What does it take to write an ad, headline, or subject line thatās impossible to ignore?
Come along with me as I take you through one of my favorite copywriting exercises everā¦
Iām going to let you look over my shoulder as I critique this copy from Asanaā¦.
And 6 other variations of it ā submitted by the Posse community.
What made them great, what left me wanting more, and what would make them even more powerful?
Hey, Posse! Whatās up? Itās Alex.
If youāre following me on Instagram, LinkedIn, or on YouTubeā¦
Then youāve probably seen my regular āMake It Hotterā postsā¦
Where I find an ad, headline, or subject line ā and put it out to the community to⦠you guessed it ā āMake It Hotterā!
Not only is this one of my FAVORITE ways to practice, but itās also a great way to see how other copywriters think.
Which ultimately helps you better understand WHY certain things work and WHY certain things donāt…
And, the BEST part of this exercise for me is when I get to put on my Posse Prof spectacles and critique the top-voted submissions.
So in todayās blog, Iām going to take you through one of my latest editions of āMake It Hotterā and break down my critiques of each Ad. Point by point.
So letās get started.
First, let’s take a look at this post ā where I asked the Posse community to make this ad even hotter.
This was an ad for Asana ā a tool that helps individuals, teams and organizations track their projects, to-do lists and workspaces.ā
Now hereās their original ad copy⦠ā

Not bad, but I gotta admit I liked these Posse-fied versions WAY better.
But before I get to my critique of the submissions, first letās critique Asanaās original copyā¦
What worked? What was lacking? And what could be better?
Now, the first thing I notice is how short this copy is.
The entire body of this ad is JUST the hook.
Short copy can work extremely well ā especially when the ad is being directed towards a more aware audience.
For a totally unaware audience, short copy like this isnāt going to work very well.
An unaware audience needs more education and trust building as they get to know who you are and what youāre all about.
So letās just assume that this ad was written for a warm-to-hot audience who already knows what Asana is and what it generally helps with.
But even though this audience is HOTā¦
This copy is still veryyyyy short.
Which again, isnāt bad. But it does make your job as a copywriter HARDER.
Because you have to pack a super powerful punch in a very limited number of words.
Which means every single word NEEDS TO COUNT.
So letās take a look at the hook: āJust because youāve written down your to-do list doesnāt mean itās useful.ā
This is what I call the āConfirming Beliefsā hook.
What theyāre doing is giving the audience a sense of validation about something they are likely struggling withā¦
Which in this case ā is writing down a to-do list that isnāt actually helping them accomplish anything⦠right?
So when the person who struggles with this thing reads this copy, theyāre going to feel validated. Theyāll think āAha! I knew it! I knew to-do lists were dumb and a waste of time.ā
So I actually think this is a great hook. But I DONāT love that they ended it there.
I would have added just one more sentence that piques the interest of the reader and opens a loop to make them read more.
Something like: āHere’s what to do insteadā¦ā or āClick below if youāre ready to change thatā¦ā
Just a couple more words could make this ad more compelling and potentially get more scrollers to come down here to read the ad Headline and CTA.
ā15 secrets for making a to-do list that actually worksā.
With the CTA of āLearn Moreā.
I think this is pretty good. It clearly conveys what the reader will learn if they click the link.
However, I think they could have made this even stronger by incorporating some power words or communicating the END GOAL this audience is likely looking for.
For example, ā15 secrets to help you dominate your to-do list.ā
Dominate is a great power word and this communicates a stronger benefit than just āa to-do list that actually worksā or maybe ā15 secrets to boost your productivity.ā
Again, this is communicating the MAIN GOAL this audience is likely looking for ā which is a solution to help them be more productive.
Overall, this Ad is good. But letās see what the Posse thinksā¦
First, hereās a quick recap of my 3-step formula for writing a H.O.T. Headline!
And donāt worry about taking notes on this formula, because I have a free guide waiting for you at the end of this blog that will break each one of these steps down for you.
Now, a hot headline should:
- Hook Attention – Start with a concept or idea that grabs the readerās attention by either provoking an emotion (fear, joy, controversy, FOMO, nostalgia, etc.) OR promising a desired result or clear USP (unique selling proposition).
- Open A Loop – Pique curiosity & incentivize your audience to read further.
- Target Your Audience – Make it crystal clear exactly who you are speaking to.
Alright, so now let’s take a look at the Posseās submissions ā along with my critique of them. These 6 ads were selected at random from the YouTube community!
We had a lot more participants ā so big thank you to EVERYONE who participated in this exercise.
Keep participating and you never know when YOUR submission might be selected for critique.
Alright, now letās take a lookā¦.
Posse Submission #1

āWhy your to-do lists suck (and how to un-suck them)ā
I LOVE this hook and think itās such a great way to capture attention and then immediately open a loop.
āLetās be real. Scribbling down tasks doesnāt mean youāll actually do them. Your brainās already zooming out before you even unclick the pen. But what if your to-do list worked for you instead of against you?ā
Alright, so I like this too. They are relating to the audienceās pain here. “Your brain is already zooming out before you even unclick the pen.” Love that descriptive language. I wonder if there might be a better word instead of āzooming outā… Maybe āoverwhelmedā or āchecked outā or something that feels easier to understand.
āThese 15 Asana secrets will turn your list into a weapon that fuels action ā not empty checkboxesā
Again I am loving this descriptive copy⦠āfuels actionsā and ānot empty checkboxesā. Those are great benefits.
I was a little thrown off by āturn your list into a weaponā though ā that language feels a little out of place to me. And then finally they end with āUn-suck your list now. Get shit done for real. Click here.ā
Brilliant. I love that they tied the open loop from the beginning of the copy into the end with āun-suck your list now.ā
Iām not sure āget shit done for real.ā is necessary though. And the CTA of āClick hereā is just okay.
I think āLearn moreā would probably be more powerful.
Alright, next upā¦
Posse Submission #2

