The Psychology of High Converting Static Ads — Transcript

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1. 0:00Some of the highest performing static
2. 0:01ads I've ever made look like they should
3. 0:03have failed. I'm talking about ads that
4. 0:05look like someone made them in 5
5. 0:07minutes, yet outperform creatives we'd
6. 0:09spend hours producing. At first, I
7. 0:10thought these were just exceptions, but
8. 0:13after creating over 50,000 ads for
9. 0:15brands like AG1, Jones Road, Hex Clad,
10. 0:18Surreal, Absolute Collagen, Vibe, Fussy,
11. 0:20and many more, I kept seeing the same
12. 0:22[music] thing happen. And the strange
13. 0:24part was that these ads had something in
14. 0:26common, even though they looked
15. 0:28completely different. Look, it took me a
16. 0:29while to understand why they work, but
17. 0:31it comes down to five psychological
18. 0:33principles most brands overlook. So, I'm
19. 0:35going to show you those five principles
20. 0:37using actual ads we've run, starting
21. 0:39with one of the strangest winners we've
22. 0:41ever had. When you look at this ad, it's
23. 0:43probably not what you'd expect from a
24. 0:46brand spending serious money on Meta,
25. 0:48but that's part of what makes it
26. 0:49interesting because when someone is
27. 0:51scrolling through Instagram, they're
28. 0:53surrounded by content that their brain
29. 0:55has become familiar with. And when
30. 0:57everything starts looking similar,
31. 0:59something that breaks that pattern has a
32. 1:01better chance of getting noticed. People
33. 1:03scroll past most ads because they're
34. 1:05familiar with how advertising looks.
35. 1:08When every brand in a category uses
36. 1:10similar layouts, images, and colors,
37. 1:12those ads become easy to ignore. But
38. 1:15something unexpected can interrupt that
39. 1:17pattern. The visual's difference gets
40. 1:19someone's attention before they've even
41. 1:21read that message. Looking different
42. 1:23needs to serve a purpose. An ad can get
43. 1:26attention without attracting the right
44. 1:28people interested in the product. This
45. 1:30ad is for Mail Order Mystery. It's a
46. 1:33game for kids that you get in the
47. 1:34mailbox. And what we decided to do here
48. 1:37is to project the kid imagery into the
49. 1:40visual. We used the different clues,
50. 1:43imageries, and objects that are included
51. 1:46in the game and gamified them visually
52. 1:48to get closer to the kid. You see those
53. 1:51objects, the letter, the pirate flag,
54. 1:53the box. Text-heavy ads are crushing
55. 1:56right now on Meta. That's why we used it
56. 1:58here. Now, look at the headline. We used
57. 2:01a different color for every letter. The
58. 2:03cure for summer boredom explained like
59. 2:06you're five. A real mystery that arrives
60. 2:08in your kids mailbox all summer long.
61. 2:11Six envelopes over six weeks with their
62. 2:13name on every letter. What we did here
63. 2:16is we explained the outcome of the
64. 2:17product. Here is just how it will get to
65. 2:20you and what's in it. There are clues to
66. 2:22crack, ciphers to decode, and a secret
67. 2:25keepsake at the end. Tap if your kid's
68. 2:27ready to be the hero of their own summer
69. 2:29adventure. What we did with this ad is
70. 2:32we made it easy for parents. Parents are
71. 2:34the ones buying, so you got to make
72. 2:36their life easier. By targeting parents
73. 2:38in the headline and make it look like a
74. 2:41kid ad, we made this offer a no-brainer.
75. 2:44This ad spent $300,000 at a 2x for us on
76. 2:47Meta. This ad looks like a five-year-old
77. 2:50kid drawing, yet it's one of the best
78. 2:52performing ads we've ever made. You
79. 2:54don't need huge design skills to come up
80. 2:56with this. You just need the right idea,
81. 2:58because the right idea will make people
82. 3:00stop the scroll, break the pattern, and
83. 3:02get you a sale. Getting someone to stop
84. 3:04is only the first part, because once
85. 3:05you've got their attention, they need to
86. 3:07understand what you're trying to tell
87. 3:08them. And that's where a lot of static
88. 3:10ads make things unnecessarily difficult.
89. 3:13One thing I see brands do all the time
90. 3:15is to try to squeeze every selling point
91. 3:17they have into a single static ad.
92. 3:19They'll have the product in the middle,
93. 3:21three different benefits, a testimonial,
94. 3:23a discount, and a bunch of arrows
95. 3:25pointing everywhere. And when someone's
96. 3:27scrolling past that, they have to work
97. 3:29out which part they're supposed to pay
98. 3:31attention to. That's where understanding
99. 3:34how people process information becomes
100. 3:36useful. When someone can understand an
101. 3:38ad without having to work through
102. 3:40different competing ideas, they're more
103. 3:42likely to take in what it's saying.
104. 3:44Visual hierarchy determines what gets
105. 3:46noticed first. The headline, image, and
106. 3:48supporting text should make the main
107. 3:50message obvious. Brands often add more
108. 3:53information because they think it makes
109. 3:55the ad more convincing. But too many
110. 3:57claims can make it harder for someone to
111. 3:59understand what the product is offering.
