When a Facebook or Instagram account stalls, the ads themselves are often a bigger cause than targeting or bidding. Meta now decides most of who sees an ad, so the picture, the first line of text and the offer do the work that audience settings used to do. This service is for UK businesses running Meta ads without a copywriter or creative lead: the work sets out what to say and to whom, turns that into ad copy, and briefs the people who make the images and video, so every new ad goes in with a clear job and a reason to exist.
What changes when the creative has a plan behind it
Without a plan, new ads tend to be variations of the last one that worked: a different photo, the same message. Performance drifts down, the account shows creative fatigue, and someone makes another near-copy. With a plan, each batch of ads tests a distinct idea (a different reason to buy, a different objection answered, a different kind of customer spoken to), so you learn something from every pound spent, whether the ad wins or not.
You also stop paying for ads that were never going to pass. Copy that breaks Meta’s advertising standards gets rejected or, worse, builds a pattern of rejections on the account. Copy that makes a claim you cannot back up is a complaint waiting to happen under the CAP Code, which applies to paid social ads in the UK just as it does to posters and print.
Who this suits, and who it does not
It suits businesses that have an ad account running, or about to run, and someone who can produce images or video (an in-house designer, a freelance photographer, a creator, or a founder with a decent phone) but nobody deciding what those assets should say. It also suits teams that run their own campaigns well but keep running out of ideas, and agencies that want copy and briefs from someone outside the account.
It suits you less if nobody can make the assets at all; a brief is only useful if someone acts on it. If you want the whole account run month to month, creative included, Facebook ads management covers testing and refreshing ads as part of the ongoing work, so you would not need this separately. If your ads are mostly video, the planning for formats, placements and edits sits on the page about Facebook video, Reels and Stories ads.
What the work covers
Angles and messaging
Before writing a word of copy I list the reasons people buy from you, the doubts that stop them, and the moments when they are most likely to need you. I take these from your reviews, sales enquiries, customer emails and the questions your staff answer every week, not from a brainstorm. Each becomes an angle: one idea an ad is built around. A garden room company might test price per square metre against planning permission worries against working from home, as three separate angles rather than three photos of the same room.
Ad copy
For each angle I write the primary text, headline and description in several lengths, because Meta places the same ad in feeds, Stories, Reels and the right-hand column, and each shows a different amount of text. The opening line carries the message on its own, since most people never tap through to the full text. Copy is checked against Meta’s limits with my ad copy character counter before it goes anywhere near the ad account. Prices for consumers include VAT, offers say when they end, and nothing claims what your business cannot show.
Image and carousel briefs
For still ads I write a brief per concept: what the picture shows, the text overlay if any, the aspect ratios needed (square, 4:5 and 9:16 as a minimum), what must stay clear of the edges, and what the image should make someone feel in the half-second they look at it. Carousels get a card-by-card plan, so the sequence tells a short story or compares options rather than repeating the same photo five times.
Creator and customer-style content
Ads that look like a real person talking sit naturally among the posts around them in feeds and Reels, and they are usually cheaper to make than a studio shoot, so they are worth testing against polished work. I write briefs for UGC-style creative: what the creator should say in the first few seconds, what they must show, what they must not claim, and how the content is to be labelled as an advert. I do not source or contract creators; I tell the ones you hire what to make.
Compliance and policy checks
Every ad gets a read against Meta’s advertising standards and the CAP Code before it is built. The common problems are copy that implies something about the reader’s personal circumstances (“Struggling with your weight?”), before-and-after images in health and beauty, unsubstantiated “best” or “number one” claims, and health or financial wording that falls under stricter rules. Where a sector has its own regulator, such as the FCA for financial promotions, I flag the copy for your compliance sign-off rather than guessing.
Testing plan
Each batch comes with a short testing plan: which ads go in together, what each one is meant to prove, how long to leave them and what result would count as a winner. I keep the variables separate, following a simple creative testing framework, so a result tells you whether the angle, the image or the wording made the difference. I also note which of Meta’s Advantage+ creative enhancements should be on or off, because automatic text changes and added music can rewrite an ad you have carefully checked.
How I run it
- Read the account and the business. I look at which ads have run, how they performed against cost per lead or sale, and what customers say about you in reviews and enquiries.
- Agree the angles. You get a short list of angles with the evidence behind each, and we choose which to test first.
- Write and brief. Copy in the lengths each placement needs, plus image, carousel or creator briefs for whoever makes the assets.
- Check. Policy and CAP Code review, character limits, and a look at the landing page each ad sends people to.
- Hand over and review results. You or your ads manager build the ads; after the test window I read the results and write the next batch from what was learned.
Problems I see most often in UK accounts
- One message tested in a dozen visual styles, so the account never learns whether the message was the problem.
- The first line of copy spent on the business name or a greeting, leaving the offer hidden behind “See more”.
- Landscape images cropped by Meta into vertical placements, cutting off the product or the text.
- Ads that promise one thing and land on a page that talks about something else. A landing page built for the campaign often fixes more than a new ad would.
- Prices shown without VAT to consumers, or “free” offers with conditions buried elsewhere.
- Winning ads left running for months with nothing ready to replace them.
What you receive
- A messaging document: angles, the evidence behind them, and the objections each one answers.
- Ad copy for each concept in the lengths Meta’s placements need, ready to paste into Ads Manager.
- Briefs for images, carousels and creator content that a designer or creator can work from without a call.
- A compliance note listing anything that needs your sign-off or a regulated reviewer.
- A testing plan and naming convention, so results are readable later.
If you want to check the rest of the account before new creative goes in, the Facebook and Instagram ads checklist covers tracking, structure and settings.
Fees and next step
Each quote is written in GBP after a free first call, once the scope is clear, and agreed in writing before any work starts. Ad spend is paid to Meta from your own account and is never part of my fee.
To start, send me a note about your business and ad account with a few of your current ads. I will tell you which angle I would test first and what the assets would need to show.