The 7 Deadly Sins of Ad Copy
Mistake 1: The "Me Too" Trap (Weak Value Proposition)
This is the most common crime in advertising. It happens when you sound exactly like everyone else. You write things like: "Best quality service," "Customer satisfaction guaranteed," or "We are innovative." The problem? Your competitor said the exact same thing five minutes ago. When the brain sees a familiar pattern, it tunes it out. If you have a weak value proposition, you become invisible.
Mistake 2: Writing a Novel on a Smartphone (Ignoring Mobile Users)
Drafting your ads on a desktop monitor is dangerous. It gives you a false sense of space. When that same ad appears on a mobile phone, your 4-sentence paragraph turns into a "wall of text." It looks like work. It looks exhausting. Ignoring mobile users is the fastest way to get skipped. Mobile users are in a hurry; they are skimming, not reading.
The Fix: Break it up. Use single-sentence paragraphs. Use emojis as bullet points to catch the eye. If your copy looks dense, hit the "Enter" key twice. Your ad needs to look inviting, not intimidating.
Mistake 3: The "Whisper" Close (Unclear Call to Action)
You wrote a great hook. You agitated the pain. You presented the solution. And then... you mumbled the ending. Using passive language like "Check us out" or "Learn more" leaves money on the table. Even worse is having no button at all. An unclear call to action creates a "decision gap" where the user has to guess what to do next. When they guess, they leave.
The Fix: Be a commander, not a suggestion box. Tell them exactly what the next step is. "Download the Cheat Sheet", "Book Your Audit", "Get 50% Off Now". The more directive you are, the higher your CTR will be.
Mistake 4: Selling Marriage on the First Date
Imagine walking up to a stranger and asking them to marry you. That is what you are doing when you ask a "cold" audience to "Buy Now" for a $500 product in the very first ad. They don't know you. They don't trust you yet. This mistake leads to high clicks but zero conversions because the "ask" is too big for the relationship level.
The Fix: Match the offer to the temperature. For cold traffic, sell the click, not the product. Offer value first—a guide, a quiz, or a low-risk offer. Warm them up before you go for the big sale.
Mistake 5: Focusing on "Features" Instead of "Life After"
Nobody cares about your software's sleek interface. Nobody cares about the thread count of your sheets. They care about themselves. One of the biggest ad copywriting mistakes is talking about the "plane" instead of the "vacation." Features are logical; buying decisions are emotional.
Mistake 6: Assuming They Believe You (Lack of Proof)
The internet is full of scams. Your audience is skeptical by default. If you make a big claim like "Triple your revenue" without backing it up, they will assume you are lying. A lack of proof acts as a subconscious brake pedal.
Mistake 7: The "Set It and Forget It" Syndrome (No A/B Testing)
You wrote one ad. You think it's brilliant. You launch it and walk away. This is arrogance. The market is the only judge that matters, and the market is unpredictable. Refusing to do A/B testing means you are betting your entire budget on a single guess. If that guess is wrong, your campaign dies.
I see businesses spend thousands on 'branding' and 'logos,' but they treat their ad copy as an afterthought. This is backwards.
Your copy is the only part of your business that touches the prospect before they pay you. If you are seeing wasted ad spend, stop tweaking the audience targeting settings. The algorithm is fine; your hook is weak. Fix the words, and the math will fix itself.