Ad copy

Ad Copy — Performance Copywriting (DE + EN)

Write conversion-focused copy for ads and landing pages in German, English, or both. Output is finished, publishable text — not concepts, not briefs.

© GEKKOS Tech. Licensed under MIT.

Before writing

Establish from the brief (infer and state assumptions if missing):

1. Language(s): DE, EN, or both. If the market is DACH and the user didn't specify, default to German and offer English variants.
2. Funnel stage: cold (never heard of the brand), warm (knows the problem/brand), hot (retargeting, cart, comparison shoppers).
3. Voice position: locate the brand on the tonality matrix in references/tonality-matrix.md before writing a single line. State the chosen cell.
4. German address form: run the Du/Sie decision tree (below) and state the decision.
5. Channel + placement: determines length limits and register (see tonality matrix, platform axis).

Headline systems

Four systems. Pick the system that matches funnel stage and channel; write within it, don't mix systems inside one headline.

1. Benefit-led

Formula: [Outcome] in/ohne/without [timeframe/pain] — lead with what the customer gets, stated concretely.

• EN: "Payroll done in 4 minutes. Every month."
• DE: "Lohnabrechnung in 4 Minuten. Jeden Monat." Use for: cold traffic, search ads (matches query intent), products with a clear measurable outcome.

2. Curiosity

Formula: [Specific subject] + [information gap] — open a gap the reader can only close by clicking. Must pay off; never bait.

• EN: "The onboarding email 9 out of 10 SaaS teams get wrong."
• DE: "Der Fehler, den fast jedes Onboarding-Mailing macht." Use for: content-adjacent ads, advertorials, warm audiences. Avoid for: search (intent mismatch), regulated categories.

3. Social-proof

Formula: [Number/name of adopters] + [what they did/found].

• EN: "14,000 clinics switched. Here's why."
• DE: "14.000 Praxen sind umgestiegen. Aus gutem Grund." Use for: skeptical audiences, high-consideration B2B, retargeting. Proof must be real and current.

4. Urgency

Formula: [Deadline/scarcity fact] + [benefit at stake]. Only when the urgency is true.

• EN: "Early pricing ends Friday — lock in 30% off."
• DE: "Frühbucherpreis nur bis Freitag – 30 % sichern." Use for: hot traffic, launches, seasonal offers. Fake countdowns are a compliance and trust violation — refuse to write them.

For every headline task, deliver at least 5 candidates per language across at least 2 systems, then mark your recommended pick with one line of reasoning.

CTA library by funnel stage

Match CTA commitment level to funnel temperature. High-commitment CTAs on cold traffic kill CTR.

Stage	EN	DE
Cold — learn	See how it works · Get the free guide · Watch the 2-min demo	So funktioniert's · Gratis-Guide sichern · 2-Minuten-Demo ansehen
Cold — soft try	Try it free · Explore examples	Kostenlos ausprobieren · Beispiele ansehen
Warm — evaluate	Compare plans · Get your quote · Book a demo	Pakete vergleichen · Angebot anfordern · Demo buchen
Warm — start	Start your free trial · Create your account	Jetzt kostenlos testen · Konto erstellen
Hot — buy	Get started now · Claim your discount · Complete your order	Jetzt loslegen · Rabatt einlösen · Bestellung abschließen
Hot — reassure	Try risk-free for 30 days	30 Tage risikofrei testen

Rules: verb-first, first-person framing where the platform allows ("Get my quote" / "Mein Angebot anfordern" lifts on landing pages), one primary CTA per asset, never "Submit"/"Absenden".

A/B variant protocol

Every copy deliverable ships as A/B/C — never a single version:

• Variant A — Safe: the proven pattern for this category and stage. Benefit-led, clear, no risk. This is the control candidate.
• Variant B — Bold: same core message, aggressive execution — stronger claim framing, curiosity or urgency system, punchier voice. Tests whether the audience rewards salience.
• Variant C — Different angle: a genuinely different persuasive angle (different benefit, different objection addressed, different emotional register) — not a rewrite of A. Tests the message, not the wording.

For each variant, state the hypothesis in one line: "B tests whether loss-framing ('Stop overpaying…') outperforms gain-framing for this retargeting audience." A variant without a hypothesis teaches nothing when it wins.

Keep everything except the tested element constant across variants where the user is running a real test (same offer, same CTA unless the CTA is the test).

German-specific rules

Du/Sie decision tree

1. Existing brand voice documented? → follow it, flag if it clashes with audience norms.
2. B2B, audience 40+, finance/legal/medical/insurance, or high ticket? → Sie.
3. B2C lifestyle, fitness, apps, fashion, gaming, or audience skews under ~35? → Du.
4. B2B SaaS targeting startups/tech/marketing teams? → Du is now standard; Sie reads distant.
5. Genuinely ambiguous? → recommend Du for Meta/TikTok placements, Sie for LinkedIn/print, and say so explicitly. Never mix forms within one asset.

Compound words & readability

German compounds inflate visually: "Kundenbindungsmanagement" is one unreadable brick in a headline. Prefer verb constructions ("Kunden binden – automatisch") or split with a hyphen only where Duden-conform. In headlines, avoid words over ~16 characters; rewrite around them.

Character-length pitfalls

German runs ~20–35% longer than English. Never translate EN copy 1:1 into a character-limited field — rewrite natively.

• Google RSA headline: 30 chars — an EN benefit headline often needs a different German construction, not a translation.
• Meta primary text truncates around ~125 chars on mobile: front-load the benefit in the first ~90 chars in German.
• CTA buttons: German verb phrases get long ("Jetzt kostenlos herunterladen" = 29 chars); check button width, shorten to "Gratis laden" style if needed.

Compliance guardrails

• No misleading claims: every factual claim (numbers, test results, "clinically proven") must come from the user's brief or be marked [VERIFY: source needed]. Never invent statistics, reviews, or awards.
• Superlative caution: "der beste / the best / Nr. 1" requires substantiation (DE: Alleinstellungswerbung under UWG); default to defensible framing ("one of", specific dimension, or verified rating source).
• Health: no healing promises (DE: HWG restricts Heilversprechen), no before/after implications for medical outcomes, no "prevents/cures/treats" without approved substantiation.
• Finance: no guaranteed-return language, include risk framing where the user's legal team requires; never write copy that promises specific investment outcomes.
• Urgency/scarcity: only when factually true.
• Flag any brief that requires claims you cannot verify, and deliver compliant alternatives alongside.

Output format

For each asset: language(s) → chosen tonality cell + Du/Sie decision (one line) → A/B/C variants with hypotheses → character counts for length-limited fields → any [VERIFY] flags. Stay out of ideation (ad-concepts) and long-form strategy (seo-content) — if the user needs a campaign idea first, say so and hand off.