What Makes Good Ad Copy? [And Why You Should Care in the First Place]

As a professional copywriter, I don’t just write blogs, guest posts, and social media and landing page copy. 

I also write a decent amount of PPC ad copy. 

Why should this be farmed out to a writer when it’s just ad copy, and there’s so much more that goes into eCommerce PPC management?

That is, can’t the PM take care of it? 

Well, sure. But the PM is busy and has special skills; as does the writer.

And, what you need to keep in mind is that no eCommerce PPC management strategy will be effective if no one clicks on the ads. 

You need to target properly, you need to set the right bids, and you need to go after the right keywords. 

But a click can’t turn into a conversion where there was no click in the first place.

So let’s pick this apart. 

Why Quality Ad Copy Matters

Some paid ad formats only allow between 30 and 90 characters of copy. That’s seriously limited real estate. 

It might seem like it’s not important, but good ad quality truly accounts for the difference between a click and no clicks at all. 

Let’s look at this from the perspective of a blog. Think of the title of the blog as the ad copy that either convinces you to buy (read) or not to buy. 

It really doesn’t matter what’s in the blog if no one reads, it, right?

Right. 

So PPC ad copy needs to be written sort of like that, except you don’t want to write clickbaity ad copy either, because if people click but don’t convert, then that costs your client money. 

You need to learn to strike a balance between enticing but not overpromising, which actually is quite difficult to do. 

But, ultimately, you still need copy that resonates with your target audience and convinces them that the solution to whatever problem is nested in their search query is only one click away.

Yes, it is critically important to set bid, keyword, and targeting constraints – but that’s all on the technical side. 

It comes to fruition when your ad copy stands out. 

Now, let’s talk about that.

What Makes Good Ad Copy?

To be clear, there are a few things that make good ad copy, as well as some that make bad ad copy, and despite the inherent subjectivity in the matter, there are enough patterns to follow to tell with fair certainty what is good and what is bad, 

Good ad copy follows some combination of the following traits. 

It Says As Much As Possible 

Use all of the space available. This is important. 

You’re not going to overdo it. You only have 15 or 30 or maybe 90 characters (depending on the platform). 

This isn’t like a blog where you can drag on and on and on and bore the life out of your audience. 

This is like one line of text where you either capture attention and convince or do not. 

So use all your space. 

If you still have text left over, dig into the selection of UVPs available and drive one of them home. 

Things like “Free Shipping,” “Price Match Guarantee,” and “Free Consultation.”

Those sorts of things that convince audiences they’re getting less for more – they can actuate clicks. 

It Covers All the Unique Value Propositions of the Client’s Model or Promotion 

Since you have such little room when you’re writing PPC ad copy, it’s critical that you jam as much of the unique selling points of your campaign or business model into the copy as possible. 

Basically, anything that differentiates this business from others with which you’re competing is fair game. 

Does your business offer free shipping? Unique discounts? A price match? Are your products unique, is your business the only one selling them?

Do you offer free consultations or unique website tools? Do you offer a customer satisfaction guarantee or anything of that nature? 

These are the sorts of things we call “unique value propositions” or UVPs. Your business has them, every business has them. Make sure your customers know about them by including them in your ad copy. 

It Uses Urgency Plays and Calls to Action 

Even if you’ve never heard the term before, you definitely know what both calls to action (better known as CTAs) and urgency plays are. 

Have you ever seen “While Supplies Last?” tacked onto an ad?

That’s an example of an urgency play. It puts the idea in the mind of the viewer that if they don’t buy soon, they will miss their opportunity. 

Now for a call to action: “Buy Now!” and “Don’t Wait!” are prime examples of these.

Basically, they issue a plain directive to the person viewing them. It doesn’t have to be complicated. 

However, the trick is to use urgency plays and calls to action that no one has heard before. 

Everyone – everyone – has seen “Buy Now!” in some ad or other. It’s totally, completely, hopelessly played out. 

Instead, think of the sort of problem that your products solve, and embed that in your ad copy. It will make a much better impression than a stark, raving, animal command to “Buy!”

For instance, if I were to create some off-the-cuff ad copy for, say, eCommerce SEO services, which 1Digital^Ⓡ offers, I wouldn’t use “Sign Up Today!” 

I’d frame the call to action as some solution that SEO services offer. 

For instance, a suitable call to action might be “Take Control of Organic Growth!” 

It directs the user to start taking action over digital marketing and it insinuates that SEO services can improve organic traffic (they do).

A good example of an urgency play for SEO might be something like “Don’t Let Competitors Nudge You Off Of Page One!” 

It suggests that by not investing in SEO services, the viewer is allowing competition to take an edge over them. It’s a bit sneaky, but it is accurate, and it can be very effective. 

But that’s just a basic example. This is an open-ended suggestion.

Regardless, good ad copy contains both urgency plays and calls to action.

Has a Sort of Sing-Song-y Flow 

It sounds unbelievably hokey, but it’s true. 

Good ad copy has sort of a jingle-like ring to it. If you can get it to rhyme, and sound like lyrics or poetry, even better. 

It’s a little hard to pull off and only works every once in a while, but if you can embed some rhymes in the copy, it will be easier to remember, and probably more appealing. 

Think about it. That’s why companies use jingles. Because they work.

It’s Funny, Daring, or Controversial 

I know perfectly well just how difficult it is to be funny in writing, so don’t assume that your copy is automatically bad if it isn’t humorous. 

Just know that it’ll be that much better if it is. 

Also, don’t be afraid to ruffle some feathers, especially if it’s harmless and just to catch attention. If you make a statement in your ad copy that is daring or almost challenges the viewer to click and see what’s behind the ad, the copy has done its job. 

At that point, it’s in the land page’s wheelhouse to land the plane. 

For instance, let’s just look at a hypothetical example in which your business offers a cost advantage over a competitor for similar or identical products or services.

A good example of a bit of ad copy that’s controversial or daring would be,

“Tired Of Paying More Than You Need To?”

Of course, you don’t know what the viewer is paying currently, but you are suggesting you can save them money – and you very well may be able to. 

That’s the sort of copy that asks for a click. 

So, What Is Bad Ad Copy?

If you’re looking at ad copy and it fulfills at least one of the five fundamental aspects I mentioned above, then it is, at least, good.

If it covers them all it’s great. 

But what is bad ad copy? 

Well, bad ad copy:

• Is not branded or is unclear, so viewers don’t know or can’t tell what’s being advertised.
• Doesn’t create a sense of urgency.
• Lacks a creative voice or is flat. 
• Is not memorable.
• Doesn’t use all the space available.
• Doesn’t make use of all possible UVPs.

Granted, there’s a bit of subjectivity in there (at least more than there is with my pointers on “good” copy) but you can still get a sense for it when you’ve seen enough of it. 

Make sense?

Current eCommerce PPC Management Services Not Cutting It? Call Us 

If you suspect that your current eCommerce PPC provider isn’t making the optimizations necessary to continuously improve performance, get in touch with us. 

We’ll perform a PPC audit to show you exactly where your areas for improvement lie, and offer you actionable insights on that front. 

Give us a call – 888-982-8269.