5 Tips for Ad Copy That Gets Clicks (And Conversions)

A social media advertisement is like an orchestra. There are so many unique elements that must come together in perfect sync and harmony in order to produce the desired result. In an orchestra, each musician playing any vast number of instruments must be in tune, attentive, and exact with their execution. If one person is not in sync with another, the crowd will most likely gather that something is amiss.

An ad is much the same. Everything from targeting, imagery, and copy must be perfectly in sync in order to be considered a success. Just as every person in an orchestra can make or break a performance, the elements of your ad must work together as a collective unit in order to garner a goal outcome, whether it’s conversions or sales at an amazing cost, or, thousands of post engagements. On the other hand, when something is out of tune, it will be painfully obvious by the results of your data.

Arguably, one of the most important of these advertising elements is your ad copy. If you’re reading this, chances are, you already know this. What goes into good copy? What separates a Philharmonic from a middle school band? Below you’ll find 5 tips and tricks for instantly improving your ad copy to tune up your overall ad performance.

1. Be value minded

There’s a reason this is first on the list. If you go onto any social media platform right now, you’ll be able to pick out ads that don’t accomplish this mindset just based on your intuition as a consumer.

The driving force behind getting a user to click on your ad boils down to value.

Users do not click and convert (perform a desired outcome) based on altruism. At the end of the day, we’re all in it for ourselves, and if a user clicks on your ad, it’s because you’ve convinced them that you will provide value to them.

When you begin brainstorming ad copy, lead with that idea. What aspects of my product or service provide value to the person seeing this ad? What are the benefits? Why should they care about my product or service? Being in a value-minded headspace is great place to start when you begin writing..

Note that we’re using the word “value,” and not “feature.” Many people miss the mark by thinking that potential customers will be dazzled by all of the features that a product or service has. Truth is, no one cares. What they do care about is how those features translate into value that’s specific to them. 

2. Be Succinct

The average online attention span is about 10 seconds or less If you have your value-based concepts nailed down, that’s great. Now, you need to effectively communicate them.

First off, don’t be pedantic or roundabout. Especially on platforms like Facebook where your ad is literally interrupting their experience on the app. You need to get your message across quickly and effectively. If you’re not able to convince the user of your value proposition(s) in less than 5 seconds, it’s game over, and they’ll keep scrolling.

I  often use the no more than two sentences rule, knowing that the average person can scan that amount of text at or under 5 seconds. That’s all the time you’ve got to convince them that what you’re proposing offers value to them.

There are some cases where I’ve seen longer copy work for conversion ads, but these are usually geared toward specific niche audiences, and overall, I wouldn’t recommend getting into the habit of writing more than a small paragraph.

3, Be Relatable and Empathetic

So far you’ve got your value statements laid out and you’ve artfully communicated those succinctly, but we’re far from done.

Value and being concise can only get you so far if you’re not speaking effectively to your target audience. This boils down to knowing your audience through experience and research.

Why should my specific audience care about the value I’m bringing to the table? What specific pain points does my audience have that I’m alleviating through my product or service? What characteristics about my audience might change how I present my content? These are all questions you should be asking yourself as you brainstorm and write.

At the end of the day, a potential consumer will easily ignore messaging that isn’t meant for them. Before your copy is ready, you need to have an exact, pinpoint read on how to relate to your potential customers using compelling language.

4. Repetition, repetition, repetition.

I can personally guarantee you that your ad copy will not be good to go live the first time you write it. Unfortunately, that’s just how this goes. Impactful copy requires writing, editing, rewriting, more rewriting, some more editing, and then if you’re lucky, maybe just a few more rounds of rewriting.

The bottom line is that this process isn’t supposed to be easy or fast. Staring at the same three sentences – mixing around words and phrasing for hours – is completely normal and an integral part of this process. Don’t think that you’re too smart or experienced for it.

5. Test. Always.

If you care about getting the best results for your ads and campaigns, you should be constantly testing, and this includes your copy. Through your time spent writing and rewriting, you’ve most likely found a few variations of what you’re trying to communicate that you feel are worth publishing.

Instead of just choosing one, why not test them all and let your potential customers let you know which variation is the winner?

Make sure that when you’re testing copy, all of your other ad elements are kept the same. If you begin changing multiple elements of your ad at once, you will have no idea of knowing which component is responsible for your resulting data.

Final Thoughts  

Many people are told that they either possess or do not possess the ability to write. While writing ad copy can be tricky, I want to stress that this doesn’t matter if you’re an accomplished writer or not. Write what you know and understand about your audience and brand, utilize your resources, and feel confident in what you’re putting out on the web.

If you take these tips to heart and put in the time, I guarantee that you can write copy that gets clicks and conversions. Happy writing!