Studies show that the average person is exposed to approximately 4,000 to 10,000 ads daily. This may come as a surprise, especially since we’ve gotten so good at subconsciously ignoring advertising that doesn’t interest us. Worried that your ads might be getting lost in the shuffle and ignored by your target audience? If so, it’s time to invest in conversion creative.

What Conversion Creative Is

Conversion creative is content that has been created for paid advertising, including both videos and images. This is quite different than, for example, using product photography or archived images in your phone for your ads. Conversion creative is made specifically for your advertising and nothing else.

You can reuse older content, but that content wasn’t made to achieve your current advertising goals. Conversion creative is made with several other factors in mind, including your goals, audience, and the marketing funnel, which are the stages of attracting, engaging, and converting prospects with ads. Conversion creative also takes into account a prospect’s purchase history and previous interactions with your brand.

Why Conversion Creative Works

Conversion creative works because it’s born out of extensive research into your previous advertising attempts. This includes which ad and creative types appealed to your audience during different stages of their customer journey (awareness, consideration, purchase, retention, and advocacy).

What really separates conversion creative from typical advertising efforts is the research, tests, and edits involved. Every aspect of the content should be reflective of your brand’s mission and optimised for your audience.

Mastering the 3-Second Rule

To create effective conversion-focused creative, you’ll also need to understand the 3-second rule. This rule comes from research that shows you now have about 3 seconds to get your audience’s attention as they scroll on their devices. If your ad fails to capture their attention within that short window, your ad will join the thousands of others that fade into the background.

So how do you master the 3-second rule and reach more people with your ads? These tips will help you get started:

Use concise copy. Your audience needs to understand what you’re offering them right away. Whether you’re introducing a new product or announcing a sale, you should be using clear and concise copy to get your point across quickly. How will this product improve the viewer’s life? Are you offering a discount? These questions should be answered almost immediately.
Personalise your ads. People are more likely to engage in ads that feature products that interest them. That’s why many businesses use a customer’s purchase history to target them with ads that they’re more likely to engage with.
Keep key info at the top. The top of your ad is typically the first thing people will see as they scroll past. Putting your most important/valuable information at the very top will give you a better chance at catching and holding your target audience’s attention.

Key Principles of Conversion Creative

There’s more to making effective ads than just the 3-second rule. There are other key principles to making conversion-focused creative that you can implement while creating and dispersing the content. Here are a few bonus tips to help you:

Consider ad placement (e.g., full-page pop-up vs. banner ad)
Always keep in tone with your brand
Show your audience how your product solves a problem in their lives
Keep videos below 15–20 seconds in length
Keep it simple (don’t overcomplicate with lots of text)
Be authentic and show your brand’s personality
Target different audiences on different platforms (e.g., different creative for LinkedIn vs. Instagram)

You’re now better equipped to create more effective and cost-efficient ads. That said, this process can be complex and time-consuming. If you think your digital marketing team could use a hand, TheHypeSociety’s dedicated creative teams are here to help.