Yo dog, I heard you like shot-for-shot breakdowns of creative with actual data.
Well lets do it! (breakdown in comments)
Stats on this vid for Jan π
Spend: $42k
Thumbstop: 45%
Avg watch time: 8 sec
Unique L-CTR: 1.18%
See-more rate: .82%
1min+ watch rate: 3%
FB ROAS: 1.66
TOF
This shot has traditionally worked as a thumbstopper for the account, but I wanted to bump it up by adding a "tik tok comment" overlay. I think these are perfect for some needed context and framing. They also make the content look more native. π
If you think one thumbstopper is enough... its not. You have to keep hooking them... or pulling on that line until the hook is SET. This "rubbing" footage is a thumbstopper that worked for another video and it comes in right at the 3s mark, to get eyes to linger just a bit...
Finally at 5 secs we show what it is, and get the brand mention in there. VERY IMPORTANT! I am using TTT (TikTok Text) style labels as they seem to work, but I add in some motion tracking just to pump up the visual intrigue. Pretty easy to do in Premiere.
We are at the 8s, the avg watch time. But it's important to think of AWT as just a number or KPI. It's NOT when most people drop off, or what most people reach. If the AWT is 8s, for every 1s watch, there is a 16s watch to get that average. 22% of people made it to this mark.
πSome UGC here that also mentions the brand and is really just some social proof. I put in some TTT that is totally unrelated to the UGC or review, but is a USP just for the subconscious to feed on.
πI cut the lower half of the video to get in more footage of the bars because many people are unfamiliar with shampoo in bar form, and otherwise, this is just a shot of a girl in front of the mirror. Get that product in there! Constantly. It's ever-present context.
Ramming in review call outs (social proof). Too much to read in just a few seconds, but the brain may pick out something, and we are just conveying emotion here, not information. Placed on top of lovely hair footage to again... evoke that it works. 20s in and 11% audience left
So this is the longest clip in the video. A full 36 seconds. It's very compelling if you watch the whole thing, but you can't start a video with it, you have to set the hook first. There 9% of the audience left at the start of this clip.
πBecause it's so long, I deploy both "you gotta see this!" and then a "wait for it" to string the viewer along. I also drop the music out entirely and then bring it back in the 'reveal' for effect. Old DJ habits die hard.π€
πFun fact, the thing they are waiting for is the exact same thing they saw in the first 2 seconds of the video. Of the 9% that started this clip, about half stuck with it. There is 5% of the audience left. π€
Finally we get to the endcard, which I think are important. A great technique for endcards is to have the VO from the previous clip flow on top so viewers are more likely to stick around.
πWhile the stats usually show that most video views have sound OFF, I'd be willing to bet that is skewed by all the 1 sec watches and that most people who get 15+ seconds in have the sound ON. So sound, music, etc absolutely matter.
π About 3% of people actually finish this video. Which doesn't sound like a lot, but it's 48,000 people. Who watched an ad for over a minute. Quality of impressions matter and time spent with your ad also matters, so employ whatever you can to get the most of it.
Here is the stats on this video. We LOVE employing long ads, and rarely do one that is less than 30 seconds. Most video charts look like this, there is a large drop in the beginning, but then it tapers off. If you do all that work to hook them, let them watch!
πWhy do a 15 second ad, when a 10% of people will watching something for 25 seconds, as they did in this video. Watch time is important because the more they watch the more likelihood they will purchase. Informercials know this.
Lastly, here is the copy. Which I do think is important. A little fun, then into a review that is lengthly and requires a "see more" to view. But the thing about "See more" is that when they click... they uh.. want to see more. They are engaged, so give them something!
If you found this helpful, give it an RT and maybe I'll do it again.
1. π§΅Faris claims his cost capped CBO structure forces new ads to compete with existing ads and only relative performance matters.
He's got this backwards.
An ad account shouldn't have one bidcap or costcap number that all ads are subservient too.
Top of funnel audiences are harder to convert than lower funnel. Non-core demos are harder to convert than core demos.
The best "performing" ad in your account is likely a lower funnel static or video. It does a great job of hoovering up all the demand that other ads creative.
But trying to pit higher funnel creative against lower funnel creative is insane and unhealthy.
We actually see this a lot. Strict cost controls bends the entire account into a few statics that work best on lower funnel audiences, new creative can't compete and the funnel doesn't get refreshed, forcing higher and higher bids on "top performers" and stagnating the entire account.
What you want is the opposite of what Faris describes. You WANT creative to find it's own specific audience. It may not be as profitable as your "top performer" but if it's close, it will absolutely be adding contribution margin to your bottom line.
Or you can toss that contribution margin because the ad doesn't cannibalize your top performer. Your choice.
2. 𧡠Faris claims creative testing campaigns are a waste of money because they "generate a worse return than the average."
Don't be scared by this.
How much worse should creative testing campaigns be?
In reality... not much worse.
Here is the last 30 days of spend of a creating testing campaign vs an ASC with all the "winners".
The difference is a $19.65 vs $22.37 CPL. Is that a waste of spend? You are only wasting the delta between your testing and production campaigns.
If the results of your testing campaign are terrible, just find a new creative partner. That's NOT how it should go.
Even if the performance is 12% worse, like in the above example, is that a waste of spend?
Nah. It's actually the most valuable and efficient spend in the account...
How to turn ChatGPT into an INTERROGATOR and question 650 customers at once to pull out the juiciest insights and answers. π€ π
Where do you find 650 customers to ask their opinion? Reviews.
They've already given it.
We recently wrapped a creative strategy for a brand which includes interviews and market research, but customer reviews can be overwhelming, especially when there are so many.
So we brought in an AI Interrogator: ChatGPT.
Unfortunately ChatGPT has a limit of 5,000 characters. Sounds like a lot.
It's not.
650 reviews is 200,000 characters so we're going to show you how to bypass this limitation (while it lasts).
In 2022 we had 63 inbound requests to work with us.
We signed with 6.
Here are the 4 reasons we say NO to most potential clients.
1. Price.
Not gunna lie, we are more expensive than most agencies. We started with no minimums in 2021 and now it's... getting up there. You get what you pay for and we always deliver a ton of value but...
This is also just supply and demand.
If we aren't super enthused about the brand we send our standard pricing and they generally turn us down. This is by design.
We are a team of 6 ppl with 5 to 8 clients at once.
We always try to have a smaller brand on our roster with a discounted rate tho. Love the early days.
Successful creative isn't just hooks and thumbstops.
Brands need killer market positioning to stand out. The hooks will flow from there.
Whenever we start with a client we run through this exercise to distill the most resonate messaging possible.
Let me and Eminem show ya...
We are looking for the overlap between all three circles, but its not easy to get there.
Through interviews and market research we make a list for circle.
We always start with the easiest one...
"What we can say that's true"
This doesn't have to be amazing or interesting, it just has to be true. Consumers can tell when you are bullshitting, and if you can speak from your truth it's going to feel genuine. It's a true advantage.