Ah, social media advertising… those delightful interruptions in our feed & YouTube videos.
As someone knee-deep in the world of photography, film production, and running ads, I’ve seen my fair share of cringeworthy attempts to grab attention. When terrible ads appear, I don’t skip them… I study them. You know the ones I’m talking about – actors in absurd costumes, spouting off lines that no human being would ever utter in real life.
It’s like they think we’re all brain-dead zombies.
How You SHOULD Be Advertising Your Business
Back in 2017, I had enough. Fed up with the industry treating viewers like clueless cash cows, I founded my agency on a different principle: respect for the audience’s intelligence. Sure, captivating visuals play a crucial role, but let’s not lose sight of the real goal here – selling your product or service.
While others may swear by singing jingles and creating cute hashtags, I’m all about substance. You won’t catch me peddling fluff. Instead, I pack my ad copy with information that consumers actually need to know. Because let’s face it, your customers aren’t idiots. They’re savvy, skeptical, and they’ve got a radar for BS that’s sharper than a hawk’s eye.
Instead of criticizing others’ attempts at creating ads, I’ll provide you with solutions and examples for crafting high-quality advertisements for your business.
The Real Secret To Making Advertisements That Sell
This advice will be the opposite of what you’ll find with other agencies or search engines. Let’s look at the first Google snippet when you ask “should social media ad copy be long or short?”:
I blocked out the company who wrote this dreadful article because I’m not here to tear down other agencies. I’m here to dispel common myths about social media advertising and help you get much better results.
You know which ads historically performed best? It was those late night infomercials that showcased products being used in various ways and people trying them out for themselves. For example, I LOVE cooking and 21 years ago there was an infomercial for a blender called the “Magic Bullet”. Sure, they were a little eccentric, but they showed their product in use AND guaranteed the results or your money-back.
This was back in the days when most people watched TV, long before social media advertising & Amazon was popular.
Yup.. I actually ordered one of those bad boys and still use it to this day.
Remember, good advertising isn’t about being a clown on camera or crafting slogans that belong in a kindergarten sing-along. It’s about providing value, answering questions, and addressing concerns head-on. That’s where long-form copywriting comes into play – my secret weapon.
How To Write Long Form Ad Copy That Brings In The Cash
Long-form copywriting isn’t just about filling space with words. It’s about weaving a narrative that hooks the reader, educates them, and earns their trust – imagine an ad that reads like a conversation between two friends. No frills, no gimmicks, just straight-up information that helps your audience make an informed decision.
Do you still believe people WON’T READ A LONG AD? Here’s an example of a social media advertising campaign I just launched for an Italian restaurant. Plus, I’ll show you the results they are getting. You don’t have to squint your eyes and read the whole thing (unless you want to). I’m simply showing you how long your ads can actually be:
In this ad, I explain the flavours, what makes their restaurant unique, how big the portions are, the prices, daily specials, customer testimonials, AND what the dining experience is like from the moment you walk through their doors.
There’s no second guessing when the customer reads this ad. They feel fully informed and ready to try their food, all without making cute jokes or using ‘popular hashtags’. I pretend like I’m explaining this restaurant experience to a close friend, not a mindless fool.
But do people actually read it? This campaign launched 21-days ago, let’s take a peek at the results so far:
By seeing how many link clicks you get, you’ll easily be able to tell if people are reading your entire ad.
If they aren’t clicking, you should be rewriting it and trying another. Again, having good pictures is still crucial for an ads success, but it’s more important on what information you convey to the customer that counts. Saying that, the BEST METRIC is how much your sales increase. Link clicks are a great way to see if people are reading your entire ad – but the real results show in your bottom line.
Once you make a campaign that’s pulling in some big bucks then you can scale up the ad spend.
Google PPC ads for “restaurant near me” would have charged upwards of $8-$20 per link click, and this restaurant is getting $1.10 per link click. What’s also great about social media advertising compared to Google PPC is that you get to see who is interacting with your ad instead of simply numbers on a screen.
I’m not saying Google PPC ads are completely useless, but for those looking to maximize their returns on ad spend with minimal budgets, this is by far the best way to go.
Side note: Facebook’s “ad recommendations” often prioritize you spending more money with them. Ignore these suggestions. Instead, place your clickable link at the very end of your long-form copy. Avoid using Facebook’s “call-to-action” button, which can make your ad appear less natural. You want to blend seamlessly into peoples feed as they scroll, so make your ad look like how most people post on social media.
Your ‘call to action’ should appear AFTER they’ve read your ad copy and are convinced to try your product or service. Example:
Now... Get Writing Folks
Your ads & website landing pages should be rife with information. That doesn’t mean dragging on about nothing, it means sharing the nitty gritty details that your customers NEED to know before they make a purchasing decision. Imagine if I sang a song to you like, “🎵Cyrus Media… the best agency in town!🎵” and then ran away. That would be stupid wouldn’t it?
You’d want to know my experience, pricing, client testimonials and EXACTLY what you would get when investing your hard-earned cash with my company.
So, next time you’re tempted to throw together a flashy post with zero substance, think again. Your audience deserves better. Give them the facts, show them the benefits, and watch your business grow. Because in the end – it’s about making that sale, plain and simple.
I’ll be making a free YouTube video series that goes into more detail about some tips & tricks you can use to decrease your ad spend even further. Such as, if you’re a restaurant that doesn’t sell vegan food then you’ll want to EXCLUDE vegans from your targeting interests in the Facebook ad manager. Stay tuned for more tips like that. Best of luck on your next campaign.
If you want to get some help and hire an agency that’s been doing this for years then call me to book your free 30-min consultation.
Should you want to learn how to write convincing ads yourself then this book by John Carleton is a great place to start – he will dispel the common myths most people have about advertising:
Let’s raise a toast to social media advertising that respects our intelligence and gets the job done.