If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Facebook advertising, it’s that your skill as a copywriter directly correlates to your level of success. It doesn’t matter how good your offer is if you can’t communicate its benefits using compelling Facebook ad copy.
To demonstrate how powerful ad copy can be, consider this example where The Sims increased conversion rates by 148% by adding the word “free” to their copy.
In this post, you’ll learn five simple, but incredibly effective tactics that will allow you to write better Facebook ad copy without spending months studying the art of copywriting.
These are simple, actionable tactics that you can implement today that will instantly improve your Facebook ad copy.
If you’re struggling with your copy, or if you've got ads up and running and you're not happy with the performance, then you can use these tactics that I'm about to walk you through to quickly improve your click-through rates, reduce your cost per lead, and improve the performance of your ads in general.
Include These 5 Conversion-Boosting Components in Your Facebook Ad Copy
The first thing we're going to talk about is the components that make up your ad copy. If you can include these five components in your ad copy, you'll see a quick increase in the performance of your Facebook Ads. Even if you can’t include all five, try to include as many as you possibly can.
These are the five components in order of priority:
First, start with something that grabs attention.
Common advice says to start with a powerful question that your audience is going to answer “yes” to. That's something that I absolutely like to do as much as I can. Including a powerful question that triggers your audience to answer internally, “Yes, that's me!” is a great way to grab their attention and interest. It also makes them feel like you are speaking directly to them.
For example:
“Do you struggle to write Facebook ads that actually get clicks?”
“Feel like Facebook ads are just a waste of money?”
“Does cooking a healthy meal every single night seem impossible when you’re juggling a full-time job and a family?”
The key here is to ask a question that resonates with your audience and triggers an emotional response.
Verick Wayne of Social Ads School uses an ‘obvious yes’ question at the beginning of his copy
To do this successfully, you need to write like a member of your target audience. That means using the same words and phrases they do when describing the problem that you’re promising to solve.
The best way to write or speak like your audience is to speak to them. Either get on the phone with your customers or survey them and pay close attention to the language they use, and how they describe their pain points. This is the language you need to use when writing this opening question/statement. You should also continue to use it throughout the rest of your copy as well.
Emotion has a huge impact on sales. The Harvard Business Review demonstrates this with an example showing that when “a major bank introduced a credit card for Millennials that was designed to inspire emotional connection, use among the segment increased by 70% and new account growth rose by 40%”.
The other thing I like to do is start with a statement that's a little bit controversial or polarizing.
Starting with a sentence like: “Facebook Ads don't work. Period.” is a very powerful way to grab attention. People will either agree or disagree with your statement, and that will trigger an emotional response.
Your polarizing statement should pull your ideal customer in and get them emotionally invested in learning more about your position and why you’ve decided to take that position.
Polarizing opening sentence
Let’s look at how this works.
If someone has had a bad experience with Facebook Ads and they read my polarizing statement above, they pay attention. The reason for that is a psychological phenomenon known as ‘confirmation bias’.
Confirmation bias causes us to pick out bits of information that make us feel good because it confirms our prejudices.
That means people who’ve had a bad experience with Facebook Ads will subconsciously pick out that piece of Facebook ad copy because it makes them feel good.
On the flip side, if someone disagrees with your statement, they are triggered by a desire to prove that their opposing view is correct. They will engage with your ad simply to disprove your position.
And then in the next sentence, I'll start to talk about why I've said that and what I really think, and move into the actual ad. But it's that attention-grabbing first sentence or first line that's really important in your ad.
If you can add that in, you'll get more people stopping the scroll in the News Feed and actually watching your ads.
After you have your sentence there that grabs attention, you want to build interest with your copy.
You’ve got their attention, now you want to move into a couple of sentences telling them what it is you're actually going to give them, and what they're going to learn if they keep reading.
For example, if I went with an attention-grabbing headline like, “Facebook Ads don't work”, then the next sentence could say something like, “…unless you know these three copywriting secrets that you must use in every Facebook ad.”
And then I would tell them to “Keep reading and I'll walk you through these three components.”
First, I've grabbed the attention, and in this second part, I'm generating interest by explaining that there is actually a solution, and explaining that if they keep reading, I’ll give it to them.
Let’s move on to component number three.
