journey is where you are displaying your ads.
Is this going to be a print ad or a digital one?
Are you posting this on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Google?
It is important to know which platform you are using because people use various platforms in different ways and there are different specs for each along with different budgets.
For example, Google adwords often changes the rules of length of advertisements and budget. Facebook and Instagram also have different specs for their allotted advertisements.
If you are using ad copy for social posts, then you need to think about hashtag generation, timing, and how often you want to boost this post.
If you are writing ad copy for a print ad, then you need to figure out how long the advertisement will be, where you will market it, and what size of the print ad is going out.
DO: Keep up-to-date on your platforms and what specs are offered for each
DONT: Use the same ad copy for multiple different platforms
What To Avoid With Ad Copywriting
As much as there is to know about how to write good ad copy, there is a lot to know about what to avoid as well.
One of the most necessary things to avoid is clickbait. While clickbait may help to get people to click on your ad, it eventually will cause distrust if you are being overly zealous or alarming when writing your advertisement. Many customers will feel disappointed or lied to when they find out it was clickbait.
Another thing to avoid when writing a good advertisement is to stay away from the negative. You want your audience to have a positive emotional response to your advertisement as well as your product.
Avoid writing too lengthy of an advertisement. The longer an ad, the more it means there are a ton of filler words. Write clean, concise copy. Although it can be hard to get your big idea into a short, snappy sentence or two, this is why taking your time is important. After writing out the advertisement, look over it and ask yourself if each word is necessary. Think about the time frame in which people will have to look at this. Is it 10 seconds? 30 seconds? A minute? Make sure your audience has time to read the whole thing and understand it.
Avoid call-to-actions without verbs. As a digital marketer, you want people to buy your product. Make it easy for them by showing them where they can buy it. If you hide a CTA or a link, that will drive your engagement down.
Some CTA examples:
- Shop Now
- Click Here
- Try for Free
- Subscribe
- Sign Up Now
Writing good ad copy that converts may seem challenging, but engaging with your audience by being smart, empathetic, and concise will go a long way to driving sales.
