Crafting effective ad copy doesn’t have to be a complicated task, especially with the help of AI tools like ChatGPT. This is a powerful ad copy formula that has proven successful over many years, offering a robust structure for creating good ad copy without needing to be an expert copywriter.
By applying this formula with the right prompts, AI can generate highly effective ad copy quickly.
Step 1: Understand the Core Ad Copy Formula
The foundation of compelling ad copy lies in a four-part formula designed to capture attention and guide the audience towards your offer. You need to understand these elements before you begin:
- Call Out the Target Audience: Start by directly addressing the specific group you want to reach. This immediately grabs their attention by letting them know the ad is for them. Examples include “Young families” or “Senior citizens”.
- Identify the Problem: Next, highlight a problem your target audience faces that your product or service aims to solve. This gets into their head by speaking about issues they might be experiencing, such as not understanding how life insurance works or thinking it’s too expensive. Asking a question like “what would happen if something unexpected took you out of the picture?” can be very powerful in getting people to think.
- Present the Solution: Introduce your product, service, or, most importantly, your lead magnet as the solution to their identified problem. The speaker often transitions to this by saying, “That’s why we created XYZ” or “That’s why we’re offering XYZ”. This solution is typically a valuable “lead magnet” – something enticing that encourages people to provide their contact information, like a free guide, a discount code, a free trial, or a free webinar. You should then explain the benefits of this lead magnet and how it specifically solves the problem you mentioned.
- Implement a Call to Action (CTA): Finally, provide a clear and straightforward instruction on what you want the audience to do next to access the solution (your lead magnet). An example is “Get your free guide by clicking the button down below”.
Step 2: Craft Your AI Prompt
To get the best results from your AI tool, you need to provide it with clear and specific instructions.
- Set the AI’s Persona: Begin your prompt by instructing the AI to act as an expert in ad copywriting. For example, “You are an ad copywriting expert”. You could also specify other relevant expertises depending on your industry, such as “life insurance expert” or “annuity expert”.
- Define Your Campaign Goal: Clearly state what type of ad you want to create and what its ultimate objective is. For instance, “I want to create a Facebook ad that offers a free life insurance guide that teaches people everything they need to know about life insurance so they eventually request a free quote from our company”.
- Specify the Formula Application: Instruct the AI to use the outlined formula. “Please use the following formula to write a few different variations of ad copy for this type of offer: call out the audience, identify the problem, share what the solution is, use a call to action to get the free guide”.
- Be Specific About Target Audience and Offer: The more precise you are about who you are targeting and what you are offering, the better the AI’s output will be. For example, if targeting senior citizens for final expense life insurance, state that clearly in your prompt, mentioning the specific guide. You can also provide specific pain points or common questions related to your offer to guide the AI further.
Step 3: Generate and Refine Ad Copy Variations
AI is a powerful tool, but it’s not perfect; the first output may not be exactly what you need.
- Generate Multiple Variations: Ask the AI to produce several different versions of the ad copy based on your prompt. This increases your chances of getting suitable options and allows for mixing and matching.
- Consider Copy Length: You can ask for short-form or long-form copy, as both have proven successful. The speaker tends to lean towards shorter copy but acknowledges the value of longer versions.
- Request Longer Versions for Testing: After getting initial variations, you can prompt the AI to expand on them to create longer versions. This provides more content for split testing and seeing what resonates best with your audience.
- Review and Combine: Look through the generated variations. You might find that combining elements from different versions creates the strongest ad copy. The AI’s ability to ask specific questions within the copy can be particularly effective at engaging the audience and making them think.
Step 4: (Optional) Further Optimisation and Testing
- Generate Headline Variations: While it;s often good practice to keep headlines simple (e.g., “Request your free life insurance guide”), you can ask the AI to generate different headline options if desired.
- Split Test: To determine what works best for your audience, you can run different versions of the ad copy (short vs. long, different variations) while keeping other ad elements consistent. This helps identify which ad copy performs most effectively.