
Content Marketing: Way to go
For brands looking to make a splash with video, the first impulse is often to go big on production and polish. However, new research suggests advertisers can drive stronger results by ditching the artifice and embracing a lo-fi, mobile-shot style that’s more human, relatable and imperfect.1
A recent study conducted by Meta found a strong correlation between unpolished video and greater creative impact: Across four different verticals – technology, retail, restaurants and e-commerce – campaigns with lower production value video drove a significantly higher lift in ad recall compared with high-production campaigns.
Similarly, a 2019 Meta study of direct response advertising found that for Instagram Stories, there was an 84% likelihood that self-recorded, mobile-shot creative would outperform studio-shot creative in driving content views, as well as a 63% likelihood that it would drive more lower-funnel outcomes, such as purchases and app installs.2
The upside of imperfection
The preference may stem in part from millennials and Gen Z experiencing “perfection fatigue”. A YPulse survey3 found that 90% of 18–36-year-olds like it when people showcase their flaws and imperfections, while 60% think it’s OK for clothing brands to show imperfect images of spokespeople or products.
Effective creative often takes its cues from friends, peers and creators to reach these younger consumers. This lo-fi approach doesn’t come across as scripted and fake, but rather as authentic and real – and more human. A study of Facebook and Instagram Reels ads found that social media advertisements with people in them had a 25% higher click-through rate compared with those that did not.4
Brands are conveying authenticity, realness and humanity in a range of ways on social media, such as relying on lo-fi production, featuring real people, including platform-native elements, such as stickers, partnering with creators, telling relatable stories and using mobile-shot, unpolished visuals.
Here’s how three brands connected with audiences by harnessing the power of deliberate imperfection in their Meta campaigns.
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