What distinguishes the great ads from the good? You could spend years studying this very question, but it’s enough to know that great ads make a meaningful, memorable impact on their audience.
From social platforms to corporate websites, videos are a powerful communication tool. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth ten thousand! With that said, not all videos are created equal. Some capture attention and leave a lasting impact, while others blend in like a rerun playing on a TV no one’s really watching—the key is to design for emotional impact.
Creating videos that connect with your audience on a deep emotional level involves more than just high-quality production. It requires a strategic approach that combines an understanding of your audience’s emotions, powerful storytelling techniques, and the integration of nonconscious responses into your creative process. In this blog, we’ll outline the elements you need to consider to craft video ads with a lasting impression.
Understanding the Power of Emotional Connection
One of the key elements that make a video resonate is its ability to strike an emotional chord. Emotional connection is a powerful driver of engagement, influencing how viewers perceive your brand and how likely they are to take action after watching your content.
To create this connection, it’s essential to understand the emotional triggers of your target audience. Does nostalgia tug at their heartstrings, or does hope, excitement, or even fear motivate them? By identifying these triggers, you can tailor the story your ad tells to match their emotional state, ensuring each second of your video resonates deeply and drives meaningful engagement.
Storytelling: The Heart of Resonance
At the core of every successful video is a compelling story. Storytelling is an age-old technique that helps convey messages in a way that is memorable and engaging. When creating videos, it’s important to focus on narrative elements that resonate with your audience’s experiences and values.
A strong narrative often includes:
- Relatable Characters: Characters that mirror your audience’s own struggles and triumphs can create a strong emotional bond.
- Clear Conflict and Resolution: A compelling story usually involves a problem that needs solving, with your product or service being the hero that provides the solution.
- Emotional Highs and Lows: By taking viewers on an emotional journey, your video can leave a lasting impression that encourages them to share or engage further.
Leveraging Nonconscious Responses
While emotional storytelling is crucial, understanding nonconscious responses – those automatic, instinctive reactions that viewers might not even be aware of (System 1 responses) – can take your video to the next level. Nonconscious responses include facial expressions, eye movements, and physiological changes like heart rate, which can reveal how a viewer truly feels about your content.
Advanced tools like eye-tracking technology and facial coding offer a window into these nonconscious reactions. These tools can reveal where in an ad attention lingers and how emotions flicker across a face before the viewer even registers their feelings themselves. Armed with this data, you can fine-tune your videos to captivate not just on a surface level, but at their emotional core, where the narrative truly resonates.
Continuous Testing and Optimization
Creating videos that resonate is not a one-time effort – it’s an ongoing process that requires continuous testing and optimization. At RIWI, we support iterative creative processes, working with researchers and design teams to regularly analyze how video edits perform at the conscious and nonconscious level.