There’s a lot of different factors that go into creating a stellar Facebook Ad. You need the right targeting strategy, the perfect image or video, and a strong bid. All these things matter, and it’s easy for them to overshadow another crucial part of Facebook Ads: the copywriting.

I’m a content marketer and copywriter by trade who started offering social media management and advertising services after I saw how heavily writing influenced success there.

Being a writer first, I’ve been able to see the importance of not only the language we use, but the strategy we put behind it in order to get success on Facebook Ads. I’ve run ad campaigns with the same image and general selling points, but different overall copywriting strategies for drastically different results, showing how significant the writing is.

In this post, I’m going to take you through different Facebook Ad copywriting strategies and tips to help you knock your next campaign out of the park.

What Should My Facebook Ad Copywriting Do?

Your Facebook Ad copywriting should help you sell your product or service, or drive users to take certain actions. This could include sharing lead information, signing up for your newsletter, or registering for an event. It could even be as simple as following you on Facebook or Instagram.

More importantly, copywriting doesn’t just tell someone to do something– that’s what a CTA is for. It tells them why they should do it.

In order to be effective, here’s what your Facebook Ad copywriting needs to be doing:

• Grabbing attention and capturing interest. The image and video attached to your copy will probably be the first thing users see, but the copy will absolutely affect whether they click or not.
• Presenting value in a concrete way. This is where that why comes into place. You’re showcasing value and demonstrating how it can help improve customer’s lives with what you’re offering.
• Align with the CTA. Your copy should feel like a natural build up to a CTA, and they need to make sense with each other.
• Make users want to take action. Do they at least want to click on the ad to learn more? If not, your copy isn’t keeping their interest and it’s not persuasive enough.

Copywriting should be short and concise in structure. That doesn’t mean that you can only have two lines of text; some of my best-performing ads have had copy several paragraphs long. The language and sentence structure that you use, however, should be brief. Keep the flowery language to a minimum, and avoid long run on sentences. This can improve your writing quickly and prevent the text from getting confusing for readers.

Now that we’ve gone over the basics, let’s take a look at different copywriting strategies you can use to get more results on your ads.

1. Asking a Question You Already Know the Answer To

If you ask almost any adult in the room the question “Do you wish you had more hours in the day?” or “Want more money?” the answer will pretty much always be a resounding yes. These are very general appeal questions, but they immediately appeal to a common pain point, and they can be applied to almost anything.

The question “Do you wish you had more hours in the day?” could be applied to any of the following (and so much more):

• Social media management software, which can streamline the process for businesses
• Personal assistant services
• A gym or workout program that claims to get you more results faster

Using one of these simple, quick generic questions is a great way to have almost anyone read your copy and think “yeah, I do need that in my life.” And that’s exactly what you want.

2. Starting with “Did You Know”

If anyone starts saying “did you know,” do you ever feel like you just need to know whatever they’re going to say next?

Did you know that using this question to start your ads is actually an effective way to get users to read?

See what I did there?

In all seriousness, if you’re feeling stuck on your ad copy you want to use facts to help sell your product, starting your ad with this phrase is a good way to grab attention and suck users in.

3. Long-form Storytelling

This is a personal favorite. Long-form storytelling in Facebook Ads can be surprisingly effective. It can really give users a lot of information, and it gives you more room to be subtly persuasive while using story to show value and start to establish a relationship with customers early on. It’s also memorable, which is a huge benefit.

In my experience, longford storytelling is most effective when it ranges from one to three paragraphs long. Going too much longer can overwhelm users and decrease the chance of conversions, though there are exceptions to this.

4. Listing Different Features in Carousel Format

One of the things I love so much about carousel ads is that there’s more room for more copy in an organic, non-overwhelming way. One great strategy is to list different features in different carousel images.

5. Keep it Short with Bullet Points

Sometimes bullet point lists are one of the best ways to showcase all of the key features and benefits of your product, especially if you think that mentioning all of them at once is crucial for conversions. It’s concise and it breaks down the information into easily digestible, scannable soundbites that users are more likely to read.

6. The Straight Shooter

This is absolutely the best choice if copywriting isn’t your strong suit, and even if it is, it can still work wonders. This copy is short and snappy, and it spits out features and benefits really quickly and leaves it at that.

7. Going Pun-Tastic

Sometimes clever is best. Using puns, jokes, or anything even remotely humorous will help you stand out. I still remember an ad I saw from a local chiropractor a few years ago that said “What’s the scariest thing about Zombies? Their skeletons!” I still kick myself for not grabbing a screenshot of that one.

As an added bonus, this is a great way to showcase your brand personality and make yourself memorable.

Final Thoughts

What you write for your Facebook Ads is an essential factor that will absolutely determine whether your campaign is high-performing or it’s a flop. Using the different strategies above will help you craft copy that can increase conversions of any type and get the results you’re looking for.

Remember to test each different strategy thoroughly, because different strategies work for different audiences at different times. Keep a close eye on your split tested campaigns to see what works well for you so you can pause any ads that aren’t doing as well.

What do you think? Do you use any of these Facebook Ad copywriting strategies? What’s worked best for you? Let us know in the comments below!