How to Write the Best Facebook Ads Copy Ever: 7 Tips from Top Experts

Social media ads (and especially Facebook ads) are hotter than ever after the last drop in organic reach of business pages and news publishers.

Yes, this drop made the news big time. It wasn’t just marketers who were interested in it, but everyone. Everyone wants to know what they will see in their Facebook feed.

However, it wasn’t unexpected. Not at all. The drop in organic reach started long time ago. Ogilvy even predicted that we will soon get to a zero-reach point.

Image via Ogilvy

Before you ask: yes, there are a lot of tricks to boost your organic reach. But if you truly want your content to be seen you have to pay up.

Not a lot. Even a smidge of a budget can help you achieve amazing results with your Facebook ads. Of course, that can only happen if your Facebook ads copy is on point.

But first, let’s see why you can’t afford to ignore ads.

Say what you will about the controversy surrounding Facebook lately, but it remains the most used social network.

Image via WordStream

More than 2 billion people login to Facebook every day.

With that in mind, it goes without saying that your buyer persona is probably scrolling through their Facebook feed right now. How awesome would it be if they stumbled upon your amazing Facebook ads copy and clicked on it?

It might mean a new lead or even a new client for you.

And the best news about all this is that it won’t cost you a leg and an arm.

With an average of $1.72 per link click, Facebook ads require a rather low budget to get results. And remember: this is the average CPC. Depending on your industry, you can go way below that, even to $0.45 per click.

Image via WordStream

Even more, these numbers depend highly on the countries you’re targeting. At Idunn, we have run campaigns on almost all the European countries and saw huge differences for the same client in various countries (ranging from $2/click to $0.10/click).

Yes, you can get clicks for 10 cents if you’re a targeting ninja.

Need help with your Facebook campaigns? Let our social media wizards take care of boosting your results and making the most out of your budget.

The targeting you use for your ads matters a lot. I could write a book on targeting and Facebook ads metrics to monitor, but this is not why we’re all gathered here.

Why Does Have Killer Facebook Ads Copy Matter so Much?

There’s a n often cited research report that states that Facebook posts with an image get 2.3 times more engagement than those without.

In other words: images are key to great Facebook posts and ads.

I’m not here to dispute that. Text-only Facebook ads won’t get you too far. People L-O-V-E visuals, so make sure to invest plenty of time in creating quality ones for your ads.

But the ad copy is what complements the image.

You know that you can’t add too much text to a photo for a Facebook ad. It will either underperform or be rejected altogether.

Either way, you need excellent CTAs and Facebook ads copy to accompany your images and videos. Amazing as they may be, they can’t carry all the weight.

Even Facebook acknowledges the importance of the ad copy in their Facebook Ads Cheat Sheet:

As you can see, tying the copy with your visuals is the first tip they offer.

That has to count for something, right?

It’s up to the Facebook ads copy to guide readers to what they have to do next. And, most importantly, to tell them why they should do it. How does it benefit them?

Writing Efficient Facebook Ads: Tips from the Idunn Experts

I’ll admit: we are rather lucky. At Idunn, we offer both social media and copywriting services. So it comes easy for us to write effective Facebook ad copy for our clients.

This is why I asked our experts to chime in on this article. I wanted to get more than one opinion on what makes Facebook ads copy truly stand out.

Here’s what my team and I came up with:

1. Adhere to the Facebook Ad Copy Guidelines

Start by checking the text on your photo. We all know that overlapping text on an amazing shot has a lot of impact. But Facebook only allows text to occupy 20% or less of your image.

It’s not ideal, I know.

You may even feel tempted to ignore that rule.

But before you think about that, remember that your ad will get less exposure if you circumvent this guideline. If you’re not sure about how much the text occupies in your image, you can use the Facebook tool to check it.

Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of room to add copy you can be proud of.

For the image text, stick to the value proposition. Make sure it’s something that really catches the eye. Maybe it’s a huge discount? A free meal? A once-in-a-lifetime offer?

Whatever your best value proposition is, add it to the photo and expand upon it in your Facebook ads copy.

2. Copywriting for Facebook Ads Designed FOR Your Audience

One of the tricks we use at Idunn to get better engagement for our clients is defining the audience first and then diving into the Facebook ads copy.

And when I say “defining the audience” I don’t mean adding a few random demographic characteristics so you can narrow it down. Improper targeting is the main reason Facebook ads fail.

You need to really dig deep into your knowledge of your buyer persona. Set as many parameters as you need and don’t be too generous.

Marketers often believe in casting a wide net to catch more fish. While that may be true on the river, it never works for Facebook ads. The narrower your audience, the better chance of reaching people who are likely to buy from you.

Check out this guide on why targeted content matters and how to create it.

When you’ve got your audience narrowed down, you can start writing effective Facebook ads. Think about the buyer persona you just defined.

What tone of voice do they prefer? Should you be casual, funny, all-business, compassionate? Write in a tone that your audience responds to.

How can you describe your solution to their problem? [We assume you already know what that problem is and that you’re using Facebook ads to market the solution to it.] Make it as clear as possible; don’t be vague. You can even state said problem in your Facebook ads copy.

Got more than one buyer persona?

You might! For instance, an apparel shop definitely needs different ad copy to market to men and women, fitness lovers and business execs.

Don’t even ask yourself how to write Facebook ad copy that appeals to all your buyer personas.

