Getting Your First 1,500 

Subscribers: Writing Effective & 
Engaging Ad Copy   
 
 

Writing effective ad copy takes practice, but pays off when it reaches 
your target audience, and allows you to connect with them. However, it 
is important to work within Facebook’s regulations!  

This document shows you the difference between ads that are allowed 
by Facebook, and those that are not. In addition, it provides you with 
guidelines for crafting your own effective and engaging ad copy.  

Purpose:  
To teach you how to create effective and engaging ad copy that converts browsers 
into buyers.   
 
 
 
 

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Procedure: 

The following ad copy was used in a Christmas/Chanukah giveaway in 2017: 

Santa's lighting his menorah this year and it's inspiring us to be EXTRA giving! We 
have two (2) $75 gift cards to Amazon we'll be giving away on the first day of 
Hanukkah (next Tuesday 12/12/17 - five days from now)! 

Should leave you enough time for a little Christmas gift ordering, a little late Hanukkah 
😂ordering, or plenty of time to spend it on yourself
gift  

*** HOW TO ENTER *** 

- Like our page (no likey, you no winny) 

- Tag 1 friend per line who you would like to share a gift card with. 

- Can tag as MANY friends as you'd like. 

- Each friend tagged counts as an entry (more tags, more entries for you). 

*** HOW WINNERS ARE CHOSEN *** 

After your first comment/tag entry we will shoot you a message to confirm your entry. 
We will be randomly selecting one comment as the winner after 12:00pm (noon) 
Mountain time on the 12th. The selected winner and the person they tagged will be the 
'tentative winners' until they reply to the message we send letting them know they've 
won. If the person selected does not reply within 12 hours we will move on to our 
backup selection, if the backup selection does not reply within 12 hours then I'm 
spending the gift cards on myself! 

* DISCLAIMER * 

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You must be 18 years of age or older to enter. This promotion is in no way sponsored, 
endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. By entering, Entrants agree 
to a complete release of Facebook. 

Unfortunately, this text violated Facebook’s policy on page administration. Here 

is an excerpt from Facebook’s administration policy:  

3. Promotions on Pages, Groups, and Events

Communicating a Promotion

If you use Facebook to communicate or administer a promotion (ex: a contest or sweepstakes), you are
responsible for the lawful operation of that promotion, including:

● The official rules;

● Offer terms and eligibility requirements (ex: age and residency restrictions); and
● Compliance with applicable rules and regulations governing the promotion and all prizes offered
(ex: registration and obtaining necessary regulatory approvals).

Required Content

Promotions on Facebook must include the following:

● A complete release of Facebook by each entrant or participant; and

● Acknowledgement that the promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or
associated with Facebook.

Administration of a Promotion

Promotions may be administered on Pages, Groups, Events, or within apps on Facebook. Personal
Timelines and friend connections​ must not be used to administer promotions (ex: “share on your
Timeline to enter” or “share on your friend's Timeline to get additional entries”, and "tag your
friends in this post to enter" are not permitted). {My emphasis added}

Assisting Promotions

Facebook will not assist you in the administration of your promotion, and you agree that if you use our
service to administer your promotion, you do so at your own risk.

(for full regulations visit https://www.facebook.com/policies/pages_groups_events/) 

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Additionally, a few days after this promotion ran, Facebook released their 
‘Fighting Engagement Bait’ update. 
 
Here is an excerpt from ​Facebook on what they consider “Engagement Bait” 
 
“People have told us that they dislike spammy posts on Facebook that goad them into 
interacting with likes, shares, comments, and other actions. For example, “LIKE this if 
you’re an Aries!” This tactic, known as “engagement bait,” seeks to take advantage of 
our news feed algorithm by boosting engagement in order to get greater reach. So, 
starting this week, we will begin demoting individual posts from people and pages that 
use engagement bait.” 
 
If Facebook is good at one thing, it’s changing the rules and making marketing on 
their platform more interesting. How does this affect the way you encourage 
engagement on your posts, since your goal is to get people to comment? You just 
have to be more creative in how you illicit engagement from your target audience 
 
There are creative ways to ask for engagement and tags without using 
‘engagement bait’ or breaking any rules. 
 
