Writing Ad Copy That Evokes Curiosity

Want your words to actually sell? Here’s a simple roadmap I've found incredibly helpful: Think of crafting your message like taking someone on a mini-journey: 1. Hook them with curiosity: Your headline is the first "hello."  Make it intriguing enough to stop the scroll.  Instead of just saying "Email Marketing Tips," try something like "Want a 20% revenue jump in the next 60 days? (Here's the email secret)."  See the difference? Promise + Specificity = Attention. 2. Tell a story with a villain: This might sound dramatic, but hear me out.  What's the problem your audience is facing?  What's the frustration, the obstacle, the "enemy" they're battling?  For the email example, maybe it's "wasting hours on emails that no one opens."  Giving that problem a name creates an instant connection and a sense of purpose for your solution. 3. Handle the "yeah, but..." in their head: We all have those internal objections.  "I don't have time," "It costs too much," "Will it even work for me?"  Great copy anticipates these doubts and addresses them head-on within the message. 4. Show, don't just tell (Proof!): People are naturally skeptical.  Instead of just saying "it works," show them.  Even a simple "Join thousands of others who've seen real results" adds weight. Testimonials, even short ones, are gold. 5. Make it crystal clear what you want them to do (CTA):   Don't leave them guessing!  "Learn the exact steps in my latest guide" or "Grab your free checklist now" are direct and tell them exactly what to do and what they'll get.  Notice the benefit in the CTA example: "Get sculpted abs in just 4 weeks without dieting." And when you're thinking about where you're sharing this (LinkedIn post, email, etc.), there are different ways to structure your message. The P-A-S (Problem-Agitate-Solution) or A-I-D-A (Attention-Interest-Desire-Action) frameworks are classics for a reason. The core difference I've learned? Good copywriting isn't about shouting about your amazing product. It's about understanding them – their challenges, their desires – and positioning your solution as the answer in a way that feels like a conversation, not a sales pitch.

The difference between ads that burn money and ads that print it isn't knowing the latest hack or "insider" secret strategy. It's understanding how the human brain actually works. Here are 5 psychological principles that transformed my ad results and will do the same for yours... Most people focus way too much on: ❌ Basic creative ideas ❌ Ad platform tricks ❌ Targeting/technical options ❌ The latest viral trend And not nearly enough on how the brain actually processes ads and makes decisions. After spending over $100 million on ads over the last 15 years, here's what actually moves the needle... 1. Pattern Interruption The human brain ignores what it expects to see and notices what surprises it. This is why most ads fail in the first 3 seconds. If your intro looks and sounds like an ad, people's brains automatically filter it out. These pattern interruption tricks work insanely well: 🛑 Start with a controversial statement 🛑 Show something visually unexpected 🛑 Use a setting that doesn't match your topic 2. Cognitive Ease The brain has two systems: 1️⃣ System 1: Fast, automatic, effortless 2️⃣ System 2: Slow, analytical, takes work When your ad forces people to use System 2, they tune out. The formula for cognitive ease is simple: ✅ One clear problem ✅ One clear solution ✅ One clear next step Complexity is the enemy of conversion. 3. Open Loops Our brains hate unfinished business. This is called the Zeigarnik Effect where open loops in our minds demand to be closed. The most powerful open loops I've found: 🧠 "Most people get this completely wrong..." (but not immediately saying what) 🧠 "What happened next surprised everyone..." (creating time-based curiosity) These loops trigger what psychologists call "curiosity gaps" that the brain is wired to want to fill. 4. Emotional Primacy People don't decide with logic. They decide with emotion and justify with logic. The most powerful emotional ad triggers are: 😱 Fear of missing out 😫 Pain avoidance 🤑 Status/recognition Logic tells, emotion sells. 5. Reciprocity When someone gives us something valuable, we feel obligated to give something back. Most ads ask before they give. The best ads give before they ask. Ways to use reciprocity in ads: 🔄 Share a valuable tip or insight 🔄 Teach something useful 🔄 Provide entertainment The key is that what you give must have real value. Fake value doesn't trigger reciprocity. When you combine all 5 principles in one ad: ✅ Start with pattern interruption (grab attention) ✅ Keep it simple (maintain cognitive ease) ✅ Use open loops (prevent abandonment) ✅ Hit emotional triggers (drive motivation) ✅ Give value first (create reciprocity) Your ads stop fighting the brain and start working with it. P.S. Comment "AD MAGIC" to get instant free access to our Unicorn Ad Playbook with 50 ad creative concepts that leverage these principles!

“We 3X’d a campaign’s ROAS by ignoring what every ‘guru’ told us.” Everyone said: “Stick to best practices.” Test long-form copy. Always add testimonials. Use static images to control attention. But the results? Flat. We were working with a mid-sized DTC skincare brand spending $40K/month on Facebook ads. ROAS hovered around 1.4x and had plateaued for months. They’d hired 2 agencies before us. Same outcomes. So we did the opposite of what the ‘gurus’ preach. Here’s what we changed: → Cut the copy. Switched to short, punchy captions—5-7 words max. → Killed the testimonials. Replaced them with bold claims overlaid on video. → Used fast-cut UGC-style video (7 seconds or less) with a pattern interrupt in the first 2 seconds. → Instead of a "Buy Now" CTA, we used intrigue: “Why everyone’s switching to this.” Results? ✅ ROAS jumped from 1.4x to 4.2x in 21 days. ✅ Spend stayed flat. ✅ CPA dropped 38%. ✅ Click-through rate increased 2.3x. Why it worked: People don’t want to be sold. They want to be hooked. We stopped writing ads for algorithms and started creating for humans. Sometimes, the best strategy is to stop over-optimizing and start entertaining. Especially with creative. ↪ Want your ads to break the scroll and convert? ↪ I’m offering a free 15-minute creative audit to show you what to change in your current ads (link in comments to grab a spot).