How to write ad copy by studying competitor ads
·4 min read
The quickest way to write ad copy is to study what competitors already run, take each ad apart and write your own versions from what you learn. Collect their ads from Google, Meta and LinkedIn. Break each one into pain, promise, proof, offer and call to action. Then write three variants and make your landing page say what the ad says.
You are looking for patterns and gaps. Copying their lines would only make you sound like them.
1. Collect your competitors' ads
Pick three to five competitors and put every ad you find into one spreadsheet.
Competitor Google Ads takes a competitor's site and shows how many Google ads it runs, their formats, how long each has been showing, and the headlines and descriptions of its longest-running text ads.
Meta Ad Finder shows the Facebook and Instagram ads a competitor runs right now, or the active ads that mention a keyword. You get the wording, call to action, landing page, start date and placements.
LinkedIn Ad Finder takes a company name and shows its LinkedIn ads, with headlines, descriptions, start and stop dates and LinkedIn's published impressions range.
You can also browse the public libraries yourself. See our guides to the Meta Ad Library, the Google Ads Transparency Center and the LinkedIn Ad Library.
2. Sort the ads by how long they have run
Advertisers usually stop ads that lose money. So an ad that has run for months is more likely to be working than one that started last week.
Treat run time as a hint. None of these tools show spend, clicks or sales, and a large company may leave a weak ad running out of habit. Look for messages that repeat across several long-running ads or several competitors. A repeated message is a stronger signal than any single ad.
3. Break each ad into five parts
Add five columns to your sheet and fill them in for every ad.
| Part | Question to ask |
|---|---|
| Pain | What problem does the ad name? |
| Promise | What result does it say you get? |
| Proof | Why should you believe it? A number, a review, a customer logo, a demo? |
| Offer | What do you get for clicking? A trial, a discount, a template, a call? |
| Call to action | What are the exact words on the button or in the last line? |
After 15 or 20 ads, patterns show up. Maybe every competitor leads with saving time and none mentions price. That gap is a place to stand out.
Example breakdown of a made-up ad
Here is a hypothetical ad for an imaginary meal-planning app. The product and the ad are invented for this example.
Tired of deciding what to cook every night? [App name] plans your week of dinners in two minutes and writes your grocery list. Loved by busy home cooks. Try it for 14 days, no card needed. Start planning.
- Pain: deciding what to cook every night.
- Promise: a week of dinners planned in two minutes, plus a grocery list.
- Proof: "loved by busy home cooks". This is weak, because it names no number, person or source.
- Offer: a 14-day trial with no card.
- Call to action: "Start planning".
Your version could keep the same pain, swap in specific proof such as a real customer quote you have permission to use, and test a different offer, like a printable first week.
4. Write three variants of your own
Write three ads that each lead with a different angle. That gives you something to test instead of a guess.
- Pain first. Open with the problem in the buyer's own words. Take those words from reviews, support tickets and sales calls.
- Result first. Open with the outcome and a time frame you can back up.
- Proof first. Open with a customer quote or a number you can prove.
Keep the same offer across all three at first, so you learn which angle works. After that, change one thing at a time.
5. Make the landing page match the ad's promise
If the ad promises dinners planned in two minutes, the page headline should say the same thing. When the page talks about something else, people leave. On Google Ads, landing page experience is also part of how Google rates your ad quality.
- Check the page title, meta description, search snippet and headings with On-Page SEO Checker. Add the ad's main phrase as the target query to see how well the page covers it.
- If you also share the page in social posts, run Open Graph & Social Card Checker. It previews the card LinkedIn, Facebook, Slack and X build from your tags, so the shared link shows the right image and headline.
Never copy competitor ads word for word
Copied ads make you look like a cheaper version of the rival. Buyers who see both will notice. Putting a competitor's brand name in your ad text can also get your ads rejected after a trademark complaint.
Take the structure, the patterns and the gaps. Write the words yourself, with your own proof. For where ads fit next to other channels, see how to get your first customers.
Tools to research competitor ads
Start with Meta Ad Finder for 5 credits a run. It shows the Facebook and Instagram ads a competitor runs now, with wording, call to action, landing page and start date. Add Competitor Google Ads for 15 credits and LinkedIn Ad Finder for 5 credits. None of them show spend or results, so read long run times as a hint.