Create different ads with different images and different copy for each of your buyer personas. Treat them as you would treat your different groups of friends: some are your football buddies, others are your go-to when you need a night in with a good bottle of wine, while others are awesome at board games.

3. Write about Your Audience

I’ve said this more times than I can count: the era of pushy salesmen who brag about their awesome products is over. Today’s customers need to know your offer is about them, not you.

The easiest way to write customer-centric Facebook ads copy is to use a lot of “you” instead of “I” or “we”.

But that won’t work if you simply say: “You need to see our amazing offer”.

You have to dig deeper than that.

Start with your audience’s pain point. Say you are creating a webinar for teaching people how to master Facebook ads.

Your ad copy could read something along these lines:

“Tired of investing so much money in Facebook ads with close to zero results?”

OR

“How would you like to double your Facebook ads ROI without investing a penny more?”

Draw curiosity.

Tell people about the benefits they stand to receive early on. Make it about them, about their problem. Yes, it’s you the one who needs to sell something. We all know that.

But that sale won’t happen if your customer isn’t 100% sure it’s a good investment for THEM.

4. Never, Ever Skip the CTA

Facebook gives you the option to add a CTA button to your ads. It’s a wonderful option. People love a clear button, so go ahead and add it. Make sure it’s in line with your Facebook ad copy, though.

For instance, if you’re selling a product, don’t add a “Learn more” CTA button. It’s confusing. Stick to “Shop now”. People need clear messages.

However, you shouldn’t only rely on the button. If your ad is a sponsored post, you have plenty of wiggle room to work in an amazing CTA in your ad copy.

Following up on the webinar example above, after your value proposition, you can add a lengthier CTA (don’t write a novel, though, OK?):

“Register to our webinar and learn the one skill that can turn your Facebook ads into a well-oiled cash machine.”

Coupled with the “Learn more” CTA button and a killer visual, you’ve got yourself an amazing ad that will definitely bring in registrants to your imaginary webinar.

5. Keep It Simple and Easy to Understand

As marketers, we sometimes like to show off. And when it comes to the ad copy, we really want to impress.

But here’s the thing: there’s no prize for how many fancy words you can shove into your Facebook ads copy. Nor for using jargon in your ads.

Quite the opposite.

Use plain, simple language that anyone (and especially your buyer persona) can understand.

This doesn’t mean that you have to assume your audience is dumb or illiterate. What you have to assume is that they have little time to decipher your ad copy. So make that time count.

Irrespective of how many books someone read in their lifetime, simpler language is always understood faster.

And yes, this goes for campaigns like the webinar example I used above.

You will be talking to marketers in your webinar. And you do need people to already know the basics of Facebook ads.

But unless you only want highly advanced digital marketers to register, try to keep it as simple as possible in your ad copy and on your registration page. Acronyms like KPI and CPC are OK – even beginner marketers know them.

Speaking of lookalike audiences and power editor features straight from your Facebook ads copy, on the other hand, is not OK. You may dig into those during your webinar, but you don’t have to scare off beginners.

6. Write a Link Description that Truly Describes the Page People Are about to Land on

When I first started to learn more about how to write Facebook ads, this part felt really tricky.

You see, in my Facebook ads copy I was trying to convince people to take a certain action. Given the limited space you have in usual Facebook ads, I felt like I had to make the most of every little character.

So I was even using my “News Feed Link Description” to get all advertorial. Another CTA never hurts, right?

Wrong!

I was so immersed in learning how to write Facebook ads that sell that I forgot to read the actual lines instead of between the lines. The field is clearly named “News Feed Link Description.”

What should it do again?

That’s right: describe!

Since the description is placed right next to the CTA button, it’s important that it’s clear, concise and, most importantly, informational. For instance, instead of

“Grab your webinar seat now!”

You should say

“Free webinar on Facebook ads”

This is even clearer for actual products. If you’re selling a pair of sneakers you shouldn’t say:

“The ultimate fashionable sneakers.”

Go with the more descriptive version to really let people know what they are about to see:

“Red leather sneakers for men, 20% off.”

7. Always Test Your Facebook Ads Copy

No matter how well you know your buyer persona, nothing beats A/B testing. I encourage you to test your visuals, as well as your ad copy.

Nothing teaches you how to write effective Facebook ads copy than getting feedback from your audience. Test your two versions and see which one works best. Then record those results.

Do this for several campaigns and you’ll have a better understanding of what works with your buyer persona and what doesn’t. You will shortly get to a point where you can “nail it” from the very first sentence.

As always, moderation is key.

I remember recommending heavy testing to one of our clients. They went on to ask for a huge number of combinations to be testes. Image A with copy B, copy A with image A, a new video with both copies and so on.

The result?

Complete chaos.

Sure, we got different results from all these campaigns. But who could tell which ad copy and which image worked best given the options. It was a match of advanced statistics at its finest. Sadly, there was no winner.

Wrapping Things Up

Much like any type of content, writing Facebook ads copy has to start with your customer. Let them shine in your copy. Show you understand their problems and their needs. Then show that you can fix them FOR them.

In other words: make them feel like VIPs. Who doesn’t like that? More importantly, who doesn’t like someone who makes them feel that way?

Still not sure how to write effective Facebook ads copy? No problem! Our experts can work their magic and boost your ROI. Better yet, we can take social media completely off your hands with our fully managed services. Check our social media marketing and management offer and let’s talk!