Good copywriting is essential for any ad to be successful. But when you have hundreds of tasks on the go, it can be difficult to give content the attention it deserves.
If you take the time to improve your craft, you’ll pay off in better engagement, more clicks, and lower costs.
Our social media marketing specialist Gabrielle Maheux offers tips to get your ad copy singing.
Essential copywriting tips for your social ads
1. Simplify
Whenever possible, simplify your writing. You don’t want people to work harder than necessary to interact with your ad.
As people scroll through their feeds, they won’t always stop and click the “see more” button to read the full text. When Moyens I/O boosts posts on Facebook, we remove any additional text so the reader doesn’t have to expand it to see the rest of the content.
Try removing unnecessary adjectives and replacing long words with short ones to simplify your text.
2. Edit (at least twice)
When you spend a lot of time writing and putting together different ad formats, it can seem a little tedious to go over everything. But you have to resist the temptation to hit publish right away.
Whether you’re an expert writer or a novice, everyone makes mistakes. By carefully reviewing your work, you will notice inconsistencies and errors. A quick fix session can be the difference between a bad ad and a great one.
If you don’t have time to do a proofreading yourself, ask a colleague to review it; A fresh pair of eyes is always helpful when it comes to the editing process.
3. Remove jargon
When we run a campaign on a complex topic, we spend a lot of time removing the jargon from our drafts – it doesn’t add value. In fact, it will make your copy harder to read.
Replace jargon with simple words that will convey your message clearly to the audience.
4. Write for your audience
When you understand who you’re targeting and why, you can better describe your audience’s unique experiences and pain points.
For example, when speaking to a manager at a financial services institution, you will likely use a very different language than retail shoppers. It’s important that your language and tone reflect your audience thoughtfully.
5. Test your ad copy with organic post
If something is performing well organically, it has a good chance of performing well as an ad. That’s why we use organic posting as a way to test ad copy.
We experiment with different titles, CTAs and images to see what works. That way, we don’t pay for ads that we know people won’t interact with.
6. Consider the swiping experience
When we write ad copy, we consider the entire user experience on social media, which is often associated with navigating a news feed.
You cannot think of your ads (or even your ad sets) as separate units. You need to consider how all your advertising messages fit together.
To keep your audience’s scrolling experience in mind, ask yourself: How do different ad variations look together? Do they have competing messages? Do the images complement each other or are they very similar?
7. Spend time on the call to action
We use active language that focuses on the reader’s benefit and encourages more clicks. However, it is important that you consider the entire journey, not just one click. Where are they going next? What is the ultimate goal of this ad?
Your call-to-action should set expectations for the next step. You don’t want to be known for clickbait headlines and CTAs that don’t deliver on their promises.
8. Experiment with emoji
There is a new type of language on social media: emoji. A fun way to engage your audience (as long as it aligns with your brand voice). For example, if you’re running a bilingual campaign, the universal nature of emoji can improve the message and create consistency between ads.
Whatever scenario you choose to use them in, remember that your target audience is key. If your audience doesn’t use emoji, you shouldn’t either.
9. Write for correct format
Every ad should be written with format in mind. Depending on whether you’re writing for an image, video, or carousel ad, the way you write the copy will be different.
Play around with the placement of text and other components such as images when drafting a copy. You will understand the difference it makes when your ads go live.
10. Test and review
Don’t be afraid to try some new techniques. But be prepared to improve your copy with each round of testing. You should always look at what is performing well and why.
We often run discrete tests as a way to test different approaches. It’s also a great way to manage stakeholders who want to try a different copy variation. Discrimination testing can quickly tell us what is performing better and help us make data-driven decisions.
Keep these tips in mind when you start writing text for your next ad campaign. They help you refine your social ads and get better results.
Manage your Facebook presence along with your other social media channels using Moyens I/O. From a single dashboard, you can schedule posts, share videos, engage your audience, and measure the impact of your efforts. Try it for free today.
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