Ad Copy Strategies To Double Your Ctr

So, you’ve finally decided to bite the bullet and invest in some paid advertising? Great! There’s just one snag though: your ads aren’t converting, and you have no idea why.

There could be many reasons why your advert either on social media or through PPC, isn’t converting and isn’t giving you a high click-through rate. Still, today we’re going to look at the ad copy, which is the wording of your advert to see where we can improve it and get those ads you’ve paid for to start performing much better!

What is Ad Copy?

The phrase ‘ad copy’ refers to the wording of an ad. This isn’t where you copy an ad from someone else, but where you write and design your own advert wording to entice customers to take action, be that buying your product, signing up for your services, handing over their contact details, or any other call to action that your advert is designed to promote.

Good ad copy is generally shorter and more to the point, and it always includes an invitation to take action. Your ad must be focused only on one thing, while this may be fairly obvious, users want to know exactly what you want them to do rather than be given a selection of options.

For example, an advert that ends with “click the link, like the page, share it with your friends and drop us a comment” is going to confuse your users and fans. You’ll also have a hard time tracking whether or not the advert performed well because it doesn’t have a clear goal (e.g., was it for link clicks, brand warmth, likes, engagement, shares, etc.?).

It would be much better to have four adverts, one designed to get users to click the link, and others for liking, sharing, and commenting.

How to Create Ad Copy?

Getting good at ad copywriting is as much a science as it is an art. Of course, a flair for words is important, but ensuring your advert follows best practices is even more vital.

One of the best tips we have for this is to read the Google AdWords ad copy best practices literature; this will give you a clear insight into how Google likes adverts to appear and how not to get in trouble!

Great ad copy is always about communicating your value proposition with your audience clearly and succinctly. Your value proposition is your unique selling point, that may be a particular sale you’re having (50% off Summer Sandals), or your credentials (Home Grown Organic Produce/Top Ranked Pizza Shop In New Jersey), or anything else you want to communicate to your audience at that time, but keep it short, and keep it simple.

The Strategies

Here are a few ad copy strategies to implement to improve your chances of a successful ad. Remember the golden rules: simple and direct, one thing at a time, succinct and interesting.

• Check out your competition – use online tools to find out what your competitors are doing and whether it’s working for them
• Know your audience’s intent – know what they want as well as what you want to sell them
• Try some ‘social proof’ – e.g. “9 out of 10 women agree”, “89% of those surveyed said yes.”
• Keep it short – short and sweet and to the point, no fluff: “50% off Sale Ends Tuesday.”
• Simple language – no jargon, no long words, no complicated text
• Stats sell – like social proof, include stats: “Voted Alabama’s #1 Italian Restaurant.”
• Test and re-test – write and rewrite your ad until it’s right, then maybe test another version too
• Give your audience what they want – instead of “request a quote” try “see pricing” your audience know exactly what they’re getting
• Include a call to action – click below, like the page, share this with your friends, sign up now, learn more. Include a strong call to action -but only one!
• Respect your audience’s time – be simple and be direct. Don’t assume your audience has all the time in the world, “get your free chapter” tells them exactly what they’re getting rather than “sign up now to get an insight into what this book is about.”

Effective ad copywriting takes practice, and it takes a lot of patience to learn and test what works and what doesn’t work.

The options above are all based around the “keep it simple, keep it clear” method; this is hands down the most reliable method of copywriting online!