Quit Killing Your Content

Advertising doesn’t have to make people sick.

A successful ad will carry a prominent mood that draws the viewer in, creates a lasting memory, and distinguishes it from the crowd. But here’s the problem. Even if you’re able to evoke that powerful of a response the first time people view it, there’s a chance it’s going to start pissing people off the fifth time around. How do you prevent your audience from scrambling for that mute button? You’ll need to develop an arsenal of diverse content that’s built around a singular campaign.

This doesn’t just mitigate your initial problem; it actually leads to an inverse effect. Rather than birthing a deep loath that simmers hotter with each subsequent view, your audience will develop more interest in your message each time they come across a new video and are more likely to respond to whatever call-to-action you may be prompting.

This also allows you to tailor-fit your content to the platform it’s distributed on. A traditional 30-second spot may be perfect for a cable/broadcast ad, but not necessarily on YouTube, where you can take advantage of longer content that dives deeper. Or on Instagram, where you need to keep it quick and portrait in order to earn someone’s interest.

Now let’s address the reason why people resort to repeatedly force-feeding the same ad: Money. It’s got to be significantly more expensive to produce four or five videos as opposed to one, right? Wrong. You just have to get innovative with your production. Utilizing the same cast, crew, locations, and props to shoot multiple videos cuts down on expenses drastically.

And yes, that means that your total impressions for the campaign are going to go down, due to a larger portion of the budget being allocated towards production. But what you need to weigh in is the quality of those impressions. The impressions from the regurgitated ad will generate feelings of contempt, while impressions for the collection of ads will leave people wanting more.

In summation, there is no right or wrong answer. If you want people to ignore you, just keep spamming that one ad. But if you want something that intrigues and sells, produce a full package of content for your viewers — just depends on what you’re going for.