Social Media + Paid Ads copywriting examples for ecomm & FMCG brands

PerfectTed

PerfectTed’s dad joke LinkedIn annoucement

Look, we're absolute suckers for your traditional LinkedIn launch/listing post. As soon as we see that photo of the team outside Tesco or a founder saying "we've been dying to tell you this for months", our thumbs start twitching to hit the like button. It's pure feel goods. There's nothing we love more than seeing brands we've followed for a while winning. That said, we don't <em>hate it </em>when brands do something a bit different. And we love a good comedy gag. So no surprise that PerfectTed's Australia launch went straight in the swipe file.

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Living Things

Living Thing’s two-word banger

Jack is a big fan of fermenting stuff. And buying fermented stuff. (He usually has at least one weird experiment fizzing and bubbling away.) And while this ad might not be set the world on fire, we absolutely <em>love</em> that phrase "belly-loving". It's so deceptively clever. No notes.

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innocent

A classic example of the innocent TOV

<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">We ummed and erred about including this one, if we're honest.</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">Because we're huge fans of what innocent did for brand voice.</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">And this post has some genuinely brilliant copy in it. We love "the innocent department of seasonal straw-clutching".</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">But the innocent-ification of brand copy is something that has us conflicted. Wackaging was the bane of the copy game for a good decade, and innocent is where it started.</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">So. Buckle up for a nuanced take.</p>

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Bloom & Wild

Bloom & Wild’s 10/10 Mother’s Day copy

Writing copy for gendered days is really, <em>really </em>hard. <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">And, sadly, most Mother's Day copy ends up doing one of two things. It reduces mums to a to-do list — celebrating the school runs and the packed lunches and the dentist appointments — or it goes so soft-focus and generic that it feels like a Hallmark card.</p> In fact, research from Peanut found that <a href="https://lbbonline.com/news/peanut-gives-voice-to-motherhood-in-new-invisible-mothers-campaign" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">94% of mothers feel their identity has been reduced to a single thing since having a child. Just: mum.</a> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">But Bloom & Wild are big dogs of writing occasion copy for a reason. They just don't miss.</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">Check this one out.</p>

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Surreal

Surreal’s banging generation effect Insta post

We're suckers for playful copy that's hiding just how clever it is. And this post from Surreal was the first time we noticed their oh-so-sneaky use of The Generation Effect. Straight in the swipe file!

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Patagonia

Patagonia’s 10/10 Black Friday posts

Another day, another bit of Patagonia copy in the swipe file. (Patagonia team, if you're reading this, you don't need a restraining order. Promise.) Now, we all know Patagonia <em>loves </em>using the consumerism of Black Friday to draw attention to their mission. (We’ve talked about <a href="https://dowordsgood.com/how-patagonia-used-a-100-year-old-technique-to-grab-attention/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">that famous “Don’t buy this jacket” ad</a> last year.) And this year's were absolute bangers too. No notes.

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Overherd

Overherd’s pastiche challenger tone

OK, before we get into this one, we should say that we weren’t 100% sold on this bit of copy when we saw it. (And, to be honest, we’re still not completely, 100% sure now.) But it did catch our attention and spark a 15-minute back-and-forth between us, so we’re including it anyway. We mean, it's an entirely language-led ad. 4 thumbs up there. And it's a really good example of a post-modern, anti-marketing voice. Love that too. And it uses the Effort Heuristic to make the product seem more valuable. Super smart. So far, all good things. Smashing it. <em>Exceeeept…</em> <strong>The copy feels </strong><em><strong>very, very, very, very </strong></em><strong>Oatly-coded. And that's the thing our wheels got stuck on.</strong>

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Wild Dose

Wild Dose’s on-brand retargeting ad

We're big fans of Wild Dose's brand voice. It's funny. It's self-aware. It's empowering. It's like if the Spice Girls, Fleabag and your mates' WhatsApp group chat were all mushed together to help support you through bloating and IBS. It's just so good. So when we got hit with this retargeting ad, it went straight in our swipe file. Maybe more brands are doing this and we're not seeing them, but this is one of the few ads we've seen that openly acknowledges that they're retargeting you <em>and somehow</em> manages to not feel creepy. Love it. No notes.

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Honest Mobile

Honest Mobile’s amazing B-A-B ad

We've always hated Problem-Agitate-Solution as a copywriting formula. (It's that agitate part that feels icky.) So when we got hit with this Honest Mobile ad that manages to talk about pain points without it feeling gross, we hit screenshot lickety-split. It's such a good example of the before-after-bridge copywriting formula. Love it.

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Collider

Collider’s objection-handling ad

We're big fans of brands that are comfortable sharing negative reviews and addressing them. (Especially as studies show that this approach can boost <a href="https://dowordsgood.com/how-to-nail-the-bad-review-trend/">CTR by 27%</a> and make people like and trust your brand more.) And Collider do a really good job of sharing something that's bold and hooky and then turning it into a strength. Nice one.

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Higher Moor Farm Campsite

Higher Moor Farm’s 10/10, no notes wordplay

Jack found this randomly while looking for something to do with the kids and it *immediately* went into the swipe file. Now, we love a good pun here at DWG. But they're so hard to do right. And this one is an absolute banger. 3 bits of information (price, product and purchase scenario) snuck into to a bit of copy that makes you laugh and gets you to remember it? Smart. Really smart.

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Huel

Huel’s crystal clear USP

It's a bit weird to include a bit of copy in this swipe file that is, objectively, not <em>that</em> special. And that's not to say this isn't a good bit of copywriting. (It is.) But it's not flashy or immediately inspiring in the way that a lot of the other bits of copy we've included are. However, we're massive believers in the fact that good copy doesn't have to be flashy. Sometimes the best copy is the copy that just gets out of its own way. And this does that and then some.

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