Thread by @GrowthTactics

THREAD: How to make ads that get clicks.

(For Facebook and Instagram)

You'll learn:

• How to write ads for your audience
• Frameworks for messaging
• How to design ads

Copy & creative.

Copy = Text that is carefully crafted for a specific outcome.

Creative = Term for multimedia, such as images and videos.

Together, they determine the click-through rate (CTR) of your ads—a 25% difference in CTR can make or break paid acquisition.

Know your audience before creating ads.

The Ladder of Product Awareness (LPA) illustrates how aware and in-need an audience is for your product.

Focus on writing appealing copy to those higher up on the ladder, since it requires less time and energy to convert these people.

Steps to writing ad copy:

1. Identify the product's benefits and your audience's concerns.
2. Write a pitch addressing each.
3. Make the pitch compelling.
4. Make it concise.

Here's an example of an ad that checks all of the boxes.

You can use one of these copywriting frameworks to write purposeful ads:

1. Articulate the problem, solution, and benefit
2. Highlight your differentiation
3. Ask a pressing question
4. Match value props to audiences

One tweet on each 👇

Problem, solution, benefit

1 Identify a problem
2 Explain how the product solves it
3 Clarifiy the benefit

"Kip makes therapy more effective [problem] by tracking your weekly progress through assessments [solution]. No more uncertainty [benefit] as to whether you're improving"

Differentiation

Write copy highlighting how you differ from the competition.

• Are you the only dog food company endorsed by the SPCA?
• Are you the biggest, fastest, or highest quality in your market?

Lead with what makes you unique. Then add details to support your claim.

Ask a pressing question

Pose an intriguing question. For example:

"Did you know airlines will pay you up to $135 if you get delayed?"

Try to ask questions that prompt responses such as, "Wow, I didn't know that" and "No, tell me more."

Match value props to audiences

Examples:

Cost: "The only full-featured, 4K camera that’s affordable on a *student’s budget*"

Quality: "High quality shirts for *people who obsess over details*"

When people see themselves in your copy, they're more likely to click.

Once you have a first draft of copy, it's time to make it more compelling.

There are two ways to do it:

1. Reorder words.
2. End with a hook.

Reorder words.

Place the phrase that explains your product at the beginning of your ad copy:

Good: "Looking to rent retail space? Rent locations in your city by the day, week, or month"

Bad: "Rent by day, week, or month—that's the flexibility we bring to retail space rentals"

End with a hook.

People are compelled to click when they're left *wanting more*

• Make them curious to know more: "Click to see how little we charge to fully redesign your website"

• Offer them significant value: "We are 10x cheaper than the option you're using now"

Avoid these common copywriting errors:

• Not twisting the knife—you want readers really feel the pain you solve
• Disjointed sentences that don't logically flow from one to the next
• Vague value props. Be specific
• Not being concise. Eliminate needless words

Consider adding social proof—external validation that your product is as great.

• Show off your customer count: "Over 5,000 dog lovers rely on us"
• Highlight marquee customers: "Used by Microsoft, Salesforce, and IBM"
• Plug great reviews: "5 stars in the App Store"

CTAs

The call-to-action (CTA) button or link is what takes readers to the next step in the journey.

Good CTA copy typically begins with a verb that teases what the audience will encounter next:

*Watch* the product in action
*See* the high-res photos
*Browse* the full inventory

On to design. A few rules:

1. Depict the product in action: Literally show the value of the product
2. Say what the product is: Add text to reinforce what is being advertised
3. Be purposeful: No stock imagery
4. Match the surrounding aesthetic: Know your platform👇

Show the product in action.

Don't make people guess what you're selling.

If you're selling a physical good, show it in use next to a closeup photo.

If you're selling software, show a screenshot of the product's dashboard instead of an abstract illustration of your services.

Say what the product is.

Readers skim by default. They're not looking to decode the meaning of your vague imagery.

The solution: Overlay a few words that describe the product.

Be purposeful.

Never show an anonymous businessperson smiling next to a computer. It's generic.

Instead, select imagery with purpose: Every visual asset (e.g. a person, product, logo) should help depict the product in action or depict its specific value

Match the aesthetic.

Don’t design an ad before knowing how it'll look on its ad channel.

Goal: You want to include bold imagery w/o getting reflexively identified and dismissed as an ad.

So use appealing creative (to grab attention) that still looks like it belongs on site.

Recap:

• Brainstorm value props & concerns
• Write sentences to address each
• Use one of the 4 frameworks to write long-form copy
• Refine through word order & hooks
• Make your ad as concise as possible.

Then pair your copy with purposeful, attention-grabbing creative.

A few examples of great ads:

For more growth threads, give us a follow @growthtactics

We also save our best insights for our newsletter.

Get bi-weekly growth tactics here: demandcurve.com/newsletter