Poor Ad Copy Is Why Your Post And Ads Are Not Working

You’re frustrated that your marketing agency is running ads for you (lots to choose from below) and they are just not working. While it can be a myriad of items along the marketing funnel as to why they are not working but one reason is the ad copy.

When doing ads for online marketing no matter what platform you use there is ad copy that is used. Ad copy is the written words used within the ad usually above the ad. If you don’t have the right ad copy then you are unable to get someone involved in the conversation about your products or services. You have to avoid the “what” and explain the “why”. Good ad copy does that and the ad no longer looks like an advertisement.

So while one of the many reasons your ads might not be working is because of the ad copy there could be many reasons. Let’s take a look at all these types of ad copies below to solve this one problem in the funnel. Your advertising agency might be overlooking the value of good ad copy.

Parts Of The Ad Copy, Tone Of Voice:

Good ad copy starts with the tone of the voice. You might not realize it but you likely already have a tone that you naturally use when you talk or write such as witty, funny, serious, formal, optimistic, respectful, assertive, or informational. Your buyers also have a tone of voice when they think of your product or service that they use. You are thinking of it right now, aren’t you?

Your ad copy needs to match the user of your product or service. There is some psychology to matching the language choice that your clientele would use. When you follow through with all the types of ad copies listed below it should be written in the tone of the buyer. Your buyer will then think that you understand their struggles and how your product or service can solve them.

This in turn creates a “feeling” that is given when reading your ad copy. That feeling is what gets someone motivated to buy your product or service. Different types of products and services use different types of ad copy because they are providing products or services that are not always needed and sometimes are in desperation.

So while below we are going to provide some ad copy suggestions they have to go back to your industry. As you read through all of these below think of the feeling that is evoked by reading them. Is this how you want your buyers/clients to feel after using your product or service? It could also be how they feel before buying your product or service.

Types of ad copy:

Competitive:

Being competitive is when you say you are the best, but be prepared to back that up! There are powerful words you can use with being competitive such as “powerful”, “enterprise level, and “world’s leading”. You could also be competitive by listing what makes your product or service better than your competitors. What is your edge?

Overcoming Objections:

When writing copy for overcoming objections you need to start with the list of why people will say no. Poke holes into products and/or services and come up with reasons why that is not a problem. It might sound like you are being negative but you are not, you are simplifying providing what that is not an objection to buying your product or service. You are calling out the problem and providing a solution. Your salesperson has already heard them all so they are great resources to tell you why people say no.

Urgency:

Why does someone needs your product or service now, can’t they wait? Is there limited inventory or are they going to have this fear of missing out? Can you tell a story as to what will happen if they do not get it now? Think of things such as “last chance to get product x”. You could also play the sense of urgency by ”(this) is what you are missing (think feelings) by not trying it now.

Using Numbers:

Stats about your products/services, what are they? Your buyer might be a very informative factual buyer that just wants to hear the odds that your product or service can help solve their problem. This buyer tends to be very pragmatic and sticks to the numbers.

Benefits/Features:

This one often gets confused. A feature is what a product or service does, the benefit is how that makes one’s life easier or better with this product or service. Focus heavily on what is in it for them with the benefits. A feature is that you are quick with your service the feature is the time savings. A feature is that you are thorough in explaining the product or service a benefit to that is that you don’t end up buying what you don’t want or need.

Solve a problem:

With this type of ad copy, you get to the problem very early in the message and relate it directly to the person seeing the ad and how this makes them feel. You then move on to how your product or service specifically solves this problem. This is a great place to insert a blog post where you are written up further in the sales funnel about problems that someone is having. When you write this copy, present the problem first and then second how you are a solution.

Being conversational and relatable:

You can do this by using a friendly voice versus someone who is pushing sales ( remember always showing the “what” we talked about above) and pitching a product or service to you. Talk to your reader, not at them. Write in a way like you are sitting next to them and having a conversation. This works really well on social media because that is what people come to social media for to have conversations and interact. They don’t come to be sold. A good way to be conversational is to ask questions. What questions do people typically ask before using your product? Another way to do it is to you ad copy that someone would say out loud or in their minds before, during, or after using your products. You’re putting yourself right there in that moment.

Fact Driven:

When leading with facts you can attract the buyer that focuses on the truth. This can run the same family as numbers with stats but you don’t have to show stats. use language that drives home it’s a fact since it has been proven by X, Y, and Z. The facts-driven copy has usually had some sort of study done. But if studies have not been done you can pull from your industry facts. You could write about facts in the industry and combine them with problem-solving and your product or service.

Authoritative:

Being authoritative means you are confident in your product or service or that others are confident. “Most recommended painter in Indianapolis”! You could find this information by using a review platform like Google My business and see who has the most reviews. You could also write this in a way that showcases how many reviews you have which also shows authority.

Create Excitement:

When using excitement you can do this in a couple of ways. You can build up the release of a product. Use an energetic tone and lots of exclamation points!!! Talk about your product or service at the most exciting part of using it.

Trust:

Building trust is something that is often used with remarketing or bottom-of-funnel marketing. They already know who you are and at this point you want them to trust you. “We have done this for X number of people and we can help you too!” Social proof can also be a great way to build trust by including testimonials of what some of your customers have said about your product or service. You can also develop trust by providing blog posts that answer their most valuable questions.

Rhyming:

Now, this takes some true skills but you can leave someone elated because you were witty and added some rhyming.

Ego Driven:

When you can tell someone they deserve something because they are “X” or “Y” (Think characteristics). Then you can play to their ego. They believe that the product or service is intended for them and who they think they are. It could be because I am a woman I would want “x”. This service will show off why you are let’s say “techy”. We often see the ego playing to being “smart”.

Exclusivity:

Being exclusive is gaining membership to something that someone else doesn’t have. In this ad copy, you really play up how your product or service is not for everyone. This creates the FOMO that I want. You could say that we normally only do this…but for this time we are going to do this. It makes the person reading the copy feel special.

Playful:

This could also be looked at as a joke. Be careful here a joke to one person might be a joke to another person. This could also be where witty ad copy comes in. When you are witty you are stating facts that should seem obvious but you are calling them out. An example would be “Of course, we are good at digital marketing, this is why we write so much about it!”

Short and Sweet:

A short and sweet ad copy is used when someone is already family with your product or service so this could be anyone who has interacted with you before with remarketing audiences. Although it is a short copy it needs to punch and get to the point quickly. This could be just an offer of a % off. Make sure the offer is clearly seen first.

Tips for Better Ad Copy

We have listed many different types of ad copy that are available to help someone evoke the emotion you are looking to evoke. Before we leave you we have a couple of other tips to keep in mind with ad copy.

Make sure the most important element is first not last before they get to the “….” in the social media post.
Use emojis to stand out.
Format for skimming, not everyone reads everything.
Remove unnecessary words
Limit paragraphs to 1-3 sentences
Use transitions words between paragraphs
Make bullets
Test both long form and short form.
Your ad copy needs to match your creative used, which then needs to match the landing page.
Don’t give it all away…lead someone to find the answer to whatever you have teased on the landing page.
Avoid big words and jargon, this leads to confusion.