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Illustration representing ad copy

What is Ad Copy?

Template with Strategies to Write Highly-Targeted Ads for Every Funnel Stage

Writing effective ad copy is both an art and a science that requires marketers to understand the interconnection between online audience research, targeting, and persuasive text.


This guide will explore the key components of ad copy creation, cover best practices and examples, and provide tips to tailor ad text to different marketing funnel stages.

Learn more about Ad Copy:

The Ultimate Guide to Writing PPC Ad Copy

Use this guide to craft compelling headlines, descriptions, and CTAs, optimize your ad performance, and engage your target audience.

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Illustration of an individual seated at their desk with their laptop.
Icon representing what Ad Copy is

What is advertising copy?

Ad copy involves crafting impactful messages for a diverse range of ads, including social media ads, sponsored content and conversational email aiming to enlighten potential customers on a product's unique benefits, thus driving brand recognition, customer conversion, or lead generation.


It consists of a compelling headline, informative body text, and a distinct call-to-action (CTA) guiding audience behavior post-ad exposure.

This is a directive that tells prospects the steps they need to take after seeing the ad, such as "Buy Now", "Sign Up", or "Learn More". The CTA often determines the success of the ad by motivating the prospect to take the desired action.

Effective ad copy is designed with a thorough understanding of the target audience, their needs, and preferences. It should resonate and compel them towards the desired outcome, whether it's a purchase, a subscription, or any other form of engagement. 

Therefore, a comprehensive knowledge of the product, market trends, and consumer behavior is critical for writing effective advertising copy.

Illustration of professional on a laptop

Why do marketers need to master ad copy creation?

With the rise in businesses leveraging online ads for brand visibility and sales, mastering ad copy creation should distinguish oneself from competitors and optimize ad efficacy and budget.


Ad copy, underpinned by audience research identifying customer needs and challenges, persuades prospects to engage with products or services. Ad targeting and audience research guide copywriters in formulating suitable messages for chosen ad platforms, working with designers to employ potent visuals, thereby reaching decision-makers at the appropriate purchasing stage.

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The key components of effective ad copy creation

Key components for optimal ad text results include:

Icon representing key components of effective ad copy

Compelling offers and value adds in the headline

Every ad must answer, “Why should the prospective customer care?”. Using audience research and buyer personas, create an attention-grabbing headline that showcases the business offer and added brand value (e.g., free content or product trials) to drive an action.

 

 

For B2B ads, enticing offers and value adds could be:

 

  • Free content, like educational ebooks, research reports, or whitepaper downloads
 
  • Free live webinars or industry event signups

 

  • Free products trials, demos, or a consultation with experts

 

  • Monthly newsletter signups for exclusive industry tips and tricks

 

  • Time-sensitive discounts and promotions

 

  • Online community memberships to share best practices with other users

 

The headline should highlight the offer's benefit to the target audience. E.g., “Free on-demand demo: Expand your B2B business with Brand X" offers a free product demo and suggests business growth potential.

Illustration representing compelling offers

Some best practices for writing compelling headlines include:

  • Keep it short: Most headlines are one or two lines maximum and often have a character limit.
 
  • Use related keywords: Words like “free,” “discount,” and “limited-time offer” inspire customers to act quickly. Also, research what product or service-related keywords users might search for on the platform to include in the headline and body copy and improve the ad’s relevance, and response time.
  • Appeal to a user’s emotions: Ad headlines that evoke a sense of scarcity (e.g., “Only 10 left in stock”) or appeal to a customer’s fears or immediate needs (e.g., “Don’t waste your ad budget”) will inspire customers to want to learn more.
 
  • Be conversational and playful: Using phrases that ask a question (e.g., Did you hear?) or are playful (e.g., It’s like LinkedIn and ChatGPT had a baby) will quickly capture a user’s imagination and attention.

Convince decision-makers with benefit-focused body copy

Ad copy should be relevant and engaging, going beyond mere company value communication. By leveraging buyer personas to grasp customer behaviors and motivations, copywriters can craft body copy addressing user-specific needs and pain points, thus offering‌ bespoke solutions. 


For instance, a Finance or Marketing VP persona might call for compelling research or case studies for product efficacy assurance.

