Fact: It’s hard to look away from someone on the verge of a meltdown. This ad, from an unnamed company, is a rant that never loses pace. Disguising each USP as a pain point requires some thinking from the audience, but the creator’s energy ensures that everyone tunes in. Bonus points for the product demo and the reverse psychology discount offer CTA that works in 2 ways — giving extra motivation to buy and inviting the audience to get in on the joke.
Here’s a rant of our own: TIKTOK DOESN’T ALWAYS PROVIDE THE NAME OF THE COMPANY WHEN YOU SEARCH THROUGH TOP-PERFORMING ADS, WHICH IS EXTREMELY STUPID.
Good creatives can emulate successful ads. Great creatives can reverse-engineer the creative process behind the concept. We’ll give it a shot with this Tractive ad:
Q: What kind of UGC-style elements always perform in our ads?
A: UGC-style ads, TikTok/AI voice, Lists (ie. “top 3 reasons”)
Q: What kind of background footage always performs in our ads?
A: Dogs on beaches
New hypothesis to test: Combining UGC elements with dog-heavy footage and little to no human footage will perform.
Execution: Create a UGC video in a dog’s voice and perspective.
Look for ads with updated takes on tried-and-true concepts like Top 3 Reasons..., and go beyond adapting them for your own work. Try to imagine the thought processes behind them to possibly unlock something new to test. Then tell everyone that you got so smart from reading this newsletter and refer your friends while cashing in on new prizes (and helping expand our online footprint and giving us fodder to brag internally about the bump in our subscriber count).
This headline gets your attention like a potent fart on a crowded airplane. It cannot, and will not, be ignored — a true work o’ fart. Commanding copy meets social native type while still looking obviously branded. We can’t gas this ad up enough.
Gen-Z continues to unlock the power of the middle part. Yes, it adds symmetry and youthfulness to your face. It's also the perfect canvas for real-life split-screen demo ads like this one. Just look at that dual demonstration of the use cases and USPs of 2 unique hair products. The script feels natural instead of pushy — subtly ending with a passive CTA suggesting that viewers buy both items. As far as the writing goes, Prose chose prose pros.
Here's an example of an overlaid green screen testimonial elevating the classic UGC creator format. The unrelated-yet-oddly-satisfying visual hook deserves a mention as well. We were a bit surprised to see the treatment personalization quiz buried in the middle of the video. People love taking personality quizzes. Seems more like something to lead with or fold into a CTA, but that’s just us.
We made no attempt to translate the copy in this ad because it's not what performs here. Long ago, we discovered through our own testing that featuring the most vibrant colors and designs in your product catalog usually leads to more clicks and purchases. Interestingly, most of the purchases will be for the more conservative colors and designs. Vielen Dank, dass Sie zu unserem Ted Talk gekommen sind.
A+ for following best practice #1: show the product early & often. C+ for not making thecopyeasier to read. We get it, the script handwriting is cute, but with low contrast, video background, and small sizes, you’re making the audience work too hard to read. We still like the pacing, Lo-Fi beats, and USPs as doodles. Would 100% purchase this for our artistic niece.
