The Basics of Crafting Performance Ad Copy
By Corey Grant, Copywriter at Frontside Consulting
A new season is here! Folks are busy spring-cleaning their homes, so why not take advantage of this time of renewal to tune up your digital ad inventory and maximize your spend? Now is a great time to look at optimizing performance, whether that’s deploying new ads, revamping current ones, or running some tests.
On the topic of tuning, your primary ad copy is a component that can drive the performance of an ad. Simply swapping out your existing copy with a new version can breathe new life into an ad that was otherwise performing poorly. Running the ad with all components the same, but with fresh copy as a test can tell you if you’re leaving performance on the table. Read on to discover three important digital ad copywriting points that will have you well on your way to crafting solid performance ad copy.
1. Get Aligned: Assign Purpose, Audience, and Brand Voice
Your copy is the “meat and potatoes” of the ad, and like a good recipe, you need all the ingredients in the proper amounts. Start with identifying the purpose of the ad, the audience it needs to reach, and your brand voice. These things are the north stars of your copywriting, providing intentionality as you write.
As an example, take Frontside Consulting’s client Heli. They sell adventure experiences, like all-inclusive skiing, surfing, mountain biking, and diving vacations. When writing an ad for a Sail-to-Ski experience in Norway we will want to consider the type of skiing and the type of experience offered like: “guided touring”, “guided cat skiing”, or “heliskiing”. This dictates the type of audience we will target and the vernacular we need to use when speaking to them to demonstrate authenticity. If you know your audience for a given product or service this should be relatively straightforward.
Now that you’ve done that, it is time to take a walk down memory lane to remember who you (the company) are. This is where the brand voice comes in. Your brand voice is the filter that all your copywriting (no matter the placement) goes through to ensure that it aligns with your core values, internal and external communities, and aesthetics. For more information about brand voice see our previous blog “Brand Voice: Copy Can and Should Be Fun.” Remembering this crucial aspect of copywriting will allow the spice to come through in the copy you’re about to write and ensure that it rings true and consistent.
2. Cook Up Some Copy: Create a Hook into Entertaining and Informative Copy
Okay, now that purpose is assigned and we’ve consulted our brand voice it is time to start cooking up some entertaining copy. Let the confines of your brand voice be the creative window within which you work to add the flare needed to capture your audience’s attention. This is done in the first line by crafting a hook that will rope your audience in with something spicy and catchy.
Here’s an example of a solid hook we wrote for our client Heli:
“Imagine waking up on a sailboat off the coast of Norway. After “brecky” and coffee we take you to the island off your bow for some of the finest ski touring around.”
This hook clearly communicates the unique kind of experience that speaks to our intended audience’s highest aspirations. What adventurous skier or snowboarder wouldn’t love that kind of morning?
Now that the hook is crafted we need to move on to the body. The basic rules of being clear, informative, and brief still apply, but have some fun! Given that you need to achieve this in a limited amount of characters (about 200 or less depending on the channel) it is important to use them wisely. The body is where we espouse the offer, product, service, promotion, etc… that the ad is attempting to sell. It may be tempting to go into great detail here but refrain. This is not the place to go in-depth about product/service details, use cases, or testimonials. Rather it should be a simple, yet compelling statement of what the offer is.
Here is another block of copy for the same client with a catchy body:
“A landscape like no other, far from crowds and cast in snow-capped peaks. The pinnacle heli trip for ski junkies and adventure seekers.”
This speaks to the product, a heliskiing package in Norway with little characters.
3. The Send-Off: Close with a Clear Call to Action
A call to action (CTA) is the final piece to bring it home and land a conversion. This is where we tell the audience the exact action we want them to take. This needs to be exactly what it sounds like: simple and direct. Oftentimes, this can be achieved in a short sentence or even just a few words.
Here is a simple CTA from another ad for our friends at Heli:
“Book your dream Icelandic heliski trip now!”
Now we should have landed on some engaging copy, that pulls our audience in, has a hint of spice, and a whole lot of exactly what the customer needs to decide whether or not to buy. Finally, we sent them off with a reminder to do exactly that and buy.
Let's see an example of all the pieces together:
“Ski junkies and adventurers, your ultimate trip awaits. Heliskiing in Iceland is the trip you’ve been waiting for—gorgeous laps from steep to mild, with incredible views far from any crowd. Book your dream Icelandic heliski trip now!”
We hope you found these ideas helpful and go out and make some great performance ad copy. Follow us on social media and subscribe to our mailing list below to see more handy write-ups like this as well as other digital marketing education content.
