Raphael Thys
Fashion, beauty and luxury brands are embracing video ads, from social media to connected TV, as they strive to reach a wide range of shoppers.
The nature of video ads is transforming, however, as CTV brings performance marketers increasingly to the fore of the video campaign. As brands in the fashion, beauty and wellness spaces increasingly invest in video advertising — across multiple, diversifying platforms — data is fundamentally reshaping their approaches to the creative elements used in these campaigns.
“The biggest differentiator when it comes to beauty and wellness brands and thinking about platform diversification is really the look and feel of the creative,” said Alex Villa, manager of customer success at QuickFrame by MNTN. “For beauty and healthcare brands, it’s really important to think about how to make the video content native to that platform, to feel like it fits with the trends, the best practices in terms of specs that really relate to those specific ad placements.”
“A lot of TikTok trends are carrying over to Instagram Reels, but there are things to be mindful of,” she added. “For example, a UGC video could play out differently than an influencer ad. That difference in terms of the look, feel and content really plays a big role in the effectiveness of the ad and reaching that audience.”
With this acceleration in video advertising comes changes in how fashion, beauty, luxury and wellness brands are using data to test and optimize their video creative.
Advertisers are leveraging data to refine video targeting
According to research from Wyzowl, 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool. However, some marketers cite time, expenses and unclear ROI as reasons they haven’t used video ads.
For brands new to video marketing or evaluating their current video strategies, knowing target audiences is the first step to understanding what type of video platforms and creative will drive results.
As video-first platforms become more popular, brands have more opportunities to reach key audiences on different channels while using the visual language those users prefer. Snapchat and TikTok are dominated by Gen Z but also have significant millennial audiences. Instagram remains most popular among millennials, while Facebook’s users skew older.
Different demographics also react in their own ways to different types of ads.
For instance, brands can resonate with Gen Z viewers by highlighting their beliefs and values, as 68% of Gen Z consumers want every brand to contribute to society. Meanwhile, 70% of millennial men are more likely to buy a product after watching emotionally resonating ads. As for Gen X, 54% of these consumers feel overlooked in ads. Since this demographic still has strong purchasing power, brands targeting this audience may personalize ads to reflect their experiences.
“Gen Z has a different sense of humor and different interests than boomers or even Gen X. So what may play well with a younger audience is probably not going to be as effective for an older audience and vice versa,” Villa explained. “Understanding your audience is really key to guiding that creative idea so that you can ensure wherever you place the ad, it’s going to be as relevant and engaging as possible.”
Gaining actionable insights with nuanced video engagement metrics
By evaluating past ad performance — even from static image display ads — brands gain insights into what creative connects most with audiences.
For brands with existing video marketing efforts, key metrics such as length and duration reveal which videos are most effective.
“There are a ton of different length options that brands can utilize across different platforms,” Villa said. “Six to 15 seconds may work for an audience with a shorter attention span, but 25 to 30 seconds may be more effective with keeping people engaged.”
Video completion rates, which some interpret similarly to bounce rates, allow marketers to understand what videos made viewers stay and what videos made viewers swipe to the next ad. Marketers must also be mindful of how video completion rates vary across devices or channels. According to eMarketer, CTV has a completion rate of 97% to desktop’s 70% completion rate.
By leveraging data insights from video ads, savvy brands are well-positioned to refresh their existing creative and avoid ad fatigue.
“Every campaign is going to be different because different clients have different goals. But video completion rates are a key metric to help indicate whether your story is actually resonating with audiences,” Villa explained. “Once you see those video completion rates start to diminish, then you generally have that indication that the creative may need to be refreshed fairly quickly.”
How brands are implementing data-based testing strategies
When developing and launching the content itself, Villa recommends brands test creative elements, including opening hooks, visual styles, CTA, voiceovers and more. Capturing different variations also allows brands to experiment further in post-production and deploy refreshed creative based on ad data. Brands are also using multiple testing strategies to create data-informed ads.
In one instance, Stance, an elevated socks and t-shirt company, worked with Quickframe by MNTN to develop and test multiple videos with the same messaging. The tests involved live-action and animated video formats with numerous variations for a total of four unique videos with the same “Butter Blend” messaging. By implementing this testing strategy, Stance saw ROAS increase by 2.5x.
For another partnership, DTC swimwear brand Andie collaborated with Quickframe by MNTN on a bi-weekly testing plan to evaluate creative variables. Multiple variables — including talent, location, swimsuit style and color — were tested over two weeks, and those insights were applied in the following weeks.
The ultimate goal was to apply these learnings to create a library of original hero assets optimized to drive conversions across platforms and audiences. This optimized video library also positioned the brand to launch new creative quickly, helping mitigate ad fatigue. In the end, the testing strategy implemented by Andie and Quickframe resulted in a 4.5x increase in video output, a 48% decrease in CPA and an 11% better ROAS than internal creative.
“Once brands have that baseline understanding of what creative is resonating the most, they can take that next step of digging in and testing different messaging,” Villa said. “By refining these different experiences, advertisers can better understand what’s going to work and feel more native across different platforms.”
Sponsored by QuickFrame by MNTN