10 Top tips for a compelling Instagram ad copy

Nowadays, when you open your phones or laptops, you are instantly thrown into a world of chaos. There you have some content on anything you are minutely interested in and lots of something you never asked for – ads! Marketers now have the demand to create a virtually perfect ad – good visuals, great copy, and a click-worthy CTA. There is no room for error. So, let us tackle one problem today: How do you create an Instagram ad copy that smacks?

Does it matter to have a Good Ad Copy?

If someone says, words do not matter, copies are not relevant anymore, you might be inclined to agree. But when Nike said “Just do it” or L’Oréal said “Because you’re worth it”, it stuck with people. It inspired an emotion, evoked a response, and stuck with users.

So good copy does matter. And when you nail your copy, you too can see equivalent results. 

Although Instagram is a visually focused platform, copy acts as a crucial element in converting your audience too. And a study on captions suggests the same, stating that longer captions tend to have a higher engagement rate. Which makes it clear that having a great ad copy is still important.

10 Tips for Writing A Great Copy That Converts

Now that we have established the importance of having a great copy, it is time to sit down and write one that will work for you. So, let us go through it. Write out as many versions of a copy as you can think of. And once you have a rough outline planned, let us check out how you can take it from outline to perfection.

1. Instagram ad guidelines

Check out this example from Madgicx, the caption is cut off. But before it gets cut, it has managed to convey the hook, thus prompting users to want to check out more.

When you write an ad copy, it is important to keep in mind the platform that you are going to be posting it to. Each social media channel has its own set of specifications, and Instagram does too. 

Here are some of the important Instagram ad guidelines that you need to keep in mind to make the best use of your copy:

If you don’t make adequate use of them, your copy might crop right before it gets to the juicy part (aka your value proposition, offer details, and so on). And your users might not interact with your ad, which beats the whole purpose.

2. Think like a customer

Having a tote that suits all occasions is an amazing thing, ask any girl you know. It is the ultimate dream! And this copy is on point when addressing this problem.

As a business owner, you might have a perception of your audience that may not actually match your customers. This gap can cost you dearly, because you might not be equipped to write the right kind of ad copy.

This is where researching about your target audience plays a major part. Once you have found the necessary details, aim to answer the following questions via your ad copy:

• What is your brand or product?
• What pain point of the customer are you targeting to solve with your product?
• How can the customer benefit from the product?
• Where can the product be bought?

Make sure to portray the product as easy to get, use, and reap benefits from. People hate complicated processes.

3. Which part of the funnel are you targeting?

You might have formulated an end goal when you started planning this ad campaign. Spare some thought to find out which part of the marketing funnel this ad falls under. 

Because, based on that, the ad will be shown to a diverse set of people. For example, your Top of funnel ad will be shown to anyone who is mildly interested in your niche. If you write about your product features in such a kind of ad, it might not resonate. 

So before starting an Instagram ad copy, think about which of the following objectives your ad is focusing on:

• Awareness: Will be shown to a large, diverse audience.
• Traffic: The objective here will be to bring more people to your website or social profiles. Therefore, this too will be shown to a diverse group
• Engagement: This will be shown to users who have shown previous interest in your brand and might engage with your content.
• Lead generation: These people are familiar with your content and offerings and have interacted with you in the past.
• Sales: The users in this part will be more filtered and less diverse. Here you need to straighten your copy and charm the socks off your audience to make those bucks!

4. Ditch the boring CTAs

A CTA (Call To Action) is the most effective way of identifying if your ads are making the impact you wanted them to make. Because, ultimately, if your CTA doesn’t get clicked, then your ads did not serve their purpose.

So, if you are going to spend so much time on ad creatives and copy, you might as well write a clever CTA as well. Now, we are not talking about the boring “Learn More” CTAs that provide no tangible input to the audience.

We are talking about a CTA that is:

• Clear and concise
• Short but impactful
• Prompts action
• Conveys the message clearly
• Tells the benefits, the users will derive once they click this button

5. Establish your Brand voice and Tone

There is too much noise in the social media world, where brands are falling over themselves to get attention. Amongst all this competition, how can you make your brand stand out?

You have to be active on your socials and also be consistent everywhere. Use the same brand voice and tone (that is appealing to your customers) throughout all the platforms. This way, people will remember you when they see your ad copy even without seeing a logo.

And maintaining consistency throughout the platforms shows your brand has personality and improves brand recall.

Having a brand voice can be anything from:

• Is your tone quirky or professional?
• Do you use emojis and exclamations in your copy?
• Do you adopt any slang?

6. Use keywords

I know, this might sound like a given. But there are so many people who don’t understand the importance of using keywords in their ad copy. Without keywords, ads cannot be categorized and shown to the right people.

If you are someone who is not familiar with keywords and need help finding them, then you can use Google Keyword Planner. Find out the keywords that are relevant to your niche and your products so you can add them in your copy to drive conversions.

7. Align with the Landing Page

UAbility uses similar phrasing in their ads and landing page to ensure that users know exactly what they are getting.

This is one of the common issues that a lot of ads face. They scrutinise every part of the ad and get people to click on their CTA, but forget to optimise the landing page. After all, this is where the user journey ends, so it needs to match the rest of your ad, right?

To ensure consistency, you can add snippets from your landing page to your Instagram ad copy. This assures the user that they are actually getting what they were promised in the ad.

8. Address the common issues 

SEO is a vast subject that is hard to master. And even though sometimes you do everything right, it might not work for some reason. This is a common issue faced by many, and Dondo hit the copy on the nail.

Now that you have an in-depth understanding of what your audience wants. You probably know what their major issue would be with interacting with your ad.

For example, if you are targeting school or college students, then you know they are strapped for cash. If you are selling them an expensive product, then they might not be inclined to buy. This is where you should be pitching them cheaper options or flexible payment options. And most importantly, make the offer irresistible for them to decline.

9. Make the ad scroll-stopping

If you have used Instagram even once, you know how incredibly scroll-worthy the platform is. In this fast-paced platform, your ad truly needs to stand out to make your user stop scrolling and see what you are offering.

To make your Instagram ad copy scroll-stopping, you need to hook your audience within the first few moments of your ad. This can be anything from a statistic that is shocking or a limited-time offer that is too great to be let go of.

Some ways you can ensure that:

• Show clearly that this is a limited offer and let the audience know when the deal will be over.
• Ensure scarcity is conveyed through your messaging.
• Use the first few sentences of your copy to immediately invoke a sense of urgency.

10. Customer Testimonials

Easyinsights.ai casually dropped the names of their biggest clients, which ultimately boosted the trustworthiness of their brand.

This is one of the most underrated ways of establishing your brand as the best in the category. That is by letting your customers vouch for you.

Now this type of ads can come in a variety of formats, such as:

• You can get UGC (User Generated Content) creators to use your product and let them tell their true review. You can even ask them to include your brand voice and tone in their videos to ensure consistency across platforms. Plus, you get the added advantage of tapping into their audience as well.
• Or, you can get Influencers or big-name clients (if you have them) to talk about your product. This will add credibility and trust to your product. 

In such cases, you only need to have a minimum copy since the main focus of the ad is the creative and the subject itself.

Conclusion

Writing an Instagram ad copy and generating posts need not take up a lot of your time. With Predis AI, you can leverage AI-automation and ready-made templates to generate best-performing ads in a matter of seconds. With a whole suite of social media management tools, the Predis AI platform is a one-stop solution for all your requirements.

So, sign up today to get a free Predis AI account and start your ad journey with a bang!