035: Cool product... but you forgot something.

Hello, you lovely Creatives!

Welcome to Volume 3️⃣5️⃣ of Creative Cuts 🔪 - your weekly dose of creative strategy from your friends at Creative OS.

We’re going to go over an ad with you like usual and give you some great takeaways where you:

• Understand the quality of the assets

• Strength of copy

• Psychology used to convert customers

• And how you can leverage these tactics easily

Now that you know what you’re in for, onto the show.

Best,

Chase

Maude’s Ad

What’s working ❤️‍🔥:

1. Visual Focus on Product Use: The ad demonstrates the product in action, which immediately helps viewers understand its function and appeal. This hands-on visual can enhance trust and clarity for the consumer.

2. Emotionally Driven Tagline: "Be in touch" effectively leverages emotional appeal, subtly tying the product to intimacy and self-care.

3. Warm, Natural Lighting: The lighting evokes a sense of warmth and comfort, aligning with the intimate positioning of the product.

What could be better 🔨:

1. Lack of Contextual Call-to-Action (CTA): The ad’s text, while aligned with the product's theme, lacks urgency or a direct action prompt, such as "Shop now" or "Explore more."

2. Minimal Social Proof: The ad doesn’t leverage testimonials, ratings, or user-generated content (UGC) to build trust or convey social validation.

3. Single Visual Focus: Though clear, the singular focus on the massage interaction may limit broader audience engagement. No lifestyle or aspirational context is provided to expand its emotional resonance.

What to do📈:

1.  Enhance the CTA:

   • Introduce a CTA that encourages immediate action, e.g., “Feel the difference today—shop now.” This helps drive conversions and creates a sense of urgency.

   • Use dynamic CTAs that adapt to different placements, e.g., "Swipe up to learn more" for Instagram Stories.

2. Incorporate UGC or Testimonial Elements:

   • Adding real user reviews or brief video testimonials can enhance credibility. According to performance insights, ads with social proof can significantly boost click-through rates​​.

   • Include a mashup of multiple users demonstrating diverse ways to use the product to broaden appeal​.

3. Experiment with Multi-Frame Storytelling:

   • Implement a carousel or split-screen format to show the product in various scenarios (e.g., self-massage, partner massage). This would provide a broader context for its use and address different consumer needs​​.

   • Highlighting features and benefits (like quiet operation or ergonomic design) through text overlays could also help convey product value in a more structured manner​.

4. Utilize “Ugly Ad” Principles:

   • Test less polished, more authentic creative formats such as informal phone-shot videos or text overlays with handwritten elements. These can boost engagement by appearing more relatable and less like conventional advertising​.

5. Leverage Data-Driven Insights:

   • Monitor the ad’s hook rate (initial three-second engagement) and optimize visuals accordingly. Ads with strong hooks often correlate with higher conversion rates, even if the click-through rate remains modest​.

   • Analyze hold rates to ensure viewers stay engaged throughout the ad and adapt your creative accordingly for higher retention and impact.

Key Takeaways 💸

This ad does an excellent job at presenting a problem-solution narrative, but the lack of social proof and actionable CTA’s is holding it back. Implementing these recommendations will likely increase engagement, compliance, and conversion rates, making the ad more effective across Meta platforms.

That’s all! If you’re looking to find inspiration or get the best ad templates out there, come hang out with us at Creative OS and tell your friends!