Illustration representing decision makers

Here are some best practices to appeal to such key decision-makers in ad copy:

  • Feature compelling stats: Or results (e.g., “20% higher profits” or “Get 2X more leads”) from a recent research report. 

 

  • Customer testimonials or quotes: Are also helpful (e.g., “It exceeded our expectations” or “The customer service team went above and beyond”), and appeal to a buyer’s need to succeed in their jobs, or their fear of selecting the wrong solution.

 

  • Be confident and authoritative: The tone should convince higher-ups that they can trust the brand as an authority by using words like “High ROI,” “Experts,” “Effective,” “Strategic,” and “Optimize.”
  • Demonstrate cost-savings: Show how much a potential buyer might save on costs by using phrases like “Get 30% off,” or “Save $150 per year” to incite them to reach out immediately.
 
  • Lure them in gently: If buyers are wary of paying right away, lure them in with offers like “Try before you buy,” and “Free 30-day trial.”

Keep all copy clear and concise

Given the brevity of a user's attention spans and word or character constraints in ad specifications, copywriters should meticulously choose words and aim for clear, concise sentences.


The ad's body copy should assist prospects in swiftly making informed decisions, thus enhancing brand awareness, click-through rates, conversions, and lead generation. 

The below text ad examples convey the same product and message, yet the first is verbose and confusing.

Illustration representing clear and concise copy

Ad copy example one:

Connect with Your Customers on A Deeper Level

Develop an unparalleled and unique customer relationship while significantly enhancing your business's online presence and dramatically increasing your overall sales revenue. Try our platform that seamlessly integrates various tools, services, and applications to help you grow and expand your sales revenue.

Your CTA

Ad copy example one:

Deepen Customer Relationships

Take customer connections to the next level. Call for a free trial!

Your CTA

The second example is brief, to the point, and drives the message home with a CTA to “Call for a free trial.” 

The ad can then link to a landing page explaining the product or service in more detail.

Include a strong call-to-action (CTA)

Finally, the most effective ads include a strong call-to-action or CTA, which is a short piece of text that typically appears at the end of an ad and tells the reader what action to take next. 


Common CTAs include action words that entice online users to click a link or button, visit a website or landing page, fill out a contact form, join or sign up for events or newsletters, or make a purchase.

Some Top LinkedIn CTAs include: “Download,” “Register,” “Sign Up,” “Subscribe,” “Join,” “Attend,” “Learn More,” “Request Demo,” “View Quote,” and “Apply.”

Illustration representing a strong CTA

Best practices for writing effective ad copy

Compelling ad text requires a balance of creativity, data-driven insights, and a deep understanding of each ad platform's audience and nuances. Below are the best practices marketers must follow to maximize ad copy and creative results.

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1. Start with audience research

To capture an audience's attention, copywriters must resonate with their motivations and needs by using their language. Hence, starting with audience research to comprehend buyer motivations is critical for crafting emotionally persuasive and persona-specific ad copy.

Effective audience research methods encompass in-person interviews, online customer surveys, third-party research reports, proprietary data from ad platforms, previous campaign results, and web analytics or product usage data.

Illustration representing starting with research

2. Clarify ad campaign goals

To write powerful ad copy for potential buyers at the right time in the purchase funnel, marketers must first clarify their ad campaign goals. To do so, they should consider the following: 

 

  • How will the ad campaign and copy impact the overall marketing strategy? Is the campaign goal to grow sales revenue via an ecommerce website, build a list of qualified leads via a content download form, or drive more visitors to a branded website or landing page? 

 

  • What stage is the target customer at in their purchase funnel? Is it awareness, interest, desire, or action?

 

  • What action do advertisers want the audience to take after seeing the ad? For example, is the CTA to signup, learn more, buy, download, or try for free?

 

Articulating clear ad goals helps copywriters create focused, compelling messaging to drive better results.

Illustration representing clarifying campaign goals

3. Understand each platform’s ad specifications

Each paid ad platform has its unique rules and creative formatting requirements which affect the ad text's overall creative, content, and word count.

