Most AI copy is bad because the prompt was vague. "Write me a Facebook ad" gets you a Facebook ad. These 16 instructions get you something you'd actually run. 1. Sell the end state. Not the feature. What does their life look like after. 2. Pass the stranger test. Would this make sense to someone who has never heard of the brand. 3. Cut, then cut again. First draft is always 40% too long. 4. Select your reader. Name who it is for in the first line so everyone else scrolls past. 5. No em dashes. Instant AI tell. Full stops instead. 6. Tone matches slot. A headline is not a caption is not a landing page. 7. Kill empty hedges. "Might potentially help" is not a claim. 8. Angles, not synonyms. Five variations should argue five different things, not reword one. 9. One idea each. An ad making three points makes none. 10. Never invent claims. No made up stats, no fake reviews, no numbers you cannot back. 11. Truth beats style. A real detail beats a clever line every time. 12. Benefit, not mechanism. Nobody buys 50mm of webbing. They buy a walk where the dog does not choke. 13. Numbers beat adjectives. "78% heat blocked" beats "premium quality." 14. Front load the point. First line does the work. Assume they read nothing else. 15. Sound unmistakably brand. If you could swap the logo for a competitor, start again. 16. No AI lexicon. Delve, elevate, unlock, game changer, in today's fast paced world. Gone. The two that change the most for me are 8 and 14. Most people ask for five variations and get the same ad five times, and most ads bury the point in line three where nobody reaches it.