Jumpstart Your Ad Copy in 2023
For more than a decade, I’ve been crafting ad copy for Facebook, Instagram and Google Ads, and I often struggle to find a solid starting point. Tired of constantly starting from square one, I came up with an easy-to-follow list of idea generators that would spark good ad creative ideas and eliminate those moments of feeling stuck.
Think About Your Audience & Create Personas
Group your audience by age, interests, and lifestyle and customize your ad copy and creative to strike a chord with these folks by identifying their needs, traits, and motivations. This can include where they work, how old they are, what interests they have, their finances, what media channels they use, and what brands and influencers they find valuable. Get into their heads and understand their personality, likes, and day-to-day life.
Some examples of personas could be Corey the movie buff, Angel the female snowboarder, or Britney the Regional Director. Keep these audiences and personas in mind when writing different angles to your ad copy.
Consider Ethical Exploits
Poke the ego of your target audience or pinpoint what they dislike and use that to create urgency or necessity in your ad copy. For instance, tap into their desire for a VIP experience, fear of missing out on something, or want to socialize with friends.
Use Pain Points and Benefits
Shed light on the issues your product or service resolves and the positive outcomes it delivers. For example, a fully automatic home espresso machine gives you a cheaper latte whenever you crave that caffeine buzz. Think: Does your product make doing something easy? Does it do it quickly? Is it risk-free? Is it cheaper? Is it luxury and that’s why it’s at a premium price?
Try Affirmations
Make ’em nod in agreement! Use statements that get your audience on board and make them see the value in your product or service. For example, a spam filter product could say “Sick of getting fake phone calls all day? SPAM BOY ends fake calls forever, period!”
Use SPIN Psychology
Get to know the Situation your customer is in, the Problem they have, the Implication of the problem (what effect does this have and what needs do they have?), and the Need for a Pay-off for your prospect (does your product provide enough value to solve their problems?). Use this intel to cook up ideas for your ad copy.
Mix & Match Different Psychological Angles
Mix it up with various approaches like features, benefits, problem/pain point and solution, testimonials, positive reviews, social proof, calling out your audience by name (ex: hello movie lovers!), using a fact-based hook (95% of moms love ______), feelings-based hooks that poke the ego or give some FOMO (fear of missing out), or address frequently asked questions (FAQs) to find the right vibe for your ads.
Just remember to tailor your ad copy and creative to the platform and audience you’re targeting, and always test different angles and strategies to find the best-performing ad copy. You can even ask ChatGPT or Bard to help you craft some ad copy angles based off of this article, but don’t forget to add a call-to-action to top it off. You got this!