Here is how Facebook says you can get engagement but ​not get pegged for 
engagement bait tactics​: 
 
“Posts that ask people for help, advice, or recommendations, such as circulating a 
missing child report, raising money for a cause, or asking for travel tips, will not be 
adversely impacted by this update.” 
 

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Essentially, Facebook ​says they want to foster authentic communication​- real 

stories that resonate with people that people consider genuine, not misleading, 
sensational, or spammy: 
 
“One of our news feed values is authentic communication. We’ve heard from our 
community that authentic stories are the ones that resonate most — those that people 
consider genuine and not misleading, sensational or spammy.” 
 
Facebook ​wants​ you to post content that starts conversation and initiates 
meaningful discussion. A great way to get engagement is by posting content that is 
debate-worthy (when appropriate—​don’t post overtly political, shock content etc.​).  
 
These are some questions to ask that can generate no bait, high-engagement 
discussions: 

Specific  What is your favorite place to walk your dog? 

Yes or No  Is it your dog your best friend? 

Timely  Today is National Dog Day! How are you celebrating? 

Edgy  Do you think that Pit Bulls should be banned from certain 
areas? 

Photo  What do you think of this Cute Puppy? 

True or False  True or False: Labrador Retrievers are America's Favorite dog. 

Direct  Why do you think people don’t feed their dogs the best food 
possible? 

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Preference  Do you prefer mutts or purebred dogs? 

Fun  If you were stuck on a deserted island with your dog and you 
each could choose to bring one thing, what would it be? 

Events  Who is going to Dog Day this weekend? 

Experience  What is your favorite thing you’ve ever done with your dog? 

Humanistic  Be honest: do you let your dog kiss you on the mouth? 

Tips  What is the best way you exercise your dog? 

Mad Lib  If your dog’s (favorite toy) was lost, I would be so (emotion)! 

Plea for Help  HELP! John’s dog is eating their cat’s poop. He wants to know 
the best way to get him to stop, what should he do? 

 
In addition to using the engagement-generating questions listed above, make sure 
you are aware of the following general Facebook contest guidelines, if you are 
planning to use a contest as part of your marketing:  
 
● Must ​explain how to enter the contest  
● Must​ have a disclaimer/statement of release that Facebook is not involved in 
the giveaway 
○ Sample Disclaimer/statement of release: ​“This promotion is in no way 
sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. 
You understand that you are providing your information to the owner of 
this Facebook page and not to Facebook.” 
● Should​ explain how winners are chosen & official rules 
○ Rather than writing an exhaustive list of all the rules that you need to 
be aware of, check out:  

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○ https://www.shortstack.com/blog/social-media-contest-rules-templ
ate/​. They have an EXCELLENT rules template you can use, as well as 
specifics for each state. 
As a means of entry you: 
● Can​ ask people to ​like​ the post 
● Can ​ask people to ​comment​ on a post ​(do this one for subscriber growth) 
● Can​ ask people to post on your page 
● Can​ ask people to message your page 
● Cannot​ ​require​ people to tag a friend, share the post, or like your page ​(But 
you sure can hint at it 😉) 
 
Now, take a look a the following sample ad copy and creative, that brings it all 
together:  
 

 
Is it hanging out with your best friend ? Coming home from work? 
Whatever it is, let us know! One Random winner and their friend will be chosen 

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June 10th at 11:59 pm Pacific to win $200 in Free Range Dog Food ($100 for you, 
$100 for a friend)! 
 
*** HOW TO ENTER *** 
 
Tell us what makes you smile- that's it! 
 
*** HOW WE CHOOSE THE WINNERS *** 
 
After you first tell us what makes you smile below (your entry) we will direct 
message you to confirm your entry. The contest ends at 11:59 pm Pacific June 
10th. *You can comment up to 5 times for more entries. 
 
We will randomly select one person who commented as the winner after the 
contest ends. When the winner is chosen, we will message them to let them 
know they and their friend have won. If they do not reply within 12 hours, we will 
select an alternate winner. 
 
* DISCLAIMER * 
 
You must be 18 years of age or older to enter. This promotion is in no way 
sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. You 
understand that you are providing your information to the owner of this 
Facebook page and not to Facebook. 
 
 
 
 

Copyright © 2018 Messenger Bot University, Amazing.com