~by Austin Distel of Jasper
How many do you remember out of the 6,000-10,000 ads you saw yesterday? (Yes, it’s estimated that the average person sees between 6-10,000 ads every day.) So how many do you remember? You’d probably struggle to recall even a few, which highlights an interesting reality.
Although we see thousands, we consciously notice and analyze relatively few ads. And this does us no favors when it comes to creating our own. After all, with fewer points of reference to guide us, it can be difficult to knock something tricky like ad copywriting out of the park.
That’s why it’s so crucial as a marketer to understand the principles of writing effective ad copy and the simplest way to do it. Let’s talk about both, in addition to looking at a few excellent advertisements.
The role of ad copy
Ads are a form of direct-response copy. They’re meant to garner immediate conversions and, specifically, to turn ideal prospects into real customers.
Since the time between an ideal prospect seeing an ad and making a purchase is much shorter with an ad than with an organic lead with a month-long sales cycle, ad copy must:
Grab and hold attention
Speak to a pain point or goal they have
Build up their desire to take the next step (and be clear about what that step is)
If it fails to do any of these, it won’t convert.
5 timeless ad copywriting tips that drive conversions
To make sure your copy does work, stick to these 5 tried and true principles.
1. Use a goal-focused headline
Cut to the chase in your headline and focus on the main goal of your soon-to-be customers. With ads, you generally have a limited amount of characters—and, more importantly, a limited amount of time—to highlight why your offer deserves additional attention and consideration. Every word has to count so get straight to what your audience cares about most: their success.
2. Emphasize (main) benefits over features
This topic is often underexplained. “Benefits > features” doesn’t mean that features are unimportant. They do help to sell products and services. However, the outcomes of those features are what people really want so most of the focus should be on benefits and results. Instead of focusing on Google My Business' features such as the ability to post photos and updates, it focuses on outcomes like showing up on Google and connecting with customers.
Additionally, it's important to remember that not all benefits are equal. Some advantages of what you offer will be more appealing to your audience overall (or even certain demographics within it) than others. Put the most desirable ones front and center in your ads.
3. Press the right buttons with emotional triggers
We tend to make decisions based on emotion first and justify our choices with logic afterwards. If you can get an emotional response out of potential customers first and then help them justify a purchase with supporting info, you can boost your click-through rates and conversion rates more easily. If you also know your audience well, you can write ad copy that triggers the emotional responses needed to prompt action.
4. Build credibility and interest with specificity
As a follow-up to the last point, you must satisfy the logical “requirements” of potential customers if you want them to convert. That’s where specificity comes in. Use percentages, numbers, and other company-specific details to build trust and stand out from competitors and alternatives.
For example, if your product is designed to save users time, don’t just say, “Our product will save you time.” Mention how much time users save on average. This will immediately make your product more desirable to the right people, build trust, and set you apart from the million other companies that are simply saying, “Our products will save you time.”
5. Create urgency
As mentioned, the end goal of direct-response copy is to promote immediate action. Creating a sense of urgency around your offer (when you have a real reason to do so) is an effective way to do that. Does your offer expire this week? Is it only available to a limited number of people? If so, leverage those things to encourage people to convert right away.
What are the types of ad copy?
The copywriting principles above work for copy of all sorts, including the following 4 types.
Long copy ads
Long copy ads come in both online and offline forms from print ads to Facebook Ads. What all long copy ads have in common, though, is that they use more copy than typical to-the-point advertisements. This makes them a smart choice for expensive or complex offers since potential customers need more information to feel comfortable converting right away.
While Fanta is neither expensive nor complex, one of its print ads provides several important lessons.
The language is vivid and engages the senses. It's more feeling and experience-based than logical and fact-based.
It builds Fanta's credibility by allowing readers to see if what they taste is true to how the ad describes this soda.
Provides a clear next step (unusual though it may be) that will lead to the real desired action—purchasing the soda.
Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads—whether you love or hate the behemoth social media platform—are a proven way to get quick digital marketing wins. They’re great for boosting awareness of products and services and, even better, boosting conversion rates. Take, for example, this ad from Playbuzz. What makes it effective?
The copy is 100% audience-focused, using the word "you" several times and focusing on a desire of the company's target users—getting published.
It appeals to emotions by helping potential users imagine themselves in the same league as "the best writers in the world".
Builds credibility by name-dropping respected, successful publishers and mentioning that over 500 million people already use Playbuzz monthly.
Gives a clear call-to-action (CTA) and highlights the simplicity of following through.
Google Ads
Like Facebook, another top dog in the advertising world is Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords). With SERPs getting more crowded and competitive by the day, it can be well worth it to pay for a prominent spot in Google search results. But, of course, showing up is only half the battle. Your Adwords ad copy also needs to promote action like this stellar ad from Zapier does.
As we mentioned earlier when talking about best practices, this headline focuses on a desirable benefit for Zapier's target audience—saving time.
The copy uses specificity such as average time saved, the number of available integrations, and how quickly a new user could get started to build trust and interest.
In addition to highlighting the main benefit of saving time, it alludes to some other wants of the audience such as simple pricing and no code setup.
Video ad copy
Lastly, there’s video ad copy. The purpose of this copy is still the same as with other types; the only difference is that it’s delivered in video format, often by a presenter or narrator. Mint’s video, Any Day Can Be Your Big Day, is a good example to learn from, although it uses a different approach than the other ads we’ve looked at. To view, simply copy and paste in your browser:
Instead of immediately speaking to viewers, Mint mirrors their desires and goals in several short stories inspired by the successes of real users.
Each achievement mentioned is followed by a brief allusion to the feature that made it possible (but the majority of the focus is on the benefits).
The end of the video then connects the message to the viewer directly by switching to the second person and pointing viewers to the company website.
At HD Print & Marketing, we offer social media marketing and create posts for you that are unique and compelling. We try to infuse humor when appropriate, describe your features and benefits through the use of graphics and words and get you noticed. Reach out today for more information.
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