Before you start
The path
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1. Fill in the copy brief
Copy the copy brief and fill in the strategic core: objective, reader action, customer profile and insight, the key message, the proof, and the mandatories.The reasoning behind each section is in copy brief concepts.
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2. Pull the message, don't invent it
The key message comes from a pillar in messaging. A campaign where every asset carries a slightly different main message stops reading like one campaign.
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3. Point at the voice section that applies
Brand voice and tone is one document, but a pricing email and a support reply draw on different parts of it. Name the part in the brief rather than restating the rules.
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4. Pick the channel template
The brief holds the strategy. The template holds the character limits and field structure.Meta: static and video, carousel, collection, lead ad.
Google: search, Performance Max, Demand Gen, display, YouTube, app.
LinkedIn: single image, video, carousel, document, message, conversation, text, follower.
TikTok: in-feed, Spark, carousel, video shopping, TopView.
Email: email copy template.
Organic social: organic social copy template.
Website and landing pages: landing page block library, which carries the field structure and length guidance per block.
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5. Draft inside the limits
Write to the character counts in the template, not to a comfortable length you trim later. Copy written long and cut short usually loses the specific part and keeps the generic part.On web there is no platform ceiling, so the length guidance is a range that reads well at your type scale rather than a hard limit. Check the finished line in the layout at mobile width, since that is what actually constrains it.
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6. Check the claims
Every factual claim has to appear in the approved claims table in messaging. Anything not on the list goes to review before it ships, not after.
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7. Get approvals
Brand approval for voice and claims. Legal review for anything comparative, numeric, or regulated.
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8. Name and file it
Name the copy file with file naming conventions, and name the ad it becomes with ad name conventions. Link the finished copy from the brief.
Related resources
- Copy brief The workbook.
- Copy brief concepts Why a copy brief differs from a creative brief.
- Brand voice and tone How the brand sounds.
- Messaging Where the message and the claims come from.
- Brief creative The parallel path for visuals.
- Email and organic social What’s different about those two channels.
- Copy best practices What separates copy that works from copy that reads fine.