Today’s episode is an expert panel discussion from the Commerce Accel Conference. The session was hosted by Kurt Elster, with an expert panel consisting of Savannah Sanchez, Claudiu Cioba, Sherice Banton and Moshe Saraf.

Ever since the democratization of ad platforms, the Creative has become the key differentiator for marketers. The Creative, and by extension the Creator are both crucial to the success of any ad campaign. But what does it truly take to get this right? Is it Art? Is it Science? Well, it’s both. How well you marry both these elements determines the outcome.

In this episode, you’ll discover how brands, agencies and creators think about creatives. You’ll hear everything from why content matters, how to avoid content fatigue, how creators price their work to what mistakes brands make and which KPIs you should track. This is a great episode for marketers and anybody interested in knowing more about the nitty-gritties of performance marketing.

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Here is a summary of some of the most important points made,

• • Advertisers that test the most, perform the best
  • Refresh the content on your ad account every week
  • By the time you notice content fatigue, it’s already too late
  • The lifespan of content could be months or even less than 1 day
  • The conversion rate of shoppers who’ve watched video is almost 18%
  • Content created for other platforms doesn’t work well on Tiktok
  • Delivery within Bid is good metric to track, ads that have big delivery within bid are winners
  • Ad creative styles that work well on Tiktok also work well as Facebook ads

Covered Topics:

On today’s episode, the expert panel discuss,

• Why Creatives and Content matter
• Avoiding Content Fatigue
• Typical Life of a piece of Content
• Extending the Lifespan of Content
• Pricing Model for Creators
• Mistakes Brands Make While Hiring Creators
• Evolution of Tiktok
• Top KPIs to Track
• Win Rate of Ad Iterations
• Optimising store videos for Mobile
• Platforms to Prioritise for BFCM

Timestamp:

• 12:20 – Meet the Expert panel
• 16:00 – Why do creatives and content matter?
  • Claudiu:
    • Correlation is not causation, maybe they just have a ton of money
  • Savannah:
    • Media buying has become much less complex in recent years
    • Facebook has taken over all the targeting and automation. This has put all the focus on creatives
    • Advertisers doing the greatest volume of creative testing are learning the quickest, and they are receiving the best performance.
    • You should be refreshing the content on your ad account every week
• 18:40 – How to avoid Content Fatigue:
  • Moshe:
    • You should not measure fatigue, if you can produce then produce
    • If the ad fatigue hits, then it’s already too late
    • If you have money, then keep producing content
    • If you fear the performance issues are because of creative fatigue then they probably are
    • CTR can be an early indicator of content fatigue for stable ad accounts, even a lack of comments or likes
• 22:35 – Typical Life of a piece of Content
  • Savannah:
    • There is no specific shelf life for content
    • Many times Facebook doesn’t deliver new ad content but keeps focusing on older best performers
    • You have to keep reiterating to try and beat your old best performers
    • The lifespan could be months or even less than 1 day
• 24:45 – Extending the Lifespan of Content:
  • Claudiu:
    • One technique of extending the life of IG stories or Tiktoks is to use it on the store
    • Use product related content on your product pages and website
    • The conversion rate of shoppers who’ve watched video is almost 18%
    • You can keep shoppers on product pages for longer period by using videos on those pages
• 28:00 – Pricing Model for Creators:
  • Sherice:
    • Work on flat-fee basis
    • Performance linked payment models can be unfair
    • Content that takes hours of work may not perform well due to the very nature of social media
  • Savannah:
    • Also prefer flat-fee model
    • Look for people who know how to make good content but don’t have a big following yet
    • Backstage for actors
• 33:55 – Mistakes Brands Make While Hiring Creators:
  • Savannah:
    • Creators and actors work better than influencers
    • Actor-generated content gives you UGC with some control
    • Influencer-generated content can be very hit-or-miss
  • Sherice:
    • The initial outreach is a very good tell
    • Overly friendly initial outreach doesn’t work well
    • Brands that reach out giving background of their business and a brief of their ideas
    • Brands should be able to clearly communicate their values, so that the creator can know if they’re a good fit
• 39:50 – Evolution of Tiktok:
  • Sherice:
    • The change is drastic from the musically days
    • There was a lot of initial doubts with the format of Tiktok
    • Using content created for other platforms don’t work well on Tiktok
    • You have to deliver content that feels genuine to you
• 42:00 – KPIs of Success:
  • Moshe:
    • Main thing is selling more
    • The metrics become skewed as your audience becomes more targeted
    • Delivery within Bid is good metric to track, ads that have big delivery within bid are winners
    • CTR is just A indicator and not THE indicator
• 44:40 – Win Rate of Iterations:
  • Moshe:
    • It is really hard to beat creatives that have worked best
    • One approach is to make minor changes to that creative without changing the winning formula
    • Chances are best when creatives are fresh
• Savannah:
  • • Trying to reiterate best performing creatives is difficult as there are many variables that make it successful
    • Try to isolate variables as much as you can, don’t try to change too much
    • The hardest part is identifying which variable is moving the needle
    • Keep a document of what you are testing and hypothesis
• 48:00 – Optimising store videos for Mobile:
  • Claudiu:
    • Videos should be slightly compressed
    • Shopify recommends not having the actual video on site, rather have a thumbnail image that will launch the content elsewhere
    • The video player UI should be able to give an experience similar to IG or Tiktoks
• 50:30 – Which Platform to prioritise for BFCM:
  • Moshe:
    • Facebook – because of the size of audience
  • Savannah:
    • Tiktok because there is way more opportunity on that platform
    • Ad creative styles that work well on Tiktok also work well as Facebook ads

Takeaways:

• Authenticity is key for brands when it comes to building a productive relationship with creators
• CTR can be an early indicator of content fatigue for stable ad accounts
• Shoppers spend more time on product pages that have videos
• Actor-generated content is more reliable than influencer-generated content
• Use a thumbnail to the video on product pages, instead of the actual video

Links:

• Sherice on TikTok

Tweetable Quotes:

“Performance UGC is the best performing content on social mediahttps://twitter.com/social_savannah.”

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