 

 

Before creating an online ad for a specific platform, explore about the following:

 

  • Headline and copy character limits
 
  • Text ad recommendations
 
  • Image sizes in pixels (e.g., 360 x 360) by shape (e.g., horizontal, vertical, and square) 
 
  • Preferred text-to-image ratios (e.g., 1:1, 2:3, or 4:5)Recommended file types (e.g., JPG, PNG, or GIF) and sizes (e.g., 5 MB)
 
  • CTA guidelines and options
 
  • URL requirements (e.g., prefixes like https:// and maximum URL character limits)
 
  • Restricted content (e.g., no mention of alcohol, tobacco, and no use of profanity)

 

For example, the LinkedIn specifications for single-image ads allow 70 characters for the headline and 150 for the introductory text. For a text ad, copywriters can only use 25 characters in the headline and 75 in the description. 

 

An ad copywriter or designer must know these unique specifications to ensure ad copy compliance and avoid delays that may affect campaign start dates and results.

Illustration representing starting with research

Writing ad copy for each purchase funnel stage

Brands can write persuasive ad copy to meet their campaign goals during each phase of the marketing funnel using the AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action) framework.

Icon representing writing ad copy

Stage 1 - Awareness

To engage potential customers in the awareness phase, businesses should use attention-grabbing ad text and images introducing solutions. Display, social media, sponsored content, and video ads effectively build brand awareness by enhancing brand value recall and unique selling points.


This ad example uses a headline posing a question, “Ready to give your brand a lift on LinkedIn?” to draw attention to a customer's specific challenge, demonstrating the brand's problem-solving capability.

The ad copy also incentivizes the customer to learn more about the opportunity to “Boost Brand Performance on LinkedIn” by using two CTAs: “Check out our new guide” and “Download.” Offering downloadable content that explains how to solve a problem will help build customer trust.

Illustration representing awareness

Stage 2 - Interest

Customers in the interest phase recognize a brand but may not see it as a potential solution. The aim is to recapture their attention when they're browsing for solutions.


Using retargeting and ad formats from the awareness phase, marketers can craft copy and imagery highlighting unique brand attributes.

The ad details how prospects can achieve campaign goals using retargeting, video, and lead gen forms. It invites users to learn more via the CTA “Download checklist.”

The image headline, “Best practices for retargeting your LinkedIn ads,” implies the brand is subject matter expert, and it promotes a downloadable checklist to help potential customers further engage with LinkedIn by filling out a lead gen form to get the content for free.

Illustration representing interest

Stage 3 - Desire

Customers in the desire phase have identified potential vendors and solutions and are actively comparing them, focusing on distinct features and benefits.


Marketers can target these customers with copy emphasizing the brand's selling points, clarifying the “what” and “how” of success or pain point resolution. This could involve promoting top case studies, providing supportive data, visually demonstrating potential outcomes, and highlighting unique features.

The ad copy example caters to a common need for superior ad campaign results via valuable insights. It promotes the “LinkedIn Insight Tag," a conversion-tracking tool, explained further in the description copy.

Again, advertisers can use retargeting to serve these ads to customers who have already visited their website or engaged with the ad on social media and have expressed interest in the brand.

Illustration representing desire

Stage 4 - Action

The action phase of the purchase funnel is an opportunity to convert customers ready to purchase. Marketers should craft ad copy inspiring viewers to take specific action.


Conversational email messaging is effective at this stage, especially when customers have filled out a lead gen form or subscribed to content. 

Other discounts or exclusive benefits, stats, customer quotes, or testimonials as social proof could be effective.

When customers click the CTA “What & Why LinkedIn ads?,” an immediate email message reveals, “Brand and acquisition messages on LinkedIn are 6X more likely to convert.”

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Master ad copy and creative with LinkedIn Ads

Knowing how to write ad copy requires a deep understanding of a brand’s target customers and the platform requirements on which the creative will run. The better the ad copy resonates with desired target audiences, the more likely they'll build brand awareness, generate leads, move clients through the sales pipeline, and convert new customers.


LinkedIn’s Ads help B2B businesses write better ad copy and provide the tools required to reach highly-targeted decision-makers through various ad formats, including social media display ads, sponsored post ads, and conversational email messaging.

B2B businesses can also access extensive LinkedIn audience data and ad analytics that provide valuable insights into their target audiences and the messaging they respond to most.

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