Ad copy playbook
How to write the text of a video ad for the 10-day trial: the hook, the primary text, the headline, the description, the price line, the button and the review check. Written for the three S-001 ads on Meta.
What Meta shows before the cut
44 characters
Instagram Reels shows one line of primary text. Past 44 characters it ends in "... more".
Meta Ads Guide, Instagram Reels (A).
125 characters
Meta's limit for primary text in most placements. Meta says: "Primary text should span 1-3 lines at most."
Meta help 223409425500940 (A).
27 characters
Facebook Feed cuts the headline at 27. Meta's general advice is 40. The Instagram guide shows no headline.
Meta Ads Guide, Facebook Feed (A).
25 characters
The description. Meta says it "should contain only nonessential information", so the ad can lose it.
Meta help 497610041230617 (A).
These are display limits. No source tests that short text sells more than long text. One trade guide found two winning ranges, under 50 and 250 to 500 characters (adscrewph, Aug 2026, C), so each ad keeps one long text as a test.
The 13 rules
1. Read the live pages first
Take the trial line, the price, the button words and the proof numbers from the landing page and the checkout the ad links to. Read the reel's on-screen text too.
Internal method (A). The live page read 97, 89 and 88 percent on 7 Oct.
2. The hook in two places
On screen in the first 3 seconds, in the middle of the frame. In the primary text inside the first 40 characters. A value promise or a statement of intent. A question only about the practice, never about the viewer.
Meta help 188534925073536, Meta hook post of 15 Dec 2025, Meta Ads Guide (A).
3. Short primary text
1 to 3 lines, 125 characters or fewer. The hook, then what a member gets, then the trial and price line. One option per ad can run to about 300 characters as the long test.
Meta help 223409425500940 (A). The long option rests on trade guides (C).
4. The headline is the trial
27 characters or fewer, with no price. Example: "10 free days, live Sundays" (26).
Meta Ads Guide, Facebook Feed (A). 8 of 27 swipe ads name the free days in the headline.
5. A description the ad can lose
Empty, or one line of 25 characters or fewer, such as "Cancel anytime."
Meta help 497610041230617 (A).
6. One price line, last
Copy it from the live checkout: the free days, the price, the period and the cancel words. "10 free days, then $49 a month. Cancel anytime." No coupon value in the ad.
Meta subscription services policy (A). The price line itself is an inference: no source tests it.
7. Button: Sign up
Meta has no "Start free trial" button. Use the checkout button's words, "Start my 10 free days", in the text or a headline.
Meta help 410873986524407 (A). Sign up on 15 of 27 swipe ads.
8. Proof only from a live page
A survey number keeps its label and its count of responses. A member quote needs its written clearance. Cold people see the trial first, proof second.
RocketShip HQ (B), internal method (A).
9. The review check on every surface
Primary text, headline, description, the text on the video, captions and the landing page. Details in the next section.
Meta personal attributes policy, health and wellness policy, Advertising Standards (A).
10. Three texts, three headlines
Each text a different angle on the same reel: the feeling, the scene, the offer. Each must read right with each headline, because Meta mixes them per person.
Meta help 223409425500940 (A), Jon Loomer gives five of each (B). Three is an inference for a small budget.
11. AI text off
Turn off text generation, text improvements and every other AI text feature. Read the preview for any text we did not write, after every edit and duplicate.
Meta help 620917123959992 (A): "Text improvements is turned on by default".
12. Read the options as a signal
On day 8, read spend and trials per text and per headline in the breakdown. Keep every option on through week 1. A verdict needs a later creative test.
Meta help 1423851372208214 (A), Jon Loomer (B).
13. One copy file per ad
Each line with its character count, its field and its source. Every change against an earlier version comes from a diff.
Internal method (A).
The review check
Fails
"You" or "your" next to a state of body or mind: a held emotion, a pain, a fear, a limit or a diagnosis. A question about the viewer's state. A claim to cure or heal. A named condition. A promised result in a set time.
Meta's own failing example: "Depression getting you down? Get help now."
Passes
"You" and "your" with no personal attribute. A line about the practice, or in the third person: "The body keeps what the week left."
Meta personal attributes policy (A).
The video counts
Review reads the images, the video and the text, and the landing page. A failing card on the video fails like a failing line of text. It needs a source file without the text, or a new card.
Meta Advertising Standards (A).
The Sept 28 copy, checked against the rules
Keeps
The Sign up button. No description. The 10 free days and $49 line, which matches the checkout. "The rage, the grief, the shame, the fear." and "Locked hips. Held breath. Hunched shoulders." fit the 44-character cut and pass the check.
Breaks on length
All 6 headlines ran 31 to 53 characters and repeated the price. All 6 primary texts ran 154 to 290 characters. Two texts and two headlines per ad, not three.
Breaks on review
Lines with "your" next to a held state, a fear or a limit, on the video and in one text. The opening card of the locked hips reel asks a question about the viewer's body.
The rewritten S-001 copy, with new video cards for every card that failed, is on the call page: S-001 ads for the Oct 7 call.
What no source tests
Cost per trial
No source gives a 2026 cost per trial for a creator membership.
A price in the ad
No source tests an ad with a price line against one without.
How many options
No source tests the number of texts and headlines. Our own day-8 read is the first signal.