When it comes to advertising campaigns, you can tell when a brand has knocked it out of the park. The message is concise but impactful, and it communicates what the reader needs to know while drawing them in to learn more.
Equally clear is when ad copy has missed the mark and produced an ineffective campaign. Fortunately, brands can follow a few basic principles to produce excellent, conversion-worthy advertisements. To that end, 14 members of Young Entrepreneur Council offer their descriptions of the best ad copy and why they believe every marketer should meet these standards.
14 Qualities of Excellent Advertising Copy — and How to Write It
- It’s true to its offering.
- It’s easily accessible across platforms.
- It sets realistic expectations.
- It speaks to your customer's needs.
- It's enticing and persuasive.
- It delivers a clear message.
- It's carefully thought out.
- It's focused and concise.
- It delivers social proof.
- It substantiates its claims.
- It’s written with a customer’s mindset.
- It's solution-focused.
- It's provocative.
- It’s written to convert.
1. It’s True to Its Offering
The best advertising copy is true to its offering. Any false claims can negatively affect conversion and risk disappointing the reader. The best advertising copy connects the product’s true benefits with the customer’s pain points. — Sujay Pawar, Astra
2. It’s Easily Accessible Across Platforms
The best advertising copy is easily accessible on multiple marketing platforms because online shoppers consume a wide range of content. YouTube videos, blog posts and social media can help you reach a diverse audience and grow your brand, regardless of your industry. — John Turner, SeedProd LLC
3. It Sets Realistic Expectations
I would say that the best advertising copy sets realistic expectations for potential customers. You never want to oversell your product and leave users disappointed. Similarly, you don’t want to undersell and see little to no engagement on your posts. Find a balance and use your marketing to explain the benefits of your product or service to users. — John Brackett, Smash Balloon LLC
4. It Speaks to Your Customers’ Needs
The copy must answer the burning pain points your customers suffer from quickly and succinctly. To do so, the business must have a clear understanding of the customer and how their product uniquely solves the problem. Advertising copy that doesn’t begin with the customer in mind, first and foremost, is bound to be unsuccessful. — Akshar Bonu, The Custom Movement
5. It’s Enticing and Persuasive
When you’re writing ad copy, consider several factors. First, it should attract attention. Use strong words and differentiate yourself from the competition. Then, it should state the benefits of using your product. Finally, the copy should be persuasive, encouraging the reader to buy. — Kelly Richardson, Infobrandz
6. It Delivers a Clear Message
Once you have identified your customers’ needs, all you have to do is show how your product or service solves their problems. It’s that simple. Most ad copies underperform because they fail to convey this message. So, communicate clearly what your brand has to offer. — Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms
7. It’s Carefully Thought Out
The best advertising copy is a carefully thought-out draft that smartly pitches your product or service as a solution to the target audience. Copy that caters to the needs of customers and presents them with the solution that they seek tends to perform better and yields better results. — Jared Atchison, WPForms
8. It’s Focused and Concise
The best advertising copy is clear, concise and to the point. It should be free of any fluff or filler and get straight to the message because people have short attention spans and are likelier to tune out if they feel they’re being bombarded with information. Keep your ad copy focused on the main message you want to convey, and you’ll grab people’s attention. — Blair Williams, MemberPress
9. It Delivers Social Proof
When you add social proof, people trust your claim, so it’s easier to convert. The best idea is to involve real people in your ads who have positive experiences with your product. This makes them more relatable and results-oriented as well. — Josh Kohlbach, Wholesale Suite
10. It Substantiates Its Claims
The best advertising copy substantiates claims fully. Whether the claim includes social proof or is a comparison to competitors, always fully substantiate everything. Leave customers without a doubt of your advantage over the competition by using clear language and visual representations. — Matthew Capala, Alphametic
11. It’s Written With a Customer’s Mindset
The best advertising copy is written as if you put yourself in the customer's shoes. In anything you do in marketing, with your product or anything else, you should always consider any changes or additions to it from the customer’s perspective. To do this, you have to honestly imagine yourself as somebody seeing the information for the first time. What would they think if they saw this copy? Is it clear? Is it enticing? — Andy Karuza, NachoNacho
12. It’s Solution-Focused
Solve your customers’ problems rather than selling them something. When you offer solutions, the sale follows. Advertising copy can communicate a solution in numerous memorable and creative ways. Some copy has made industry history by leaving space for the reader’s imagination, something that makes them talk about what they saw to their friends. That is good work. — Tyler Bray, TK Trailer Parts
13. It’s Provocative
The best advertising copy is provocative, be it via a play on words or some dramatic language, but it always draws attention and becomes watercooler conversation. It doesn’t have to be controversial either; it just needs to provoke thought. — Baruch Labunski, Rank Secure
14. It’s Written to Convert
The best advertising copy is written with the intention of leading to a conversion. The copy should be persuasive, clear and memorable. It should also be targeted to an audience. Try using a good headline. You need to make sure your headline has a strong call to action and provides information about what you’re promoting. You should also include an offer so that people take action. — Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC
