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Does Copywriting for Facebook Ads Really Matter?

Yes! When you envision a Facebook ad, you might think of a large image. Images are important in Facebook Ads, but copywriting is also essential.

If you’re spending money on a Facebook ad, you want to make sure it does its job. Good ad copywriting can persuade your audience to click through to your website. Good copywriting functions as a guide—it shows people where they need to go.

Great advertising copy can persuade, excite, and entertain. It makes connections, cuts out excess information, and makes the choice to proceed seem obvious. It’s an essential part of a successful ad.

So here’s how to do it: Use these principles to write the best ads you can.

9 Strategies for Writing Your Best Facebook Ads

1. Use Facebook Targeting to Narrow Your Audience, then Write to It

When it comes to selling online, it’s tempting to write like you’re on stage at a conference. But if you want to be effective, you must write as though you’re writing to one person—and one person alone.

This person, your target, is the one you need to woo and persuade. Just as though you were an in-person salesperson, you need to focus all your attention on this person and their needs.

2. Write Different Facebook Ads for Different People

This goes along with the idea of targeting. Your customers turn to you for a variety of reasons, so why would you use one blanket ad? Facebook’s strength is its ability to target, so don’t treat your ad like a billboard.

For example, imagine you’re a clothing retailer. You sell men’s and women’s apparel, as well as shoes, accessories, activewear, underwear, and even bath and body products. Many customers will be interested in some of what you have to offer, but many will be most interested in one area. Simply put, women will be interested in what you have for women.

3. Use A Powerful Headline: Grab Their Attention!

Attention grabbing takes skill and practice

Getting attention can be subtle too

People scan things quickly. They come into contact with so many advertisements each day that they can’t possibly read each one. This is why you have to make sure that your advertisement actually grabs and keeps their attention.

You do that with an effective headline.

The greatest advertising man in history, David Ogilvy, said “On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”

4. Ensure Your Facebook Ad Copy Goes with Your Visual

Many smaller businesses—and even larger ones, especially in the B2B space—don’t have a ton of visuals on hand. When it comes time to run an ad, there’s a scramble to make sure an image gets attached.

This can result in an image that doesn’t go together with the copy, which presents a jarring experience for a Facebook user. If the copy and the image don’t line up, they’ll wonder what the ad is actually advertising. They’ll be unlikely to click, and your ad will be wasted.

5. Stay Focused with One Call-to-Action

The best Facebook ads have a clear goal. Are you trying to increase brand awareness, get a lead, or sell a product? No matter what, your ad should have a clear call-to-action. Without it, Facebook users will see your ad, but they’ll have no idea where to click, or what to do.

Society6 sells iPhone cases, and they show off their products in their Facebook ads. But the ad is a lot more than an image of a lovely iPhone case—it has a call-to-action button (“Shop Now”) encouraging users to come to the Society6 website to browse, shop, and ultimately buy.

6. Keep it Short and Lead with Value

You’re paying for an ad, so it can be tempting to cram in as much as possible. You have to explain your product to people, after all. However, when it comes to Facebook ads, you need to keep it short, and lead with value.

What does someone get out of using your product? How will it help them? These are the areas you should focus on in your copy, and you should get these points across in a clear, concise manner.

7. Use Simple Language that’s Easy to Understand

Copywriting is not high literature. Maybe you were a poet in college, but flowery language will muddle your message. It’s time to cut the verbosity.

Your number one priority should be writing a Facebook ad that’s easy to understand—for anyone, even a 5th grader. When someone sees your ad, they should immediately know:

• What you’re offering
• How it benefits them
• What to do next

8. Be Upfront About the Numbers

If you’re selling a physical product, people want to know how much it costs. If you’re running a sale, people want to know what percentage they’re going to get off. A copywriting strategy that works? Lead with the numbers.

9. Test your Ad Copy

The only way you can improve your Facebook ad copy is if you run tests. Facebook makes it easy to spend a small amount of money to try things out. In the end, the only way you can ensure your copywriting works is through experience.Try running two different ads—each with the same image, but different copy—to see which resonates most with your audience. Which version gets the most likes, comments, and conversions?