Social media is all about the content, and LinkedIn makes no exception to this rule. As LinkedIn members scroll down their feed, they see hundreds of posts, articles and announcements every single day. Organic and paid content are constantly competing with each other for the attention of the user. For this reason, today we will see some tips on how to write a killer LinkedIn ad copy that actually works.
In the era of abundant content that is easily accessible on the Internet, we have grown to have the attention span of a gold fish.
Well, probably not all of us, but a vast majority of us. And of course, this is completely normal. After all, we need to process information as fast as possible before we receive the next fresh batch.
The point is, competition for the attention of LinkedIn members is just as fierce as on any other social media channel. Of course, paid promotion has its own place reserved on the user’s feed despite the quantity of organic content.
However, there are a lot of ads that LinkedIn members are going to see during their time spent on the platform. And not all of them are going to be interesting enough in order to capture their attention.
For this reason, you need to create LinkedIn ads that stand out from the crowd and not only attract the eyes of the audience, but also keeps them entertained.
And one way to do it, apart from having a highly visual banner (you can check my LinkedIn ad examples here), is through a powerful LinkedIn ad copy.
So, here are my tips and best practices on how to write a great LinkedIn ad copy that actually works:
1. Keep it short & sweet
You have up to 600 characters to write a compelling introductory text for your ad, spaces included. However, this doesn’t mean that you should necessarily fill the whole space up just because you can.
In fact, from my own experience of having launched hundreds of LinkedIn campaigns, I have noticed that copies of 1-2 lines work the best for a great LinkedIn ad copy.
And the reason for that is simple. After the second line, users will have to click on See more to reveal the rest:
And people will rarely do that just to find out what exactly you wanted to say with your ad. Keep in mind that the majority of users will not stop at every post to read it before they make up their mind. You should be able to get your point across in under 2 lines.
Approximately, this would be about 150 – 180 characters. In fact, a maximum of 150 characters is LinkedIn’s own recommendation, as texts over 150 characters might get truncated on most devices.
2. Try different copy lengths
This might come across as a bit contradictory compared to the first point, but give me a second, and it will make more sense.
Every business, product, and Marketing message are different. And general recommendations are just that – general. So they simply might not work for everyone. In some industries, people will need more information to understand your product and take action.
For this reason, the best way to find out what works for you and your particular industry is to test different copy lengths.
This way, even if shorter copies end up working better for you anyway, you know that you have tested out multiple versions and discarded the low-performing ones from your own experience.
LinkedIn allows you to include multiple creatives within your campaigns, so take advantage of it. For example, you can incorporate 3-4 different ads, one with a copy of 1 line, another one with a copy of 2 lines, another one with 3-4 lines, and so on.
And let users decide for you!
Important: Since we are testing ad copies, make sure that all of your ads within the same campaign use the same banner. This way, you will be able to spot which ad copy works the best. However, if you are trying to test different ad copies with different banners, you will not be able to distinguish what was it that really worked for you.Β
3. Include a link in your LinkedIn ad copy
Next on our list of tips to write an effective LinkedIn ad copy is to include a link at the end of it.
Although there is a particular place within the ad to paste your destination URL, this is not the only place you can do that. You can actually paste the URL in the text as well, and I highly recommend that you do that.
Sometimes, people prefer to click on the link within the copy instead on the ad itself. Especially when the whole text, with the URL included, fits under 2 lines. Having the URL before the See more option will increase its visibility and grab the attention.
4. Include a Call to Action
Having a clear Call to Action is crucial when it comes to an effective LinkedIn ad copy. Sometimes, we wrongly assume that users will instantly know what to do when they see our ad. But in reality, you might need to give them a little push on that.
What do you want the user to do after they’ve clicked on your ad? Download a brochure, sign up for a webinar, request more information, or directly purchase your product? Let them know with a Call to Action in a visible place.
Preferably in the beginning of the copy, or in the end if the whole copy is visible at a first glance. Once you have an idea of what you want LinkedIn members to do after clicking on your ad, think of what would be the best possible way to express it.
Some of the most classical examples include:
- Read more;
- Learn more;
- Download brochure;
- Sign up;
- Start your free trial;
And of course, you can also try to spice it up and put it in a more creative way. For example, let’s take a look at this CTA from Google’s ad copy on LinkedIn:
“Reach customers in the moments that matter”, which is just another way of saying “Sell more with us”.
What I also love about this copy is that it combines perfectly with the banner itself. The text on banner looks like an extension to the phrase from the ad copy – “Reach customers…Right time. Right place. Right ad”. Just awesome!
