Create Compelling Video Ads With Neuromarketing

Have you ever listened to a podcast so insightful that you immediately share it with friends or colleagues, and insist they listen? Only they never get around to it?

Well, we just discovered a gem, and we want to make sure you don’t miss out. But we’re skipping the nagging.

You probably don’t have time to listen to an hour-long episode. We get it. You also don’t have time to take notes, or figure out how to action the advice.

So, we’ve done it for you.

Here’s how to absolutely nail video content, thanks to Social Media Examiner’s podcast episode, How to Create YouTube Video Ads That Convert (how-to guide is ahead!).

Here’s what is special about this approach

Anyone in the world of marketing, sales, or just business more broadly will be familiar with the mission to convince an audience to perform a certain action.

For example, if you’re publishing an ad, your call to action may be something along the lines of “sign up for a free trial”, “visit our website” or “browse our products”.

But have you paused and reflected on what motivates your audience to go ahead and perform that action? Have you ever considered what psychological “strings” you need to pull?

They’re important questions. But we often don’t spend enough time carefully considering what makes a compelling ad.

The podcast’s guest, Tom Breeze, is an expert in just that. He’s the CEO of Viewability, a YouTube ads agency. He’s also founder of The Ad Buyers Club, which helps marketers succeed with YouTube.

He applies his background in psychology to create video ads which inspire action. He uses this psychological approach to create a compelling narrative structure, and publish videos which convert (you’ll learn how to do that soon!).

But before we get into the nuts and bolts of how this works, here’s why the current climate is perfect for video advertising.

Are YouTube ads worth the investment of creating videos?

Yes! YouTube is rising in its popularity, and this user growth is not limited to a young audience. In fact, the 45 – 65 age range is the platform’s fastest-growing demographic.

YouTube is the second most visited website (Google has the top spot). In the current climate, the pandemic has seen more people turn to video to do things like learning a new skill. In fact, videos with variations of “beginner” in the title increased more than 50% since March 2020, compared to the rest of the year.

In the podcast, Tom says that YouTube ads offer one of the key benefits of TV commercials. He pointed out that when a viewer sees a commercial on TV, they assume that the business on-screen is successful and affluent.

The same assumptions are applied to businesses who publish ads on YouTube ­– people assume the company is credible and successful. In reality, you can roll out an ad with as little budget as $5 per day.

Time to start capitalising on this massive opportunity. But, first of all, you need to know how to get started.

Which YouTube Ad format is best?

YouTube offers a variety of ad types. One type is known as discovery ads. These are the sponsored videos which appear in the “suggested videos” panel, or the sponsored videos which appear in YouTube’s search results. So, they’re served up based on what the viewer has searched for, or what they are watching.

For this reason, these ads target a relevant audience and do not interrupt the viewer. They’ll only be played if the user decides to click the ad, in which case you would be charged. Therefore, it’s a great opportunity to give valuable content that the audience is interested in.

But the ad format Tom is most excited about is the skippable in-stream ads or pre-roll ads. These are the ones that appear before the viewer’s chosen video starts, with the option to ‘skip’ after 5 seconds. If you go ahead with this option, you’ll pay when someone clicks through, views the whole ad (if it’s under 30 seconds), or views up until the 30-second point.

So, in this case, you are dedicating your budget to engagement. It’s true that you’d be interrupting the audience with your ad. But the unique value is that you are not competing for space. You are in the limelight. And an in an increasingly competitive environment, that sole real estate is extremely valuable.

Okay. Now you know a bit more about some YouTube ad formats, and the value of in-stream ads. Remember that there are comparable formats on other networks like Facebook and LinkedIn.

Now it’s onto the really interesting part…

How to compel your audience to take action in video ads

The psychology of decision-making can tell us a lot about how to inspire action.

This is where Tom’s background in neuromarketing comes in handy. According to Tom, decision making starts in the unconscious mind. Think emotions, identity, experiences and memories…

Stick with us. We’re not going to get too Freudian. But it is this unconscious mind that’s the epicentre of creating your desires. When you want something, you’re often unaware of where that desire “came from”. It’s just an unconscious “gut feeling”. You want it.