Now, you might assume that this next component is desire, but it's not. We're not quite going through the AIDA copywriting formula, but it’s close.
In a Facebook ad, the third component that you want to include is content that builds authority and trust.
Often people see your Facebook ad and it's the first time they've ever seen you. At that point, you're just a stranger in the News Feed preaching something to them. At this point, your audience is thinking: “Why should I listen to this person? There are 1,000 other people doing the same thing in my News Feed every day. What makes you the expert?”
At this point in your Facebook ad copy, you need to establish authority and build trust.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. All you need is a couple of sentences in there that tell people who you are and why they should listen to you. For example:
“I'm Andrew Hubbard. I'm a leading Facebook Ad strategist for some of the top influencers and thought leaders in the world. I specialize in acquiring new email subscribers and customers, and my case studies include product launches of up to 3,000 percent ROI, and evergreen campaigns that deliver 200% returns month over month.”
Now it’s on to copy component number 4: Desire.
After we've built that authority, we want to go into detail about what our offer is. The goal here is to build desire for the offer.
This is where you go into detail about what it is you are offering the reader. Regardless of whether it's free or paid, our ad copy is selling them something. If we want the reader to click on a blog post, we tell them more about what they're going to get when they read it.
If we're telling them to sign up for a webinar or an email list, we’re telling them what they’re going to get when they register.
But most importantly, no matter what your offer is, it’s crucial to paint the picture of what the reader’s life or business will look like after they buy your product, join your email list, attend your webinar, read your blog post, or do whatever it is you’re asking them to do. Tell them exactly how their life or business will look after they accept your offer. This is also referred to as future-pacing.
That brings us to the final component in your ad copy – the call to action.
It's easy for us to assume that people know what we want them to do after reading our Facebook ad copy, but that’s not the case. We need to be very specific in telling our readers what to do next. For example, we might finish a webinar registration ad by saying:
“If you want to sign up for the webinar, click the link below to reserve your seat for free.”
It doesn’t matter where you’re sending the reader. The important thing here is you tell them exactly what to do next.
Remove Anything That's Not 100% Necessary From Your Ad Copy
Have you ever read an ad or a sales page that felt like it just dragged on and on, and took forever to just get to the point?
Bloated Facebook ad copy is a guaranteed way to ruin your cost per click.
That’s why this simple tactic is so important.
What I want you to do is write your copy, and then go back through it and cut out anything that's unnecessary.
If a word or sentence doesn't need to be there, or if it doesn’t serve a very specific purpose, cut it out. Ask yourself if you really need to include each sentence, or if it's just fluff. If so, get rid of it.
Next, read through and simplify the language in your ad copy. If you're using big, complex words, or if sentences are too long, you need to fix them. Shorten your sentences, remove complex words, and simplify the language as much as you can.
The average reading level in the USA is grade 7 or 8. That means you need to make your ads very easy to read. If something is complex and difficult to read, people will read the first few sentences and just keep scrolling through their News Feed because it's too hard.
People have short attention spans, and that is particularly true on social media platforms. If it takes effort to read your ad copy, you’ll lose your audience immediately.
My favorite way to clean up and simplify my Facebook ad copy is to write my copy and then go do something else. I’ll leave it for a little while before coming back and rereading it again with a fresh set of eyes. This allows me to pick up things that I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.
Make It All About The Reader
When you're writing your ad copy, it's easy to fall into the pattern of using the word “I”.
For example, “I've just created this new thing and I think you'll love it” or “I want you to read this post because I think it's going to really help your business.”
We get into this pattern of me, me, me. Instead of writing for the audience, we end up telling the audience how great we are, and how amazing our offer is. This will hurt the performance of your ads.
In this step, I want you to reframe your Facebook ad copy and flip it around so you’re focusing on the reader. You want to have lots of the words “you” and “we”. Tell the reader what they get, why they need your offer, and what their life will look like afterwards.
Let’s be honest — no one cares how long you spent working on your product, or how great you think it is. People care about what’s in it for them, and how it will affect them.
Aim to talk to the reader as though you're sitting there in front them, speaking to them.
The best way to do that is to say something like: “If you want to do X, Y, and Z then you're going to love this checklist. It will give you the exact tools you need to make sure that you do A, B, and C every single time.”
