How to write ad copy that actually sells
Clever lines do not sell. A specific promise, aimed at a specific moment, does. A working method with examples.
Most bad ad copy is not badly written. It is well written about nothing. "Elevate your everyday" is a grammatical sentence that leaves the reader exactly where it found them.
Start from the moment, not the product
Before writing a word, name the moment your customer is in. Not a persona, a moment. "It is 23:40, the sheets are scratchy again, and she is googling whether it is the detergent." Copy written for a moment has details in it. Copy written for a persona has adjectives.
The four lines every ad needs
- The hook, one concrete observation the reader recognises. No brand name yet.
- The turn, what changes, in the smallest number of words. "Three washes and it stops."
- The proof, the reason to believe it. A number, a material, a guarantee, a review someone actually wrote.
- The ask, one action. Not "learn more and follow us and check the bio".
Rewrite anything vague into a number
"Fast shipping" becomes "at your door in two days". "Long lasting" becomes "still works after 400 washes". "Loved by customers" becomes "1,842 reviews, 4.7 average". The number is not there to impress anyone. It is there to be checkable, and checkable is what people believe.
Write six, keep one
The first line you write is the most obvious one, that is why it arrived first. Write six openings against six different moments, read them aloud, and delete every one you would be embarrassed to say to a friend. What survives is usually the ad.
If your copy would still make sense with a competitor’s logo on it, it is not copy. It is decoration.