Marketers know that great copy can make or break an ad. Effective ad copy gets your audience interested and entices them to click, which gets you one step closer to landing a sale. If you’re interested in doubling your click-through rate and boosting your ROI, learning how to write the best ad copy can give you a leg up on your competition. Read on to see how you can master your ad copy strategy so you can see results.
Research Phase
Before writing an actual copy, it’s important to start with a strategy that outlines who your ad is for and what its goals are. This information will give you a clear guideline about how to better craft your ad.
1. Define Your Ideal Customer Persona
One of the first steps in writing ad copy is imagining your ideal customer. Who needs your product or service the most? Think about the language they may use, and the websites they might visit. Write down some of the thoughts or feelings they may have and some of the actions they may take. Create a clear picture of what this person looks like and what types of questions they have. When you know exactly who you’re trying to reach, it makes it easier to make your ads seem more personal and relevant to their needs and will portray you as a trusted resource.
2. Examine Your Customers’ Pain Points and Solutions
Now, thinking about that ideal customer, clearly lay out their most pressing issues. What’s going on in your life that can you help them solve? Customers today are looking for products that simplify their lives and solve their problems, so once you define what your ideal customers’ problems are, you can show them how you can help them.
3. Analyze Competitor Ad Copy
Look at ads that pop out at you, especially those of your competitors. What are they doing that seems to get attention? What can you do better? You can use competitor ads as a starting point, building on them to make them even more effective. In addition, take a look at not only your direct competitors but those who are using similar keywords.
4. Select The Right Channel (AdWords, LinkedIn, Facebook)
Knowing exactly where your audience spends their time online can really make a difference when it comes to which platform to use. For example, Facebook is great when it comes to targeting very specific audiences or demographics: you can target by age, location, gender, age, interests, and more. On the other hand, Google handles tens of thousands of searches every second, so with AdWords, you know you have a huge reach.
Creating Content
Now that you know who you’re trying to reach and how to reach them, it’s time to get down into the content creation phase.
1. Create Variations of Ad Copy
Create a few different versions of your ad based on the persona of your ideal customer, and keeping in mind which platform you want to use. Work to craft a few different ads that incorporate language about the benefits you offer and how convenient your product or service can be. If you’re using multiple platforms, examine the format that works best for each.
2. Synchronized Messages on Landing Page
Keeping your brand consistent will make it easier for your customers to understand what you’re saying. Make sure the language you use in your ad matches the language you use on the webpage they’re taken to once they click. This way you know your message is clear and uniform along every step of the way.
3. Use Numbers and Data
Using actual statistics and numbers can really boost your credibility. Don’t make vague, false claims like “Number 1 in the industry.” These types of phrases can sound gimmicky. Instead, try things like “10,000 happy customers,” or “1,500 units sold.” Using actual numbers will increase your trustworthiness and can, in turn, boost your click-through rate.
Test and Follow Through
Once your ad is up and running, there’s still a lot of work to be done. From here, you can continue to tweak your ad copy until you get the perfect results.
1. A/B Testing
A/B testing, also known as split testing, can help you get your ad just right. Create two versions of your ad copy, each with a slight difference (for example, try two different headlines). From there, you can see which variation is getting the most engagement. Once you define that, you can start to work out the ad formula that works best for you.
2. Crunch The Numbers
After your ad has been running for a while, it’s time to analyze the metrics and statistics so you can actually dig into the data. Important factors to look at are click-through rate, and cost per lead. Click-through rate is pretty straightforward: how many people are clicking on your ad? But when it comes to cost per lead, you’re looking at someone clicking your ad, and then going a step further towards becoming a lead, i.e. something like signing up for your newsletter. You can even look at the cost per acquisition, which is calculated when you make a direct sale from your ad. These numbers can really help you see the ROI you’re making on your ad.
3. Identify What Works
After you’ve created and tested that ad, seen the results, and have the numbers to back it up, you’ve got a winning formula. You can always continue to tweak it as necessary, and you should definitely do so so that your ad copy doesn’t get stale over time.
4. Create more experiments
Now that you’ve got the method and strategy to make ads that work for your business, keep doing it! People may tire of seeing the same ad on their newsfeed over and over again, so remember to refresh your ads often. You can continue to build your ad arsenal and try new platforms as you get more confident in your ability to write great ad copy.
