Ad Secrets Revealed: Grammarly

Visual Hooks, Benefits, Creative Targeting

Author

Sean Bacastow
February 21, 2024

Your Brain on Ads is sponsored by PureFunnel. We help you grow your startup by writing, designing, and managing your Meta ads.

Welcome to another installment of Your Brain on Ads! We dissect winning ads to help you become a smarter social advertiser.

This week, we’re focusing on an ad from Grammarly.

What Is Grammarly?

Grammarly is an AI writing assistance tool that helps polish your writing in real-time. I’m using it while writing this article (and it’s already saved me from some spelling mistakes).

Here’s what I noticed when giving their ad a closer look.

What Makes This Ad Effective?

🎯 Creative Targeting

This ad will be eye-catching for anyone learning English. The headline is in large print and states the key benefit – “Improve Your English Writing.” The subheadline, “Working to master your English skills?” further qualifies prospects.

The purpose of a headline is to pick out people you can interest. You wish to talk to someone in a crowd. So the first thing you say is “Hey there, Bill Jones” to get the right person’s attention. So it is in advertising.

Claude Hopkins

🔎 Clarity

Everything in this ad clearly articulates Grammarly’s value. The primary text is a good example of this. It tells you what the product is – a “free writing app,” and why you should care – because it “makes sure everything you type is easy to read, effective, and mistake-free.”

🪝 A Visual Hook

I love that the ad includes a visual of the product. It shows you what it looks like when Grammarly corrects a writing mistake. This makes the concept more concrete and memorable.

😀 Benefits, Baby

This ad is chock-full of benefits. Every inch of the ad seems to tell you how this product will help you. Here are some examples:

  • “Improve your English writing”

  • “Make the right impression every time.”

  • “Make everything you type easy to read, effective, and mistake-free.”

  • “Make your writing mistake-free.”

  • “Master your English skills.”

  • “Working to master your English skills? Grammarly can help.”

🎬 A Clear CTA

Including the “Download Now” button in the image is an interesting touch. Meta ads already have CTA buttons, but it may increase the click-through rate to have a “button” in the image. I’d like to see a split test including the button vs. leaving it out.

How The Ad Could Be Improved

I don’t like how much space the Grammarly logo takes up in the image. It makes the rest of the text feel cramped. If they removed it, they could increase the size of the headline and give the rest of the text more space to breathe.

Applying These Learnings To Your Ads 💰

1. Make sure your ad catches the attention of your target customer – your copy and image should pick the right people out of the crowd.

2. Give people a visual to latch onto. Telling them about your product is one thing – showing them is more powerful.

3. Don’t skimp on the benefits. Tell people what value you offer and why they should care.

4. Be clear about what your product/service is. If someone can’t glance at your ad and know what you’re selling, that’s a problem.

5. Tell prospects exactly how to take action. Don’t tell them how great your product is and then leave them wondering how to buy it.

That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading!

Sean

If you’d like help with your advertising, email me at [email protected] or message me on LinkedIn. I run a marketing agency called PureFunnel that helps tech companies grow with Facebook and Instagram ads.