How to Generate New Ideas for Ad Copy—Quickly
85%–95% of new creative concepts fail.
Roughly translated, that means most of your copy ideas will suck.
Let’s say you’re running Facebook ads.
You write five versions, each one a little different.
4 out of the 5 Facebook ads will fail. (And there’s a decent chance the fifth one will fail too.)
It gets worse. Even your best creative will experience “fatigue” and deliver diminishing financial returns.
At best, only 5%–15% of your copy ideas will succeed...or at least be less suck-y.
Does this mean you shouldn’t bother running ads? Not at all!
If you know your audience spends time on Facebook, it’s worth running ads there.
But you’ll want to run more versions of your copy. The more ad creative you run, the higher your chances of finding creative that actually succeeds and makes money.
Stacked Marketer recommends coming up with 20–50 new creatives (or ads) for your campaigns.
That’s a great benchmark if your marketing team has the time and talent.
If you don’t, it’s okay.
Coming up with 20–50 versions of your ad copy isn’t as hard as it sounds.
Here are a few ways to generate fresh ideas for creative, fast—plus a few tools that make idea generation easier.
Look Over Your Customer Research
Customer research isn’t only good for assembling copy...it’s perfect for brainstorming new ideas, too.
Read testimonials and reviews. Revisit feedback. Look for patterns. Highlight the benefits, questions, and objections.
If you’ve done your research, you should find lots of ideas for ad copy.
If your research is thin, now’s the time to interview ten of your best customers or clients and ask them good questions.
Brainstorm New Angles (at least 5)
Try a few different copy angles.
Maybe one ad compares your prices to a competitor’s, two ads highlight different benefits of the product, one ad provides a before/after comparison, one ad leads with a testimonial, and so on.
Obviously the ideas you come up with should tie directly back to your customer research.
But try a few angles and let those shape your copy.
Play with Emotions (2–3)
Not everyone will have the time to do this, but it’s worth trying out emotional angles, too.
Write one ad that pours lemon juice on the wound and another that pulls the customer in for a hug.
Just remember: Not all emotions are appropriate for your brand or your customers, so keep that brand guide handy.
Test Headlines (5)
Let’s be real: You should be writing numerous headlines anyway.
David Ogilvy said, “I never write fewer than sixteen headlines for a single advertisement.”
Write at least five headlines. That’s five pieces of new creative right there.
Experiment with Your Calls-to-Action (5)
An ad platform like Facebook obviously limits you to preloaded calls-to-action (CTAs) like “Learn More” and “Shop Now.”
But you can still ad CTAs to your graphics, the body copy, and even Facebook’s “Headline” field.
CTAs are underrated. Instead of settling for “learn more” or “shop now,” add mini benefits to each one, like this:
“Shop Now and Save Money”
“Sign Up Now, No Credit Card Needed”
“Build Your Treehouse”
See? Three more pieces of creative.
Isolate Keywords (5)
If you’re doing any kind of SEO, you’ve probably got a spreadsheet of keywords somewhere.
Open that spreadsheet and look over those keywords.
Write one headline based on each one.
Idea Generation Tools
Marketing demands a lot of brain power. Don’t be afraid to add tools to your kit. Having the right tools can save you energy—and time.
The following tools will lend lightning to your brainstorms:
AI Copywriting ($$)
Most AI tools come with a price tag. But if you’ve got a little extra cash and you’re crunched for time, they can help you generate multiple phrasings and angles quickly.
Neil Patel’s got a nice list of AI copywriting recommendations, pros and cons, and pricing. He doesn’t include Jarvis, which is another popular alternative.
NOTE: Most of these tools claim they write copy when they actually write content. Use them, but wear your editor hat. You’re gonna need it.
Word Generators (Free)
Generate 5–10 random words. Now write one version of your ad using 1–2 of the generated words.
You probably won’t use all of the words or the ads. But you’ll definitely get new ideas for angles and concepts.
Once you’ve got those angles and concepts, write 5–10 headlines, subheads, CTAs, and benefits for each one.
To Sum Up
Do this and you’ve already got more than 20 new creative ideas. Not bad at all, right?
Hope this helps you.
Persuade responsibly, friends.