5. Use numbers to grab the attention
Including a number in your LinkedIn ad copy is another way of drawing the attention of your users. As Moz confirms in a study made by Conductor, the general headline preference for blog post readers was a headline that included a number:
And although this particular study has nothing to do with LinkedIn, the rule works just as well for LinkedIn copies. I don’t know the exact psychology behind it, but I feel it has to be with the “scarcity” of numbers in a piece of full of letters.
For this reason, when a person sees a number within a piece of text, it immediately catches his attention because it’s a different character that doesn’t show up as much. Of course, my reasoning can be wrong. π But it is something that I have definitely see working well in multiple occasions.
What kind of numbers should you include in LinkedIn ad copy? Some examples include:
- A relevant statistic – “Did you know that 50% of users prefer…”;
- An important year – “In 1999, we founded our company…”;
- An achievement – “We won 3 prizes for the best agency…”;
- Or even “Over 1,000 clients have trusted our services…”;
And so on! Basically, any relevant number that adds value to your LinkedIn ad copy. And makes it much more interesting than it was previously.
6. Adapt your tone to your audience
Another important thing to keep in mind when it comes to crafting an excellent LinkedIn ad copy is your tone. Needless to say, it should adapt to your ideal target audience. Obviously, you will not speak to teenagers the same way you would to highly-experienced executives.
However, there is also one interesting phenomenon that has been happening in the last couple of years. Many executives, especially in the startup and tech environment, have a different image than the one we know with suits and ties.
In other words, some executives nowadays respond better to a more casual language rather than a more formal one. So, it is always a good idea to perform an A/B testing with different tones and languages (formal vs casual).
This way, you will find out which one works the best for your audience.
7. Test different sentence types
While we are on the topic of tones and emotional relatability, another way you can test your LinkedIn ad copy is through different sentence types. Or, in other words:
- Interrogative – speak directly to your audience by using questions. Including questions in your copy will make people subsconsciously answer them in their head.
- Exclamative – you can also include exclamative sentences to draw the attention to your post, and create an emotional response to it.
- Declarative – needless to say, statements probably already make a good part of your copy. They are the most popular ones, and for a reason!
For example, for one particular company I noticed that declarative sentences worked much better than interrogative ones. Every time I started the LinkedIn ad copy with a question, it always got lower CTRs compared to regular sentences.
But of course, this doesn’t mean that the same will be applicable to your business as well – so don’t forget to always test multiple versions to find out what works the best for you.Β
And try to avoid being imperative. Users will definitely not like that!
8. Include your brand name
By default, a sponsored post will have your brand name right above the copy. Which, in other words, is the name of your LinkedIn Company page.
However, I highly suggest that you also include your brand name in either your ad headline or ad description as well. This small and effortless action will help you increase brand awareness and make people remember your brand the next time they see your content.
Here is one example from the company Bitso:
I love the way they’ve incorporated their company name in the LinkedIn ad copy – it feels natural within the sentence, and doesn’t feel forced with the sole purpose of mentioning the brand. Which is the best way to do it.
Of course, if putting the name of your company within the copy doesn’t make sense for a particular copy, don’t force it either. You can always test different copies to find out if this action adds value for you.Β
9. Compelling ad headline
Of course, every great LinkedIn ad copy should be paired with a compelling ad headline.
Ad headlines are the short texts that show up right below your banner. And they are very important when it comes to reinforcing your initial message. Always make sure to include a Call to Action in your headline, apart from any other relevant information.
The message of the headline should always be aligned with your LinkedIn ad copy. For example, if the copy is talking about inviting people to a webinar, but the headline is trying to sell you the company’s product, it will confuse the audience and make your company look untrustworthy.
Let’s take a look at this great example from Google Ads – they have included a juicy discount coupon for first-time users.
Which not only attracts the attention instantly, but is also perfectly aligned with the ad copy. By getting your coupon, you will be able to get your new business discovered online, and reach thousands of potential customers – Google Ads really manages to get their message across.
10. Include hashtags
And last but not least, remember that you can include hashtags within your LinkedIn ad copy. Of course, don’t include hashtags just because you can. However, they can really add value to your post if they are relevant to the overall content.
Especially if you are trying to start a conversation around a particular topic.
For example, in this case, the influencer company CreatorIQ is promoting an article on the Marketing of beauty brands, and they have added a few relevant hashtags to reinforce their message and get people talking about the topic of Influencer Marketing in the beauty industry. This is especially confirmed by the hashtag #trending.
And that was all from me, folks! As always, thank you for taking the time to read my article on writing an effective LinkedIn ad copy, and I hope to see you in the next one! In the meantime, don’t hesitate to leave me a comment with your suggestions or questions down below!
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