You might be disagreeing with us here. After all, you can probably rationalise your purchases. That new car you bought? You may justify the decision with rationale like ‘It was a great price”, “It has amazing safety features”, or “It’s big enough for our family holidays”.

Tom would agree with you. This conscious, logic brain plays an important role in decision making. Everyone wants value-for-money.

But it’s not where the decision came from. Admit it. The reason you wanted the car in the first place is that it tapped into your unconscious desires. Maybe the car helped you envision yourself as an adventurer, exploring beautiful places and being the envy of your friends on social media. Or, maybe you saw yourself as an affluent professional with the car, slickly pulling into a parking space at work.

After the advertisement appealed to your unconscious desires, you started to rationalise the decision using your conscious mind. On some level, you knew you’d need to be able to justify the purchase to others. So, your mind looked for evidence and information to support the purchase… “those safety features mean it would be a smart decision.”

That’s why video ads need to appeal to both the unconscious and conscious mind. Now, you’re about to learn a formula to make that happen.

Step 1 – Appeal to the unconscious mind

Okay, first up, you know you need to appeal to the audience’s deepest desires. Often, those desires are based on identities and emotions. Who does your viewer want to become? How do they want to feel?

Let’s return to the car analogy. In this scenario, let’s suppose the audience seeks weekend adventures. Why? Well, it’s because this goal offers an identity. It presents the opportunity to be seen as a pioneer with enviable freedom.

The customer could be admired for their ability to discover amazing places and to be free of constraints. They’d be seen as a someone so liberated that they can’t be subjugated by the monotonous grind of daily life. They’re envied for an adventurous nature that allows them to be free, wild and confident in all their Bear Grylls glory.

What kind of scenes would work best here? You might show the subject near a secluded river, starting a campfire. The narration could say something along the lines of “… for those who never share secret locations”.

Step 2 ­– Satisfy the conscious mind

This step involves rationalising and justifying the decision. It’s all about creating trust, sharing information, and building the audience’s confidence that they can do what you’re asking.

We often think features and benefits are what video ads, or any ads for that matter, should primarily contain. But these actually serve best as justification for peoples unconscious desires. They are the supporting actors, not the hero of our narrative.

Back to the car analogy. You need to answer questions like “How do I know I can trust the brand?” “How can I afford the car?” and “How can be assured that I’ll feel good about the purchase?”.

It’s about building credibility and providing an action plan to achieve the unconscious desire. Extra points if you can make the purchase feel easy.

This is where you talk about the car’s safety features and the fact that it’s a great price as part of Plate Clearance.

It’s important to always put this in the context of the desire. So, you could mention something like the freedom that comes with the fact that the price is “driveaway”. After all, no freedom lover would want to be caught up in the hassles of car registration.

Step 3 – Light a little fire to “bring it home”

Okay, it’s time! Here comes the call to action. Tom recommends using the last 20% of the video for this purpose. This is because it plays an important role.

It’s about compelling the audience to go ahead and ‘become’ the new identity. They need to feel so motivated by the goal of entering a new status group that they’ll take the necessary action.

Tom recommends using a video-equivalent of case studies here.

Consider using sound bites from previous customers where they describe the incredible results they’ve achieved, and the easy steps they took to make it happen.

Again, try to frame this in a way that speaks to the original desire. The customers might say something like “I clicked on the button to book an appointment at my local dealership at a time that suited me. Before I knew it, I was loading in my surfboard and surfing waves all to myself.”

Add a little urgency by including an in-ad countdown clock to let people know they only have a few seconds left to go ahead and become their new self.

Go ahead and become a better video creator (see what we did there 😉)

You know about the value of YouTube and in-steam ads, you know how to structure your content, and how to use the magic of neuromarketing to compel action.

Now that we’ve shared this little gem with you, watch this space as we demonstrate it with our client’s ads!