Why Your Ads Fail

Happy Wednesday!

This week, we are ripping the band-aid off when talking about the common mistakes we see brands make with ads.

Take note of these major do’s and don’ts if you want your ads to convert better on Meta and TikTok.

What you will learn today:

• What’s the right pacing for your ad

• How to keep your audience engaged throughout your ad

• How much time you should spend on the hook

• Why text overlays and captions are non-negotiable

• Why letting creators go off-script is a bad idea

And much more…

Bonus For You

If you run an e-commerce business and spend at least $5,000 a month on ads, we will write 3 creative concepts for your brand completely free.

We want to show you our creative process and why our clients love it.

Simply fill out this form and we will send you 3 concepts tailored to your brand.

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Number 1…

❌ Slow Pacing

Slow-paced videos are a killer.

Incredibly so, we still see a lot of these ads in 2024. Here’s an example.

Long pauses, unnecessary breaths, and dead space make viewers lose interest fast. And to be honest, the music choice didn’t help either.

✅ Faster Pace

Make sure to trim all the dead sound lines and chop them out. This will make things a lot faster.

Your content should be snappy and engaging from start to finish. Check out how they turned it around in this ad.

Think of it as getting in line to pay for your groceries and the previous customer is an old lady taking forever – no one wants to be stuck behind a slowpoke.

Speed up your pacing to keep your audience hooked.

Number 2…

❌ Not Changing the Frame

Stagnant visuals are boring and can make your content feel stale.

If your video is a straight talk-to-camera setup, you must break it up with B-roll footage.

For example, this video would’ve been more engaging if the creator had changed up the b-rolls within the first 3 seconds of the ad.

✅ Adding Dynamic Visuals

Changing the frame every few seconds keeps viewers' entertained. They don't want to look at the creators’ faces talking the entire time.

Here’s a similar testimonial video that’s way more engaging than the first example.

And… adding movements, like zooms and pans, will make your content visually stimulating. It’s like adding seasoning to a dish – it brings out the flavor and keeps things interesting.

Number 3…

❌ Lazy Hooks

2024 is here, which means viewers are experiencing severe UGC fatigue. If your hook isn't catchy enough, your ad will be the next one they scroll past.

And yes, that means spending the majority of your time coming up with a compelling hook that will instantly grab the attention of your audience.

✅ Strong Scroll Stoppers

A great hook grabs the attention of your viewer within the first three seconds of the ad.

That means you really need to surprise your audience using either a bold statement, a surprising fact, or a relatable scenario, combined with powerful visuals and even sounds. Here’s a fun hook that does a good job of including these elements.

Your hook sets the tone for the entire video, so make it count.

If you need inspiration, there are plenty of online resources with proven hook ideas.

Number 4…

❌ No Captions / Text Overlays

Text overlays and captions are simply non-negotiable.

This stuff is basic, yet every once in a while, we’ll come around an ad without text and captions.

Here’s a caveat: ads without captions rarely become winners, but it can happen with certain demographics.

✅ Captions and Text Overlays

Here’s why they are a must:

1. They make videos much more engaging to the user.

2. They can highlight key points of your product.

3. Many people watch videos with the sound off.

4. Captions make your content accessible to everyone, including those who are hard of hearing.

A technique that we’ve found very successful with a paint-by-numbers brand is to keep captions moving throughout the video. This works extremely well because it keeps the viewer engaged.

Number 5…

❌  Flat Storyline

A flat storyline will kill your ad faster than all the things we mentioned above.

Believe it or not, sometimes we see wild ads where someone says "Hi, my name is..." and you don't know where they're going with it.

But it's somewhere off this planet, and it's not a place you want to be.

Here’s a classic example of a creator going “off script” and landing nowhere.

✅ Plan a Good Storyline

A good storyline is the backbone of any successful ad and could be the thing that saves you, even if other aspects of the video aren't perfect.

Be sure to give creators solid storyline ideas and specific elements you want to be included. Better yet, provide them with a brief they can base the ad on.

You need to ensure that your content has a clear narrative arc that takes viewers on a journey. Here’s what we mean.

This will make your content memorable and more likely to convert.

Get Our Free Guide: Build A Solid Creative Strategy For Your Brand

We've put together this training to teach you how to create a high-performing creative strategy for your brand.

This is the same process we use to build creative strategies for hundreds of brands, which has resulted in top-performing UGC ads for our clients across various industries.

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How We Can Help You

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways we can help you…

1. If you’re looking for a creative partner who will handle your entire creative production, deliver winning ads every month, and help you scale, apply to work with us here. We have worked with brands like HexClad, BestSelf, Product Hunt, Morning Brew, and others.

2. Want us to train your internal team and implement all of our creative production systems and strategies in your business? Apply here and we will help you build an in-house team that can create hundreds of winning ads every month.

3. If you’re looking to take your ad performance to the next level and have a consistent stream of winning creative, but don’t want to hire anyone, we have created a program that teaches you our entire creative production process and everything we have learned over 3 years of creating tens of thousands of ads.