ASMR Ads and The Soft-Sell

Welcome back to Nice Ads, everyone - I’ve got some killer ads to share this week, so make yourself a hot drink and let’s get going. This week, we’re talking about:

• How to make ASMR that sell

• The art of the soft-sell

• Making ads that people want to watch

Let’s get started

ALOHA

I’m sure you’ve already seen ASMR ads, and many brands are seeing great success with them. With that in mind, we made this video ad for Aloha. It mixes the sound-heavy style of ASMR ads with the creator speaking softly into the mic, bringing it all together.

I really love this ad. Because of the way the creator speaks into the mic, the edge of the long ad read is taken off, making it a much easier watch than it might have been otherwise.

We also did some other variations of this creative that were a little more heavy on the ASMR idea, but this one has been the winner so far. This is why testing and variations are so important; you never know what will be the winner.

The results with this creative are still in the early days, but we’re getting a solid 25% hook rate, and the CPA is currently under target. Let’s see how the next few weeks of testing play out.

Remember, if you want ads like this for your DTC brand, apply to work with me here.

TLDR;

• Always be testing, even when a concept is seen as a winner

• Holding the mic is a creative cheat code

• Finding new ways to deliver a long script makes them more watchable

👉 Watch in full here

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Solawave

Your brand needs to start a blog. And I’m not talking about one on your Shopify site; I’m talking about an actual publication. Why? Because it’s the best way to run advertorial ads. The concept is simple: write blogs about your products and then run ads like the above, directing to the article. The customer clicks on the ad because it looks organic, and they read more about your product in a non-sales environment. Then, you give them the soft sell. Easy.

PR ads like this are so popular, but you often need actual PR to use, which can be hard to come by. So, instead, make your own. Blogs are so easy to put together now that you’d be silly not to do this.

The Ridge recently purchased Everyday Carry for this reason - They get to OWN the media that they push traffic to - I can see this approach becoming increasingly popular as brands strive to rent less data from platforms like Meta and instead own it themselves.

You can even pair this with whitelisting for an even more powerful effect.

TLDR:

• Make your own publication

• Use whitelisting to supercharge PR ads

• Don’t sleep on the soft sell

Looking for more?

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• Foreplay - Improve your creative workflow. Save ads, build briefs, and more. Claim a free trial here.

Barbell Apparel

This ad is so good - Please go watch it in full before we start the breakdown.

I saw this on Foreplay and knew I had to share it, but why? Because it’s smart, and there’s a lot you can learn. First, it doesn’t look like an ad but is an ad. I hate it when people say, ‘Make your ads look organic,’ because what are you trying to achieve with that? Fool people into watching it? People aren’t stupid. They know what an ad looks like. So be upfront. Be honest.

Next up, it’s just funny - The guy is full of personality, giving you a reason to watch. It feels like something he’s put together on his phone to advertise a brand, and he gives 0 f*cks about how it looks or sounds. He just wants you to buy the damn pants.

I discussed this in my session with Motion on Friday. You can make longer videos IF you have a reason for them to be long. This video clocks in at around a minute, and because it’s entertaining, you don’t care. You will sit and watch it. That is what makes a good ad; it’s not about making it look organic to get views. It’s about making ads people want to watch.

TLDR;

• Make ads people want to watch

• Get creators who are just themselves

• Stop making fake organic ads

👉 Watch in full here

And just like that, another Nice Ads is done. Thanks for reading!

I just posted a new YouTube video documenting the refurbishment of my agency’s new 2,500 sqft studio space! Give it a watch here.

I’ll see you next week

✌️