112. 4:02Look at this ad we made for the brand
113. 4:04Soothe Natural. It's a perfect example
114. 4:06of how to make the main message obvious.
115. 4:08This ad is one of the highest performing
116. 4:10ads we've ever made. Look at how simple
117. 4:12it is. We have a logo, a headline,
118. 4:15supporting text, and a spoon with the
119. 4:17product on it. And that's it.
120. 4:19>> What we did here is reverse psychology.
121. 4:21Most people expect brands to say good
122. 4:24stuff about their product. Here, we did
123. 4:26the opposite. This stuff tastes nasty.
124. 4:29Who would say that? This message stopped
125. 4:31the scroll. This headline is one of the
126. 4:33best top spoiler we've ever made at
127. 4:35Static. Now, look at the supporting
128. 4:37text. Yeah, it's not the best tasting
129. 4:39thing in the world, and that's
130. 4:41intentional. And then we yap about how
131. 4:43we get natural flavors, no added
132. 4:45sweeteners, and that's why it tastes a
133. 4:47little bit flat. Finally, we conclude
134. 4:49it's not meant to be sipped like a
135. 4:51smoothie, it's meant to work. And a
136. 4:53working product cannot taste like sugar.
137. 4:56This ad spent close to $100,000 on Meta.
138. 4:59Now, if you look at this ad, it's just
139. 5:01trying to say too much. The headline has
140. 5:03one claim, the product benefits have
141. 5:05different ones, and the CTA, too. This
142. 5:08ad is just trying too much. You have
143. 5:10more than three claims in there. Unclear
144. 5:12messages like these are harder to
145. 5:14process for the human brain. And if it's
146. 5:16harder to process, people can't
147. 5:18understand it. It's very unlikely that
148. 5:20this ad generated enough sales. If
149. 5:22you're trying to be everywhere, you're
150. 5:25nowhere. So now, someone noticed your ad
151. 5:27and they understand what you're saying.
152. 5:29But understanding something doesn't make
153. 5:31you automatically interested in it. And
154. 5:33that's where the next psychological
155. 5:35principle comes in. A lot of the work we
156. 5:37do at Static comes down to understanding
157. 5:39why someone would pay attention to our
158. 5:41creative in the first place. We're
159. 5:42constantly testing different angles,
160. 5:44messages, and designs to find what works
161. 5:47for the brands we work with. So, if
162. 5:49you're spending real money on Meta and
163. 5:51you want my team to help you develop and
164. 5:53test creatives like these, you can just
165. 5:55book a call with us. The link is in the
166. 5:57description. Now, there is another
167. 5:59reason someone might keep looking at an
168. 6:01ad even if they weren't interested in
169. 6:03the product a few seconds earlier.
170. 6:05Sometimes an ad gets your attention
171. 6:07because it looks different. Other times
172. 6:10it gets your attention because you want
173. 6:11to understand what you're seeing. You
174. 6:13might recognize this from YouTube
175. 6:15thumbnails. Sometimes the image raises a
176. 6:17question that makes you want to click.
177. 6:19You can use a similar idea in static
178. 6:21advertising. Curiosity creates a reason
179. 6:24to keep looking. When an image or
180. 6:26headline raises a question, people may
181. 6:28spend more time to try and understand
182. 6:30it. A creative doesn't always need to
183. 6:32explain everything immediately.
184. 6:34Sometimes showing just enough to make
185. 6:36someone interested encourages them to
186. 6:38read further. The curiosity needs to
187. 6:41connect back to the product. Otherwise,
188. 6:43you might attract attention from people
189. 6:45who have no intention of buying. This ad
190. 6:47we made for the brand Snoozy is visually
191. 6:50intriguing. It has a woman's back and a
192. 6:53peach on it. The headline definitely
193. 6:55peaks curiosity. The small text below
194. 6:57the headline mentions the product
195. 6:59without showing it. It says, "Try Snoozy
196. 7:02infused." But so what is Snoozy? We
197. 7:04mentioned the gummies but never showed
198. 7:06them. This ad became one of the top
199. 7:08performing ad for the brand. Here we
200. 7:10went with the typical curiosity led
201. 7:12idea, but the product is an intimacy
202. 7:14enhancing
203. 7:16And so by showing the woman's back with
204. 7:17the peach on it, we connected it back to
205. 7:19the product. This ad is highly relevant
206. 7:22for the audience. This ad raised a
207. 7:24question people were dying to answer.
