There’s a rule everyone in social advertising repeats: keep it short. Thumb-stopping. Punchy. Three words and a video.
For most direct-response campaigns, that’s fair advice. But equity crowdfunding isn’t most campaigns. When we’ve tested it properly, long-form ad copy wins, and it isn’t close.
Here’s why, and exactly what should go in a long-copy crowdfunding ad.
Your ad copy is another chance to sell the raise
The mistake is thinking of copy as a caption. It isn’t. In a crowdfunding or expression of interest (EOI) campaign, every part of the ad is a separate chance for someone to learn more about your business and decide to invest.
People engage in different ways. Some watch the video. Some study the image. Some click straight through. And some tap “See more” to open up the ad text, which is what we call reading below the fold.
That last group matters more than you’d think. When someone taps “See more,” they’re putting their hand up. They’re not scrolling past. They’re interested enough to want the detail. If your copy stops at two lines, you’ve just cut off your most engaged potential investors at the exact moment they wanted more. The more they can find out about your business, the better your odds of turning that interest into an actual expression of interest.
What the testing actually shows
We don’t guess at this. In the EOI stage we usually split test two to four different ad copies to see what performs, and we’ve run both short and long form against each other.
Long form wins, over and over. And the wider account backs it up. Across our Birchal ad account, more than 1,000 ad sets and around $350k in spend, ad sets with longer copy came in about 12% cheaper per result than short copy: roughly $178 versus $201. Longer copy was, at worst, level with short, and usually cheaper. So going long costs you nothing and tends to help.
That makes sense. Raising capital is a considered decision, not an impulse buy. Nobody commits money to a business off a six-word headline. They commit when they understand the story, see the traction, and feel the reason to back you now.
Short copy is built to trigger a fast, low-stakes action. Investing is the opposite. That’s the whole reason the usual “keep it short” wisdom falls apart here.
What to put in a long-copy crowdfunding ad
Long doesn’t mean rambling. Structure earns the read. Here’s the framework we use.
Above the fold, before “See more”:
- A clear, plain-English explanation of what the business actually is
- A few key traction points
- A signal that this is a live crowdfunding or expression of interest campaign
Get this right and the reader knows what they’re looking at and why it’s worth opening up.
Below the fold, once they’ve tapped “See more”:
- The story, where this came from and where it’s going
- More traction points, plus key revenue or growth numbers
- Your special sauce: the X-factor and the single most compelling reason to invest
- Notable people in the business, or notable things the team has already done
- A clear, direct call to action at the bottom
Every section has a job. The top earns the tap, the middle builds belief, and the bottom turns it into an EOI.
The takeaway
In equity crowdfunding, holding back costs you. Your most engaged prospects are the ones who want to read more, so give them a reason to, and a reason to invest while they’re there. Test short against long by all means. But in our experience it’s the longer, well-structured copy that turns interest into expressions of interest.
Related: How to choose a crowdfunding marketing agency: 7 things to check.