Billy Corbyn, creative director for Google’s Unskippable Labs, lists his top tips for making video ads irresistible.
1. Transform the traditional narrative arc
Instead of a ‘lead in, build a climax and big reveal’ narrative format used for TV, try taking the viewer straight into the story.
To keep them engaged, make unexpected shifts and use different camera angles. Or try a first-person perspective.
2. Customise a story based on your audience
Viewers have different tastes, don’t rely on one creative to work for all audiences.
Follow Mr Porter’s example and experiment with different executions for different audiences. Tuning their Christmas ads for each audience really helped them to drive results.
3. Go from story to ‘stories’
Explore different types of narrative sequencing to tell a story.
- Tease, amplify, echo. Seed an idea to intrigue your audience, amplify it to offer a deeper experience, and echo to remind your audience or spur action.
- Break your story into thematic chapters over time.
- Stick to one concept but communicate it in different ways.
4. Offer up stories based on user behaviour
Video ad sequencing can help you to tell a linear story. It also allows you to use storylines based on viewer behaviour.
For the The Greatest Showman, 20th Century Fox started with one creative and, depending on user engagement, followed it up with different content. This proved 149% more effective than a singular creative.
5. Evolve your strategy
There has never been a better time to explore curiosity in creative advertising.
Test different video formats and see which capture the most attention and drive results. Build your online video strategy from there.
Looking for ideas for your next campaign? Corbyn recommends watching Why you remembered that YouTube ad for inspiration.