Getting the short form ad right
Even people who work in marketing are tempted to skip ads that are forced on us when what we really wanted to do was read an article, or watch a music video. It’s even more tempting if you see the ad is more than 20 seconds long, and at length the option to hit Exit and skip the ad is available. However, with short form ads, which are typically no longer than six seconds, that option is not available, in which case, getting that short form advert exactly right is what is needed.
Short form adverts present an opportunity to engage emotionally with an audience, as a recent bit of research shows. Media platform Teads worked with Realeyes, an artificial intelligence (AI) –based research provider to analyse 166 short form ads from 75 brands. The study used AI software to assess viewers’ emotional reactions based on a form of facial expression software that scored reactions on a one to 10 basis.
The results indicated that while viewers don’t have the same strength of emotional reaction to a six second ad as they do to a 30 second one, simply because six seconds isn’t a lot of time to get an emotional message across. On the other hand, viewers often ‘switch off’ from the longer adverts, whereas the short form ads have a ‘view-through’ rate of 55% on mobile devices.
How to improve short form ads
One of the most noticeable things missing from a significant number of short form ads was the absence of a call to action. This can be a result of using cut downs of a longer advert. The advice from experts here is to choose the most emotional scene from the longer form and make sure a call to action is in there, or added.
The case for a new form of short form
There is also a case to be made for stopping using cut downs of 30 second commercials for use on mobile devices and starting to make short ads specifically for them. Mars, a top performer in mobile device advertising believes there is much more to be explored in marketing on mobile devices, and since it is already doing so well, it would be silly to ignore the confectionary giant’s advice. Sorin Patilinet, a director at Mars explained: “The explosion of short form content caused by the emergence of mobile and erosion of consumer attention have changed the rules of the game.” As marketers we must be aware of this change in attention span and come up with solutions to the short form that fit neatly with consumer behaviour. Patilinet added some words of advice that both marketers and brand owners should heed: “We have to learn how to tell brand stories in shorter formats, and get ready for even shorter formats in the near future.”
In the end, it isn’t just about making an advert shorter, it’s about telling a story within a new timeframe and one that guarantees an emotional connection with the consumer.
Contact Peppermint, one of the coast’s leading digital marketing agencies, Marbella, Costa del Sol if you want to reach more consumers via ads for mobile devices. With our knowledge and expertise we can create short form adverts that sell and make your brand memorable.