Best Ad Copywriters

What a good ad copy package includes

Ad copy gigs are usually priced by the number of ads or variations. Check that the package states:

• Platforms: search, social, display, or video scripts.
• Number of variations: headlines, primary text and descriptions.
• Character limits met for each platform and placement.
• Angles: different reasons to click, such as saving time, price, quality or proof.
• Calls to action matched to your goal.
• Policy check: copy written with the platform's ad rules in mind.
• Revisions and delivery time.

How to brief an ad copywriter

1. The platform and format, with a screenshot of the ad type if possible.
2. The landing page the ad will link to.
3. The offer: product, price or discount, and any deadline.
4. The audience: who sees the ad and what they care about.
5. Search phrases for search ads, from your ad specialist or research.
6. Past ads and their results, including ones that did not work.
7. Words and claims to avoid.

Ask for copy grouped by angle, with a short note on each. It makes testing easier: when one angle wins, you know what to write more of, and your ad specialist can build new ads around it.

Keep a simple file of every ad and how it performed. Over time it shows which angles and words work for your customers, which makes each new brief shorter and each new batch of ads better.

What drives the price

• number of ads and variations
• number of platforms and formats
• research into audience, competitors and search phrases
• video ad scripts versus text only
• regulated industries that need careful wording
• ongoing monthly copy for testing

Red flags

• Promises of a specific click rate or return on ad spend.
• Variations that are the same idea with small word changes.
• Copy that ignores character limits.
• Exaggerated claims that the platform may reject or that your product cannot support.
• No questions about your landing page.

To run the ads, see our guides to search ads and paid social media. For the page the ad leads to, read our sales copy guide.

Ask the writer to include a short headline you can also use on the landing page. When the words in the ad and the first words on the page match, visitors know immediately that they are in the right place. It is one of the simplest ways to reduce wasted clicks and make each ad work harder. Revisit the copy every few weeks, because ads that people have seen many times gradually stop working.

Quick pre-order checklist

• I know the platform, format and character limits.
• I have shared the landing page and the offer.
• The package includes variations with different angles.
• Every claim in the ads is true and allowed on the platform.
• I have a plan for testing the variations.