Effective copywriting is a crucial component of a strong advertising campaign. Within that small space, you must convey the right information so that your prospect ultimately takes action. In this blog, I will explain the do’s and don’ts of creating effective ad copy.
Everyone has an attention span. An attention span is how long someone looks at a piece of information before their focus shifts to something that might be more interesting. For many people today, this attention span is short due to the abundance of information we are all exposed to daily on social media. For this reason, information on these social platforms is increasingly packaged in shorter, more digestible formats. This allows users to consume as much information as possible. As a user, you naturally want to consume information that is relevant to you.
Because less and less time is spent per piece of content, copywriters must convince the user in a very short time that this information is worth their while. Otherwise, their focus has already shifted, and the user is already looking for new information.
In this blog, I will explain how to create ad copy that holds your target audience’s focus and ensures they will ultimately take action.
600 characters? Or 150?
LinkedIn has a maximum of 600 characters per advertisement. However, of these 600 characters, only 150 are initially visible to the target audience. The rest of the text becomes visible by clicking “Learn More” or “Read more.” These clicks do not cost you any money, with the exception of engagement campaigns.
It is therefore important to capture the target audience’s attention within those first 150 characters. The rest of the text is simply invisible at the time of display. A logical consequence is the frequent use of one-liners in LinkedIn advertisements. A one-liner is a catchy sentence that conveys your message as simply as possible. A good one-liner has a maximum of 150 characters so that readers can see the entire message at once.
However, it can also be very wise to use all 600 characters. With three times more space to convey your message, you might be able to provide that specific piece of information that persuades your prospects to take action. Starting with a catchy one-liner, followed by the remaining 450 characters with more in-depth information, is an excellent way to test different copywriting techniques simultaneously.
It is therefore advisable to test different text lengths for your advertisement. Often, audiences that have been targeted with ads on a specific topic for a longer period are more likely to click the “see more” button and read the rest of the text. This is because the target audience already possesses some basic knowledge and the one-liner has captured their attention.
Capture the attention!
As mentioned at the beginning, capturing and holding the attention of social media users is a difficult task. Generating curiosity is therefore a crucial part of copywriting. For instance, start your one-liners by directly addressing your target audience by their job title, for example. This is followed by a piece of information that is relevant to this target group.
Ex: “Copywriters take note! In this blog/white paper, you will read how to make the most of your ad copy. Download it now for free!”
This immediately piques the interest of the target audience because they are addressed by their own title. The more specific the job title, the more attention it will capture.
Another way to capture attention is by creating a problem for the target audience, or conversely, a solution. This is also known as the “fear vs hope” method. With this technique, you ensure that the target audience actually starts to worry a bit about a problem. You can then solve this problem for them.
Ex: “Many advertisements do not yet have effective copy, resulting in poorer performance. Read our blog on copywriting and learn how to create flawless ad copy.”
Of course, this also works the other way around! Instead of explaining a problem, you can emphasize the positive side of something and thereby give the target audience “hope” for improvement.
Ex: “Advertisements with effective copy convert up to 4x better than those without. Learn the tricks of the copywriting trade in our blog and increase your conversions!”
Companies are often already focused on identifying the problem statements they solve for their target audience. Make use of this! A company’s website is the perfect place for a copywriter to find USPs (unique selling points) and practical problems that can be used in various ways in your ad copy. However, the best approach is to talk to the experts. People in the field who help customers often have deep insight into the company’s operations, as well as the customer’s motivations for taking action.
Conclusion
Writing effective ad copy is not easy. After all, marketing is not an exact science. Unfortunately, as marketers, we cannot dive into the minds of the target audience members to see what they would like to see and read. There is no single “super technique” used by all large companies. What works depends heavily on your target audience and their stage in the customer journey.
Nevertheless, it is not random; by using smart techniques and testing extensively, you can ultimately create strong copy for your advertisements.
Do you have questions about copywriting for LinkedIn marketing, or are you looking for other marketing advice? We can be reached via:
info@primemarketing.nl