āDoom scrolling your to-do list?ā
Ummmm. Yup. Thatās a super relatable hook. Pretty sure EVERY human that has ever had a to-do list has done this.
āOptimate your task management with these 15 hacks so you can turn āto-doā into āall-doneā.ā
This is good. A little wordy. We might be able to replace that āso you canā with just the word āandā. Iām also a little unclear if this was meant to be part of the body copy of the ad or that headline at the bottom.
But I think this would work well as part of the body, immediately after the hook. āOptimize your task managementā¦ā is a GREAT open loop. So I would definitely put that up at the top so people can read it without having to click āread moreā.
I also love the before-after bridge this person is using: āturn to-do into all doneā. Thatās great. So the only thing thatās missing here is a Headline to put at the bottom of the ad.
And again, I think āLearn Moreā is the perfect CTA for this ad.
Alright, next upā¦
Posse Submission #3

āTired of your to-do list feeling endless and unproductive? Letās change that.ā
Love this hook. Again, this is very relatable. āfeeling endlessā is exactly how I feel about my to-do list most days.
And I love how they opened a loop āletās change thatā ā that communicates to the audience to keep reading, thereās something here that can help you.
āDiscover 15 proven strategies to create a to-do list that actually gets things done ā stress-free. Get started now!ā
Okay, so Iām assuming they intended this part to be the Headline at the bottom of the ad. This copy is way too long and wordy to be used as the Headline.
When weāre talking about meta Ads, remember that you have strict character limits to work within.
The primary text, as Meta calls it, is your hook. Itās that first line of copy that your audience can read WITHOUT clicking the āread moreā button. You have 125 characters for that.
The Headline you only have 40 characters.
What this person has written is 97 characters. So definitely too long. We need to shorten this Headline quite a bit.
I love that they added āstress-freeā so maybe we could make this Headline into ā15 strategies for a stress-free to-do listā
And weāll keep the CTA āGet startedā.
Alright, next upā¦
Posse Submission #4

āEver wonder why to-do lists never work?ā
Asking a question is one of the best ways to open a loop, so love that theyāre utilizing that concept here.
However, just like the original ad, I would LOVE to get just a little bit more context here. This alone doesnāt really make me want to keep reading.
So this hook is leaving me wanting moreā¦
āTry these 15 secret tricks thatāll make your to-do lists work like a productivity powerhouse.ā
Again, Iām assuming this is meant to be the Headline at the bottom. And again, this is way too long. āProductivity powerhouseā is great.
So maybe we can change this headline into ā15 secrets of a productivity powerhouse.ā And theyāre missing the CTA button here as well.
Alright, next up. Two more leftā¦
Posse Submission #5

āWriting tasks down doesnāt mean theyāll get done.ā
Okay, thatās not bad. Theyāre re-using the original ad hook and shortening it up a bitā¦
āDonāt let your list become a stack of missed deadlines.ā
I LOVE this. That is powerful. No one wants a stack of missed deadlines.
I would use THIS as the opening line of copy and totally eliminate the first line altogether.
Then all they need is to add a short transition line of copy to open a loop and get the audience to keep readingā¦
They end with āGet 15 insider tips to make your to-do list unstoppable.ā Okay, again we need to shorten this up a tiny bit.
I love the word āunstoppableā so letās make this Headline āMake your to-do list unstoppableā.
Then we change this CTA to āLearn Howā ā that way itās like a continuation of the headline and it flows nicely.
Alright, and the last posse submissionā¦
Posse Submission #6

āAre you always writing down your to-do list but never getting through it?ā
This is great. Itās very simple and also very clearly communicates the BIG problem this audience is facingā¦
āHere are 15 powerful secrets to creating a list that actually works. Let me show you how.ā
Again, I love thisā¦
I think this person may have written this to be the Headline and CTA but I think this would work so much better as part of the ad body.
That would make this ad a bit longer than the original. But I think this adds more context, communicates a promise, and opens a loop with the ālet me show you howā.
The only thing I would caution about ālet me show you howā is that we need to remember this copy for Asana ā this is a brand, not a person.
So we would want to switch that āmeā to an āusā. A minor difference, but it really matters.
Now all this person needs to add is a Headline 40 characters or less and a CTA like āLearn Moreā. And this ad would be ready to go!
Alright! And thatās it!
Everyone did such a great job on this exercise.
Now, if you want to play along in the next edition of āMake It Hotterā, be sure to follow me on social media ā I post these exercises regularly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and on YouTube Community!
And donāt forget to grab a copy of my FREE H.O.T. Headline Guide – so you can learn exactly how to write headlines that grab attention and stop scrollers in their tracks – you can grab that now.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, Iām Alex – ciao for now!