Less writing blocks, more writing — how to create numerous ads without exhaustion
Sometimes the advertising campaigns start surprisingly soon, and you don’t have enough time to prepare super juicy texts for them. Sometimes the schedule is so tight that you must create dozens of creative messages weekly. I’ve been there and know how hard it may be to keep your creativity at its peak.
Still, there are some hints and tricks that can help you deliver great results in a short time. Let’s see what I learned in years of copywriting.
The guide for large numbers
These instructions aren’t always necessary, but they can help get you and your head in the right place to create a bunch of awesome ads. Here are just some examples of when it may be useful:
- when you need to write around 50 ad messages per week;
- when you need to write dozens of different texts on the same topic;
- when the design creatives are not ready and you’re drafting ad messages from scratch.
The last example is a little bit different from the others. In the first two options, the only thing that matters is time and getting to express the same ideas differently. When there are no creatives ready and you can experiment, it’s somehow easier—you're not stuck with the images from designers that may limit your creativity.
On the other hand, it’s harder to work with, because you need to come up with ideas from scratch and pray that the creative team will understand your message correctly. They are your first audience. If you don’t manage to awe them with your message, you won’t impress the audience either.
Five suggestions for all ad platforms
Add less clickbait, but more value
Oh, do many copywriters love to create vague messages appealing to a wide audience! “It speaks to your heart." “Covers all your needs." The list of such messages is endless. Even if it works well for slogans, we need to bring clarity to the table in order to entice people to buy your product.
So try to avoid vague messages, even if it’s a simple awareness campaign. Provide numbers and examples—the facts that will describe your product to the core in a sentence or two.
Also, while creating the headlines for articles, people tend to put in some clickbait lines to catch their attention. Usually, when attracted readers open the article, the main message is all different, and there is no information that the clickbait headline promised. It angers the audience in most cases. The same goes for clickbait in ads.
Don't even try to enrage the audience. Present them with the best of your product or services. Clickbait is something that may work or, in most cases, will not. Speak to the audience's pains and needs rather than hooking them with something random.
Don’t exaggerate
Another thing that may mislead the audience and trick them into buying your product or services is exaggeration. Imagine you said in your ad “the best design service for teams," but you’re not Figma yet; you’re just a small startup with a limited amount of features. The exaggeration may bring you an audience that will later hate your product for being rather blank and unusable compared to other services.
It’s better to stick to your real values. Don’t exaggerate and be true to your audience; it will give you a better connection with users in the future.
Put one message into one ad
Each ad must be clear and simple for the audience to understand it. Don’t mix all your advantages or things you want to say in the same ad. Divide them message by message.
You can still put various messages in one ad campaign, but don’t mix the meanings in the ad itself.
If your main focus for the ad is to say that your new feature speeds up some processes, focus strictly on that and don’t add some other advantages. If you want to show some regalia in the ad, do it and present your company as somewhat famous, then move to the next ad where you’ll focus on the other features. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket; it’s overwhelming!
Know your audience
Without knowing your audience, you may not trigger their emotions or needs. It’s basic knowledge. But there is more. Sometimes writers forget that audiences from different countries need a different approach. Things that are crucial to one country may be insufficient for another.
When I was working on a set of promotional ads for one online broker, for example, I wrote neutral ads with clear advantages of this specific broker over others for the European audience. But for Thai and Indonesian audiences, I focused mainly on making huge profits in a short time. Money was all that mattered to that part of the audience.
Play with headlines and taglines for different countries. Over time, you’ll know what each audience will expect from clicking on your ad.
Research what is prohibited
If your product is from an industry with wide limitations online, like forex, gambling, or selling alcoholic beverages online, do some research before writing your ads. Almost all major platforms do not allow the use of words such as “forex” or even “trade." For European countries, there are limits on the word “investing” as well. There are plenty of such examples to learn by heart.
So read the guidelines beforehand. Otherwise, you may write lots of good creatives just to find out that it’s not allowed in ad copy in your target market.
Google Ads
Create all messages at the same time
The most common mistake with Google ads texts is that writers start creating their messages by a solid formula: “Headline + Text + CTA = ad message”. In some cases, it works, but in many others, it will give you a hard time as headlines and texts are mixed in random order.
The formula will work against you and all the messages will turn chaotic with no actual meaning. I suggest writing them differently — create headlines first, then go to the main messages. Each headline and message pair must support each other.
