When it comes to writing effective ad copy, we can’t help but think of Don Draper’s famous quote “Make it simple, but significant.” Even though Don is a fictional character from a TV show that ended years ago, his words still ring true today. 

While most companies have switched from relying solely on billboards + print campaigns to investing in Facebook Ad Campaigns + Google Ads, they still face many of the same challenges that marketers dealt with years ago. Limited space, short attention spans, and numerous competitors are all common pain points for copywriters today. 

So how do you create an ad that stands out from the masses? Check out these 7 tips on writing effective ad copy from leading Pittsburgh marketing agency Responsival!

7 Tips on Writing Concise + Compelling Copy for Your Ads

The Writing Team at Pittsburgh Marketing Agency Responsival Shows You How it’s Done

Whether you’re working on a PPC campaign for Google Ads or a paid Facebook campaign, you want to follow digital marketing best practices. This involves determining your campaign objectives, understanding your audience, and keeping your copy short + informative. 

For this article, we’re going to pretend we’re managing an ad campaign for a local Pittsburgh coffee shop. As we determine our campaign objectives + research different keywords, we’ll guide you through our top tips for creating award-worthy ad campaigns online. 

1. Figure Out Your Campaign Objectives

Before you do anything else, you need to figure out your campaign objectives. Understanding your overall campaign goals can help you craft the right copy + graphics to help your company get closer to hitting its goals. Both Google Ads and Facebook Ads Manager let you pick a choice from different campaign objectives. If you want to establish your brand name + promote specific services, you might choose the Branded Search option on Google Ads. Facebook Ads Manager also offers a Brand Awareness campaign objective. 

Since we’re a new coffee shop, we’ll go with these two options. 

2. Remember the User’s End Goal

When drafting copy for both Google Ads + Facebook Ads Manager, you need to keep the end goal of the user in mind. If a user is searching for a coffee shop, they are probably looking for:

• Shops that offer a wide selection of coffee and tea
• Places where they can chat with friends
• Cafes with chargers that let them work for hours on end

Their needs might change, but at the end of the day, they usually know what they want. That’s why you shouldn’t waste precious ad space with unnecessary questions like “Feeling Thirsty?” or “Need an Energy Boost?” They already know they’re sleep-deprived, they need a cafe that can give them that energizing cold brew they’ve been craving. 

3. Don’t Forget Keyword Research

Keywords play a crucial role in PPC campaigns. Your ad copy needs to include relevant keywords and reflect a target user’s search query. Keyword research can help you determine what specific search queries people are making and what they need. Sites like Moz + Ahrefs are great resources for finding leverageable keywords + performing competitive analysis. Through Moz, we could find valuable keywords like “coffee shops in Pittsburgh” or “best coffee shops in Pittsburgh to study” to use in our ad copy. 

4. Write Ad Copy According to Your Target Audience

Now that you understand your target audience’s end goals + search inquiries, you can get down to drafting some ad copy. Since Google Ads + Facebook Ads Manager offer slightly different objectives + capabilities, we’re breaking down our advice according to each respective platform. 

Google Ads

As we said before, keywords play a huge role in how successful your Google Ads campaign turns out. They can help you determine a user’s end goal, which in turns makes it easier to write copy that reflects it. But not only do you want to include relevant keywords in your Google Ads copy, you should make the copy specific + enticing. 

Writing enticing headlines like “Best Coffee Shop in Pittsburgh for Studying” and “BUSINESS NAME — Number #1 Coffee Spot in Pittsburgh” can show searchers that you are offering exactly what they need. Personalizing it by adding “you” can also enhance the performance of your ad.  

Facebook Ads Manager

When it comes to paid Facebook ads, images + videos play a key role in attracting people’s attention. But an effective ad is nothing without its copy. Proper copywriting guides viewers to the ad’s CTA and turns them into loyal customers. By creating an ad with imagery + copy that seamlessly goes together, you can delight + entice members of your target audience. 

As for the copy itself, you should keep it short + sweet. In order to keep it concise, but informative, you should lead with the value proposition. If your coffee shop is offering touch-free mobile ordering to keep customers safe during the pandemic, you should lead with that. Adding a simple CTA at the end will help you seal the deal and get your viewers to click on your download button. 

5. Keep it to One Call-to-Action

Don’t overwhelm your audience with multiple calls-to-action. Keep it simple with one simple + effective call-to-action that will get them to click + convert.

6. Don’t Forget to Throw in Some Numbers

If you want to grab people’s attention, entice them with some big numbers + statistics. Numerals, such as 99% or $5, are much more effective at drawing attention than spelled out statistics like ninety-nine percent or five dollars. 

So, if we’re advertising a new deal for our coffee shop’s new lattes, we might write something like:

• $2 lattes on Tuesdays!
• Sign up now to receive $5 off your next order!

7. Test Your Ads

In order for your ads to improve over time, you will need to continually run tests on them. You can run two different ads that have the same image but different copy. Or two ads with the same copy but a different image. This will help you figure out what combination of copy + images best resonate with your target audience over time. 

If you’re looking for a Pittsburgh marketing team to help you convert your copy into attractive ads that will increase your sales + conversion rates, you’ve come to the right place. At Responsival, we leverage smart + up-to-date marketing strategies to help your company increase its brand awareness + achieve its ultimate end goal. Schedule a quick phone call today to get started!