The big idea: open on proof
DTC brands kill ads that lose money fast. So an ad that's still running after 90 days is probably paying for itself.
UGC Factory tracked 3,941 video ads from 193 DTC brands to see which ones lasted. Ads that open on a demonstration were 1.6x as likely to survive as the average ad. Unboxing and first-use videos lasted longest of any format, at 45.4%. Ads built around AI characters almost never made it.
Structure mattered too. Ads that open with several quick hooks survived at 35.3%. The classic problem-to-solution format came in at 22.4%.
The lesson works in every category: show the thing working in the first second. Most B2B videos open on a logo and a narrator. Most B2C brand videos open on a mood. Both are telling when they could be showing.
Quick hits
B2B: Cheap video views build the pool your demo ask needs.
Philip Ilic reports 63% cheaper demo requests from LinkedIn retargeting audiences than from ABM lists. Getting someone to watch 25% of a company video cost $0.32 with the Website visits objective. A website visit cost $11.00.
Steal this: B2C and DTC, stop treating video as just the thing that converts. Use it to find warm people cheaply, then make your offer to them.
B2C: Astral Tequila made a series instead of a spot.
Astral built a five-episode microdrama around its Practical Magic 2 tie-in. It has more than 6 million YouTube views, and episode one alone has 2.4 million. The company says it earned more media impressions than any previous Astral campaign.
Steal this: B2B, cut one customer story into five short episodes. DTC, film the build of your product as a series.
DTC: FAQ hooks outlast everything else.
She Converts looked at 8,107 Meta ads. 94% of ads that opened by answering a common question reached 90 days. Ads with no spoken hook managed 22%. Talking heads wore out sooner than demos, and no AI avatar presenter lasted.
Steal this: B2B, open your ad with the question prospects ask most on sales calls. B2C, open with the one your support team answers every day.
Your one move this week
Pull up your best-performing video and look at the first second. If the product, service or result isn't on screen yet, recut it so it is. Run it next to the original.
If you'd like a second pair of eyes on that recut, book a call at entergagevideos.com.
— Jaime