See how I’ve made the phrase above all about the reader, rather than about me? That’s your goal with this tactic.
Here’s a real example from LinkedSelling:
Read Your Facebook Ad Copy Back To Yourself
Read Your Facebook Ad Copy Back To YourselfThis tactic sounds quite simple, but once you try it, you’ll realize how effective this is when it comes to improving your writing.
It's an amazing way to quickly improve your copy and it allows you to pick up on any little things that just don't sound quite right.
All I want you to do is write your Facebook ad copy, and then read it aloud to yourself.
Ask yourself how it sounds. If you were sitting there with a friend, and you were reading this to them, would it sound weird? Or would it sound like something you would say?
You want to make sure that your copy actually sounds like something that would come out of your mouth. If it sounds strange, if there's words in there that you would never use, or if it sounds really corporate and boring, change it.
I actually discovered this when a client unintentionally brought it to my attention one day.
She was going through the copy I sent her, and instead of just writing her comments, she read it aloud in a quick voice message for me. It was hearing her read through the copy aloud that made me realize how much different it sounded when spoken, than it does in your head. It really brings it to life and makes you realize how odd your copy can sound sometimes.
So that’s what I want you to do here. Read your copy aloud and edit it to make it sound like you. Make it sound natural, like something you would actually say to someone.
Always Apply The Rule of 100 To Your Copy
This is a great little tip for anyone who is in e-commerce, or anyone who is running ads to the bottom of their funnel when their cart is open.
It's called the rule of 100. I was reminded of this recently while reading the book Contagious, by Jonah Berger.
This rule applies when you are writing ad copy that includes pricing and discounts. It helps you determine whether you should display the price in your ad, or display the discount percentage. Here is how it’s used:
Whenever you're mentioning a discounted price on any product or service, consider the price. If the product or service is priced below 100 dollars, then you should express the discount as a percentage.
For example, if you've cut the price of a 10 dollar item to five dollars, then you should express that discount as ‘50 percent off’ in your Facebook ad copy. This is because ‘50 percent off’ sounds much bigger than if we were to say ‘save five dollars’.
Which is more appealing to you? Does the thought of 50 percent off an item sound like a better deal than the thought of saving five dollars? For most people, the answer is yes! Saving five dollars isn’t a big deal to most. But getting something for half price? That’s gotta be a good deal!
Of course, they are both exactly the same saving, but how you frame your discounts will impact your sales.
Example: Forever 21 focuses on the discount percentage for these items priced under $100.
If your product is over a hundred dollars, do the opposite and express the discount as a dollar value.
Consider this: If an item is reduced from ten thousand dollars to eight thousand dollars, you can say “save 20 percent”, or you can say “save $2,000”. Which sounds more appealing to you?
A 20 percent discount sounds ok, but it's nothing most consumers would get too excited about. However, a $2,000 discount sounds much more substantial!
Next time you're offering a discount on any products or services, apply the rule of 100 and see how it impacts sales. This can be in a Facebook ad, on a sales page, or anywhere really.
If it's under 100 dollars, express the discount as a percentage. If it's over 100 dollars, express it as a dollar. Psychologically, that just sounds a lot more appealing to the reader. They're more likely to take action because it sounds like they're getting a better deal.
Summary
If you’re running Facebook Ads, see how you can apply these five copywriting tactics to your ad copy. Including just one of them will help you increase your click-through rates and get better results from your Facebook Ads.
Start by making sure your ad copy includes those five core components — attention, interest, authority, desire, and a clear call-to-action.
Then clean up and simplify your copy. Remove anything unnecessary, and make sure your copy is simple and easy to read.
Next, flip the script from “me” and “I”, to “you” and “we”. Make your Facebook ad copy all about the reader instead of making it all about you.
Then you need to make sure your copy actually sounds like you and not a robot. The easiest way to do that is to read it aloud. Sit down, read your copy back to yourself aloud, and make any changes you need to make to sound natural. Your copy should sound like you, not like someone else, or worse, like a robot.
And finally, whenever pricing is involved, make sure you apply the rule of 100. This is a really quick and easy way to get more sales with almost no effort at all.
Have you applied any of these tactics? Will you be testing them in the future? Let me know in the comments below!