What is 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.

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.

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.

Ad copy example one:

Ad copy example two:

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.”

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.

2. Clarify ad 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”