208. 7:26This ad doesn't explain everything. We
209. 7:28showed just what was needed. Curiosity
210. 7:31can get someone to look closer, but it
211. 7:33doesn't necessarily give them a reason
212. 7:34to buy. For that, you need to understand
213. 7:36what they want from the product. And
214. 7:38sometimes that's quite different than
215. 7:40then the brand chooses to advertise. A
216. 7:42lot of brands are good at explaining
217. 7:44what the product does. They'll tell you
218. 7:46what's inside it, how it works, and what
219. 7:47benefit it offers. But when someone
220. 7:49decides to buy something, they're often
221. 7:52thinking about what having that product
222. 7:54would mean for their life. That's where
223. 7:55the emotional side of advertising
224. 7:57becomes important. People often want
225. 7:59something deeper than the immediate
226. 8:01product benefit. Someone who wants to
227. 8:03lose weight might also want to be more
228. 8:05attractive, confident, or healthy.
229. 8:07Desires like feeling safe, being
230. 8:09accepted, or feeling attractive can
231. 8:12influence the buying decision.
232. 8:13Understanding which one is relevant
233. 8:16helps shaping the message. The creative
234. 8:18should speak to the desire that matters
235. 8:20to the customers instead of just
236. 8:21describing what a product does. This ad
237. 8:24we made for Our Health is a very good
238. 8:26example of that. People who are drinking
239. 8:28too much want to feel accepted as who
240. 8:30they are. Yet, they need help. So, what
241. 8:32we came up with is to show an attractive
242. 8:35person on the ad. Every drinking too
243. 8:37much ad right now is either a statistics
244. 8:40ad or an ad that shames people. Here, we
245. 8:43took a completely different route. This
246. 8:45woman could be the most attractive woman
247. 8:47you've ever seen, yet she drinks too
248. 8:49much. When we looked at the market, we
249. 8:51saw that alcoholics are actually in
250. 8:53shame. They want to progress. They want
251. 8:55to evolve, but they can't. They want to
252. 8:57change, but they can't take that first
253. 8:59step because they're afraid other people
254. 9:01would look down on them. Showing that a
255. 9:03very attractive woman could have a
256. 9:05drinking problem, too, makes them feel
257. 9:07included. With this ad, we touch one of
258. 9:09the deepest human desire, the desire to
259. 9:12be accepted. And when you understand
260. 9:14what someone wants, you can take that a
261. 9:16step further because some of the
262. 9:17strongest ads make people feel like the
263. 9:19brand understands who they are. That's
264. 9:21the final psychological principle I want
265. 9:24to cover. One of the most interesting
266. 9:26things about advertising is how
267. 9:28differently two people can respond to
268. 9:30the exact same creative. Someone might
269. 9:33scroll straight past an ad, while
270. 9:34someone else might feel like the brand
271. 9:36understand
272. 9:37what they're looking for. And that
273. 9:39difference often comes down to how
274. 9:41clearly the creative reflects the person
275. 9:43you're trying to reach. People often
276. 9:45choose products that reflect who they
277. 9:47are and who they want to become. The
278. 9:48right creative can make someone feel
279. 9:50like the brand is relevant to them. The
280. 9:52imagery, language, and message can
281. 9:54signal who the product is for. Being
282. 9:57specific helps the intended customer
283. 9:59recognize themselves. In categories
284. 10:01where brands all look and sound
285. 10:03familiar, speaking to a distinct type of
286. 10:05customer can help a creative stand out.
287. 10:08This creative, rude teenager, speaks to
288. 10:10a clearly defined audience. An audience
289. 10:13that struggles with their kids at home.
290. 10:15But this ad was designed for a very
291. 10:17specific type of parents. The ones that
292. 10:19can't take it anymore with their
293. 10:20teenagers. Look at how specific this ad
294. 10:23is. They snap before you finish a
295. 10:25sentence. One word answers at dinner. A
296. 10:28different kid at home than at school. A
297. 10:31very specific type of household. And
298. 10:33then you provide them with a solution to
299. 10:35those problems. Three nutrients that
300. 10:37support teen mood. Not just support
301. 10:39mood, teen mood. It's as if everybody
302. 10:42else was excluded from the conversation.
303. 10:44While this specific message is not
304. 10:47relevant to most people, it is highly
305. 10:49relevant to people like them. The
306. 10:51imagery, language, and message signals
307. 10:53exactly who the product is for. The
308. 10:55vitamin industry is the most crowded
309. 10:57industry in health and wellness. The way
310. 10:59we approach a crowded category is to
311. 11:02niche down. And this is exactly what we
312. 11:04did here. From a psychological
313. 11:06principle, one way to make a
314. 11:07high-performing static ad is to niche
315. 11:09down on a single problem. You can use
316. 11:11all this yourself. It just takes
317. 11:13understanding the person on the other
318. 11:16side of the screen better than the brand
319. 11:18next to you does. And most brands never
320. 11:20slow down to do this. That understanding
321. 11:23is the whole job my team does at Static.
322. 11:25We find the angle and the psychology
323. 11:27your competitors are missing, and we
324. 11:29build ads around it every week. If
325. 11:31you're spending real money on Meta, the
326. 11:33first link in the description will get
327. 11:34you a call with us. And if you want to
328. 11:36see why these ads matter more now than
329. 11:39they ever have, I explained what changed
330. 11:41on Meta this year. It's in my video the
331. 11:43new era of Meta creative. It's on screen
332. 11:45right now. Go watch that next.