Here’s how to write LinkedIn ad copy that resonates…

Hit both co-ordinates on the Clear-Emotional Matrix: make sure your messaging is both clear and emotional.

How to write clear LinkedIn ad copy:

Answer questions like: what does your product specifically do? Who is it for? What makes you different?

How to write emotional LinkedIn ad copy:

Explain which pain-points you solve. This speaks to your ICP’s irritations and desires.
________

Your LinkedIn ad will fall into 1 of 4 categories…

Let’s breakdown the Clear-Emotional Matrix — by looking at examples from Dovetail, which is a customer research analysis tool.

1) Your LinkedIn ad is emotional and clear

This is the sweet spot! Your ad will grab your buyers’ attention and make your product’s capability clear.

E.g. Dovetail’s LinkedIn ad:

Why it works:

✅ ICPs can understand what the product does with the clear value prop in the headline → “Customer Insights Hub for Product Teams.”

✅ Dovetail grab attention with a funny dad joke → the “handle” pun can make Product Managers smile.

There’s no confusion AND they make buyers chuckle. <3

2) Your LinkedIn ad is unemotional and clear

This is the 2nd best category.

Your message will still be understood… but the lack of emotions could make your ad easy to ignore.

E.g. Dovetail’s LinkedIn ad:

✅ The product’s use case is clear – the ICP will know it’s a platform for research, similar to Notion: “Build your team’s research repository”

❌ But the delivery is flat. Because there’s no mention of the problem being solved. Which makes it less relatable.

3) Your LinkedIn ad is emotional and unclear

This is usually when bold-but-confusing copy comes out.

E.g. Dovetail’s LinkedIn ad promotes a case study:

✅ The word “inspire” sounds optimistic…

❌ But the capability is unclear. “Insights that inspire your team” – to do what specifically…? The copy’s too broad, so it doesn’t sound as relatable.

4) Your LinkedIn ad is emotional and unclear

This is the land of bland ads. 🥵

Without clarity and emotion… the ad will sound confusing and unrelatable. Ahh sheeeeet.

E.g. Dovetail’s LinkedIn ad promotes their AI feature:

❌ The product positioning is too broad – how exactly does AI help me decide what to build? What does it enable me to do? Sorry, but “AI” alone is not a clear feature.

❌ And it’s unemotional. They’re trying to sound innovative. But they end up sounding the same as all the 10 billion other AI-powered SaaS tools that claim they can “speed up your work”.

↳ This ad blends into the crowd. Which is the last thing you want your ad to do.
____________

Key takeaways:

Communicate your product’s capability AND the problem it solves.
That’s how you can pack a memorable punch. ✊💫