What are the critical elements in a Commercial's first 5 seconds that stop me from turning it off?
I'm always inundated with ads, but I turn them off almost immediately 95% of the time. But I do notice there are times when something in the first few seconds catches my eye. I'm sure it's context-specific, depending on what I'm currently focused on. If it's something top of mind, I'll probably watch for a few seconds. So there is the critical targeted advertising component of all this.
But I feel like there must be generic elements in a commercial that directors replicate to really draw people in more successfully than others. What are they?
Answers ( 1 )
Marketers are understandably obsessed with figuring out how to grab your attention in the first 5 seconds of their commercials. After all, in digital advertising, the viewer is only a captive audience for the first few seconds of an ad's run. After that, you have to "opt in" in order to see the rest of the ad. So how can advertisers ensure that the largest proportion of viewers stick around? There are a number of factors at play:
1. Picking the correct target in the first place. Talk to any consumer, and they're likely to tell you how they dislike or ignore ads. But this is rarely true in an absolute sense. Consumers are terrible predictors of their own behavior, and often do things they think they don't. The key is that they are selectively remembering seeing the ads they don't like or care about. When you actually learn something about a product or subject relevant to you, then you either think of it as an outlier/exception, or don’t realize where you heard about it first. This means that good targeting and media placement are very important. Even an ad that most randomly-selected consumers would click away from can capture a viewer’s attention if it is targeted properly. This has less to do with the creative content of the ad and more to do with good media placement.
2. Making sure to tell you something you care about and not what they want you to know. Almost all advertisers find their product or business to be more interesting than it is to the average person. As a result, they all want to make sure their ads tell prospective customers everything they want them to know about it. Surely, if you just hear about the amazing product/service, you’ll care about it and want it, right? Wrong. They have to find out why it might be relevant to you, and make sure to only communicate that. Not seventeen product benefits they think are great. But the one thing that matters to you, not you the marketer. The good ones do that.
3. Giving the promise of entertainment. It’s a good idea for advertisers to think of digital advertising as sort of a contract or deal between the marketer and the consumer. The marketer gives the consumer something of value in return for the consumer’s attention. Usually what the marketer has to offer is one of two things (or preferably both). One of those things can be an incredible and uniquely relevant product or value. But in most cases that’s not enough, and very few products are actually that special. What the marketer also has to give you as part of the deal is entertainment. In the absence of a truly unique, game-changing, perfectly timed product (and usually even if there is one), what the marketer can offer is a laugh, a smile, a nod, or some other connection that entertains and moves you, the viewer. This is why advertising creative matters. Blabber on too long about a parity accounting service, and they’ll lose the viewer, even though they think their own offering is fascinating. But if they make a really funny, entertaining short piece of filmmaking that draws a real laugh, you’ll not only keep watching, but remember the company much more distinctly when it comes time to make a purchase. The trick is for them to promise this entertainment in the first 5 seconds. They have to let you know you’ll be missing something if you don’t click through. Just because they're paying for the ad doesn't buy them the right to bore you. They have to treat you like a paying audience and suck you in.
4. Making an offer you can’t refuse. Another way to get consumers to click through is to tease a special offer. It could be price-based or a discount, it could be access to something exclusive, or any number of other kinds of offers, but let a consumer know that if they stick around they’ll get something for their trouble, and they’re much more likely to retain them. This is an offshoot of the “deal” they’re making with the viewer, as mentioned above. They’re giving something in return for your attention. They must never think that their product is too appealing or fascinating to be subject to this requirement. Every advertiser needs to keep up their end of the deal.
5. Showing some personality right away. Brands are like people, and have distinct personalities. And consumers make a lot of brand decisions based on whether they like that “person”. Is that someone they want to be associated with? Is it someone cool? Someone trustworthy? Those first five seconds are the time for a company to show some personality and set the tone for what the rest of the message will be like and what kind of company they are. It’s a grave error to be dry and information-based only at that point. There will be plenty of time for that when you click to continue, or even better when you eventually click through to the company’s website. But in the first five seconds, they just have to show you some personality and set the tone.
