Case study: How I increased CTR by 94% on LinkedIn ads… by rewriting boring AI-generated copy

Here’s how I helped increase click-throughs by 94% for LinkedIn ads… with new copy for the intro text and headline. 👀

The original copy? Written by ChatGPT… uh-oh.

My client Video Brothers came to me with a common problem:

They had ads.
They had great creative.
They even had a funny video.

But the copy was written by ChatGPT. 🤖

As usual for AI, the tone was too formal and corporate-sounding.
…not at all a match for the fun video it was paired with.

So they brought me in to revamp the copy and make it punchier.

My client Video Brothers is a production agency that creates fun videos for B2B SaaS companies. They’re not actually brothers though, lol.

Step 1: Diagnose the problem

Their current ad copy felt robotic. Here’s what it looked like:

Original intro text:

Fun ads work for B2B. Learn more at B2BisBoring.com ❤️💛💙

It’s pretty clear to read – but it sounds more like a caption than a hook.

Your ad’s opening line needs to stop the scroll in the LinkedIn feed… but this one doesn’t stir emotion.

Step 2: Find the emotional hook

Before writing a single word, I reviewed:

→ LinkedIn ads and websites from 5 competitors
→ 27 customer testimonials
→ 9 sales call recordings

I uncovered pain-points straight from the customers’ mouths.

That’s when I found something unexpected…

Many ICPs got on sales calls impressed by the agency’s bold work. But they often expressed their worries about the creative risk-taking aspect:

• “I’m not sure if your humor will land for our technical audience…”

• “Are your videos always funny? Our tech company is enterprise so we need something more serious…”

I realized: “oh crap, the new ad copy needs to overcome the objection to humor.”

Step 3: Rewrite the copy with a sharper point-of-view

So I directly addressed the customers’ concerns in the new ad intro text:

Compare *this* to a dry corporate video. Which would YOU remember more?

This is quite a provocative line – it forces the reader to admit the power of a fun video vs. the safe “boring” approach.

I didn’t come up with that line out of thin air. Nope, I stole it. 😜
My client’s competitor had a testimonial where the customer says:

We refreshed the branding of our cashflow forecasting software product. A typical corporate video seemed a bit dry, so we needed a creative approach with a more mainstream feel to it.”

I took that idea of a “dry corporate video” and ran with it. #RunForrestRun

Original ChatGPT-generated ad headline:

See Loxo go all-in on fun ads with their Video Brothers ad suite…

New ad headline:

This should be banned! Fun in B2B is NOT allowed. 😨

Here, I took a sarcastic approach to the objection prospects had shared in sales calls: “Isn’t humor too risky in B2B?”

By exaggerating it and calling for humor to be “banned”, we’re exposing this fear for how silly it really is. 

The results

Comparison between previous ChatGPT-generated copy and my new copy:
➤ 94% increase in click-through rate.
➤ 34% decrease in cost-per-click.
➤ 59% increase in engagement rate.

..all from a few lines of copy written with actual ICP insight. 😎 Aww yeahhhh….

BTW you can view the new LinkedIn ad I created here.

Why this worked (and why AI missed the mark)

Copy created by tools like ChatGPT is often grammatically correct… but emotionally flat. It often lacks:

• A clear point-of-view

• Competitive positioning

• Real customer language

• Strategic objection-handling

The difference? I didn’t just write words.
I first researched competitors and customers, then I uncovered the best insights and chose strong ad hooks.

The founder, Chandler, didn’t even want to touch the ad copy after we saw the results:

“I’m almost afraid to change anything! LOL”

Punchy copy won this fight. 😜 🥊✨