To ease the process, use Excel sheets or some other table to write them. You’ll see the whole picture and easily find the messages that don’t correspond to each text.
Don’t start with counting characters limits
Many platforms, including Google, have a strict limit on the number of characters you can use for your ad. Still, counting numbers and symbols right from the beginning may hurt your creativity.
Write your messages first and then adjust them to the numbers needed. It will help you start with the right message, covering the audience’s needs and pains. You can play with the language and synonyms later when the meaning is all there.
Facebook Ads
Let CTA and headline hold the power
Of course, the whole message matters, but on Facebook, most people tend to look at the headlines and CTAs only while browsing the feed. If your headline isn’t catchy enough, your audience will scroll right on.
Don’t write till the end of the characters’ limits
Facebook allows you to write pretty long ad messages, longer than Google, but I suggest sticking with 100 characters and no more. That’s the number of symbols that will actually be shown in the feed right away. The user doesn’t need to click on the ad to see the longer text and can see the core value proposition quickly.
So my advice is to keep your ad message short and stick to the point.
Focus on the images over texts
It may be sad for some amazing writers to realize this, but people tend to read fewer texts and just look at the images or videos that support the ad message. Still, you can use it to your advantage and incorporate your CTA and some bulletproof advantages into the image. Just don’t create visual clutter.
Choose one topic for an ad
As in Google, it’s better to stick to one topic per ad, even if you’re going with a carousel of images for your creative. Don't cram too many disparate ideas into one carousel; this could overwhelm the audience with unnecessary information.
Video ads
Keep your message even shorter
While creating copy for video ads, writers may think that they have more space and time to work on their messages and catch the audience. The trick is that you only have three seconds to attract the user’s attention. If the initial three seconds of the video are not captivating enough, you’ll lose people. So focus on the beginning of your ad and put the catchiest and most relevant information upfront.
End with your CTA
Ending your ad with a call to action is a common practice across all ad channels. It’s great for any advertisement, but it’s even more crucial for video ads. While reading plain texts or looking at images, people can get all the information they need right away; videos may be longer.
Got them in the first three seconds? Great! Have the details been explained in the middle? Even better! Don't stop with your company's logo and slogan; include CTAs to round out the ad. A simple “Download Now” button may be enough to get users to click on the ad.
Stay away from cliches
There are so many video ads with the same pattern that it starts being dull, vague, and hard to distinguish the ad from one company from another. Don’t be limited by the examples of your competitors, and play with the tone of your voice and your ideas.
Try to shock or make the video playful, even when the topic your ad is covering is simple and dull. Otherwise, it will be hard to notice your ad among the others.
A good strategy is incorporating storytelling into your ads and making them more personal because video formats are ideal for such stories. Show experts from your team, and give your product a human face to represent — it will speak to the audience.
TikTok Ads
Get your creative juices flowing
I like TikTok for ads because you can experiment here with almost everything. The video is the most important part of the ad, but the text also can’t be ignored. TikTok gives wide space for imagination, but storytelling is also a great way to start writing your ads.
If you prefer shorter videos, you may start with a shock strategy or advertise your product with a note of cuteness in it. Once I was doing an ad about a money bonus from a broker where a small kitten was playing with golden coins.
You can exaggerate your video and make it look weird for TikTok, but it’s important to stay away from cringing at your supporting text messages. Remember, you’re advertising your product or service, not just playing around with video trends.
Research current trends
TikTok is all about momentary hype, so you need to research current trends and try to incorporate one of them into your ad. It’s also important to create the ad quickly because trends change in a snap of the finger and next week your ad may be not relevant anymore.
There is a brighter side to this phase, you don’t need to polish your ads to look super neat and professional.
Write an explanatory note for the influencers
If you prefer other people to advertise on TikTok for you, prepare short instructions for bloggers and influencers beforehand and ask them to show you their drafts before submitting them to the platform. Without the instruction, bloggers can create a piece that doesn’t correspond to your needs or explains the product incorrectly.
It’s important not to skip these instructions even though it requires some writing to do even if you’ve decided not to create the ad yourself.
Bottom line
In most cases, ad copy is shorter and needs to be strict to the point outlining the pains of the audience right away. If you’re writing many such messages per week or day, the instructions above can help you stay creative and make perfect ads without any flaws.
The main point is to be transparent and to show the truth behind your offer with no exaggeration.
