How should I write the copy for a Meta ad for a local newsletter?

On one new operator's first ad, the big problem was way too much text. I'd make the top line one sentence and cut even the "see more." Something like: "Want the inside scoop in [city]? Subscribe. Your weekly newsletter packed with everything locals care about." I'd leave it at that.

What template do you use?

1. Top: an engaging question. "Tired of missing events?"
2. Middle: a geographic callout, kept on one line and visually emphasized.
3. Bottom: a short call to action. For a membership offer, my preferred last line is "Apply for Membership."

The words on the graphic or video are the first thing people see, so that's where the problem line goes: tired of missing events.

What are your standing copy rules?

• FREE in the first sentence, capitalized, if the newsletter is free.
• Say what it is. Lead with the thing, not a clever tagline. A line like "no name tags, no pitches" works as a subhead, not a headline.
• Name the place. Spell it out so people think "this is for me." If your newsletter's name doesn't include the towns you cover, put the city names in the copy. A name without cities is a structural problem for city-level ads.
• Use non-round numbers. 7,500 or 46,000 subscribers, not 10,000 or 20,000. Round numbers sound made up. And make sure the number is true.
• Fewer words. I saw one ad so wordy that nobody would read it all.
• Match the tone to the audience. For one event community, an "old money" look was wrong; casual professional was right.

Do I have to say "newsletter"?

No. You don't literally have to say it's a newsletter. Make it clear what they're getting: subscribe to get all the events so you don't miss out.

Most people don't even know what a newsletter is. The only ones they get are from companies trying to pitch them stuff. The idea that you sign up for an email, it comes to you, and it's really valuable is foreign to most regular people. They kind of grasp the word. They don't truly get it until your newsletter starts showing up and they think, oh yeah, this is awesome.

Should the brand name go first?

Not for a new brand. Nobody knows what it is yet. For a new seniors brand, I asked to flip the sentence around into a question instead, and the version I liked opened with "Why is most 55 plus content so completely boring?"

On the video itself, the text said "55 plus, you'll want this." I like that super direct style that calls out the audience. Aim for about one full sentence, maybe a short second one.

How do I fix vague copy?

Replace words that don't mean anything to a normal person. In one review I changed "local growth" to "local events." Local growth doesn't mean anything to anybody, and we always want events. A phrase like "guide to business growth" got the same treatment. The terminology was horrible.

Watch for promises you might not keep. On an ad for in-person AI trainings, I swapped "free" for "in-person," because the trainings may not stay free and in-person was the concept I wanted to pitch over and over. FREE still goes first whenever the offer really is free.

Where should text sit on the video?

Small, dead center, with lots of space above and below. Facebook and Instagram have so many placements and sizes that text near the edges gets cropped, which is way worse than small text. I wish we could use more space, but getting cut off is worse. On one ad we moved the text higher so it didn't sit low on the video, removed the logo, and lightly darkened the text background without hiding faces.

Don't animate text in word by word. It can work once you have someone's attention, but scrollers read the first two words and they're gone.

If the newsletter covers four cities, list all four, even though it adds words. Seeing their town is what captures people's attention: I live there, this is geared toward me.

What about direct-address headlines?

For a business-owner audience, a direct-address format pulled from a competitor's best ad beat our softer, longer concepts: "[City] founders doing $1 million. Read this." We dropped bubble-style text boxes for plain rectangular ones on that account.

Should I copy someone else's ad copy?

At first, yes. I've told people starting out to copy my ad text close to verbatim, then adjust once it's running. Test two copy variants at once on the same background video so the only difference is the words.

You don't have to dump the ad you already made. Add a second ad beside it and let them run. Most likely Facebook will figure out which one's better and send people that way. Check the pixel is set up properly first, so cost per result shows in your reports.