Ad Copy Skill
Paid ads live or die on the hook and the angle, and you never know which wins — so you test several. This skill writes platform-native variants (right format, right character limits) across distinct angles (pain, outcome, social proof, curiosity, objection), so you ship a real test, not one guess.
Required Inputs
Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:
- Platform(s) — Google Search, Meta (FB/IG), LinkedIn, X, etc. (format and limits differ).
- Product & offer — what's advertised and the action (click, lead, install, buy).
- Audience & their trigger — who's targeted and the pain/desire that makes them click.
- Differentiator & proof — why you, and any metric/social proof to use.
- Landing destination — so the ad matches the page (message match lifts conversion).
Output Format
Ad Copy: [product] — [platform(s)]
For each platform, produce variants in its native fields and limits, e.g.:
Google Search — 3 sets of {Headlines (≤30 chars ×3), Descriptions (≤90 chars ×2)}. Meta / LinkedIn — 4 ads of {Primary text (hook in first line, ~125 chars before "see more"), Headline, Description, CTA button}.
Each variant labelled with its angle and what it tests:
| # | Angle | Hook | What it tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pain | "Still doing X by hand?" | does the problem framing resonate |
| 2 | Outcome | "Ship Y in a day" | does the result pull harder |
| 3 | Social proof | "5,000 teams switched" | does credibility win |
Notes — the message-match line to keep consistent with the landing page, and which variable to hold constant so the test is clean.
Quality Checks
- Variants span genuinely distinct angles (not reworded versions of one)
- Each fits the platform's exact fields and character limits
- The hook lands in the first line / before the fold
- Ad message matches the landing page it points to
- Each variant notes what it's testing, so results are interpretable
Anti-Patterns
- Do not ship one ad — without variants you can't learn; give a real test set
- Do not write near-duplicate variants — vary the angle, not just the wording
- Do not exceed platform limits — copy that truncates mid-hook wastes spend
- Do not mismatch ad and landing page — broken message match tanks Quality Score and conversion
- Do not over-claim — ad platforms reject unsupported superlatives, and they erode trust
Based On
Performance-creative practice — angle testing, platform-native formats, message match, hook-first structure.