6. Setting up a story or problem right away. Just as in movie-making, advertising is often about conflict and resolution. Set up the problem or intrigue and people will want to know how to solve it or how things work out in the story. But they’ve got to hook you before you opt out. So they need to consider using type or a clear statement that will draw your interest and attention right away.
7. Being more exciting than what you’re waiting to see. No matter how great an advertiser's message may be, it’s an intrusion before you can watch what you really came for. Digital ads are usually either pre-roll or interrupting something that the viewer is already interested in. So it’s incumbent on the advertiser to be even more interesting, amusing or compelling than what the viewer came for. Or at least enough so to make you willing to postpone your initial purpose.
8. Getting weird. Or at least different. There are tons of digital ads out there, and lots of them are very similar. Being unusual or standing out in some way is a virtue, especially in grabbing attention in the first 5 seconds. So they have to be brave enough to take some chances, have a point of view, and do something different from the other things out there. Say something that gets attention or even something controversial, and people may want to stay around to see what happens. Using an arresting or surprising visual can draw you in. They have to make you think you might see something you’ve never seen before.
9. Being funny. While any emotional connection with the viewer can be powerful and effective, research has shown that the one way of connecting that worked better than any other was humor. Further, establishing humor is a more plausible way of drawing out emotion in 5 seconds than trying to forge a more serious type of emotional bond with you. That's why so many ads you stick around for are funny. Added bonus: humorous ads are also more likely to be shared with friends than any other type.
10. Holding the music. Music can be a powerful part of filmmaking and can bring a piece alive. It can also tell a viewer subtly how to feel about what’s on the screen. However, in the first five seconds, music has been shown to harm recall, distract from the message, and sometimes even make viewers turn the sound off. Also, the quietness before and after whatever else has been watched, and the focus on what’s actually going on, seem to help. So while an ad can certainly benefit from having music in it, many advertisers wait until the first few seconds are over, and you have already committed to watching the ad before the music takes over.
11. Making it personal and relevant. If you think that what they’re doing is specifically relevant to you or your interests, or seems personalized to you, the chances of your sticking around go up. This can include personalization technology, but also may just relate back to the targeting and media aspects. Better for an advertiser to connect with a smaller audience of people who have a direct interest in their subject than to pay for casting a huge net and boring a large number of people. And it may be even more effecgive for them to use language that addresses you directly, and sounds like part of a conversation with you.
12. Holding their cards till the right moment. It's almost always a bad idea for an advertiser to throw up the company logo or sales pitch right at the start. Unless they’re a hugely popular brand that has a devoted following that seeks out any communication from the company (if they’re not Nike, they probably don't), putting up a logo right at the start is a great way to lose the viewer. Remember that contract they've made with you? (See #s 3 and 4) They'd better not break it by selling too hard or putting up their logo in the first 5 seconds. They owe you something you want or care about first. Many clients are tempted to put up their logo or information right from the start because they fear not getting the chance later. But this tactic will backfire. In fact, teasing the viewer and making them want to know who’s behind a great piece of work is more effective. They have to give you the whole pitch before they can try to close the deal and sell you. You wouldn’t tell the punchline before the joke just to make sure people heard it, would you?
13. Not overloading the piece with dense information. An ad isn’t meant to provide heavy product information. That’s the job of the website or a company’s sales team. An ad is meant to generate awareness or make people like the company. It should get you curious, entertain you, and then send you to a place where you can get more info. Trying to pile too much information into the ad (and especially the first 5 seconds) is using the medium incorrectly, and will lose viewers. Keeping things simple and tied to one thing they want you the viewer to remember is a better idea. Not three things. One.
14. Using powerful text and visuals. Some digital ads and pre-rolls default to being on mute when they start. So type and interesting, memorable visuals can help draw your attention in those first five seconds and get you to turn on the sound if it isn’t already. They can’t rely on sound alone to communicate in those first 5 seconds.
Getting a person to watch an ad isn’t necessarily easy. And the less interesting or unique the product, the better crafted the commercial needs to be. But following a few basic principles and respecting the viewer’s time (and their obligation to capture your attention) is a better strategy for keeping people after the first 5 seconds than just telling you what they want you to know.