We studied 500 vertical screen ads and revealed the 5 rules for making Tik Tok hits!

I have three Tik Tok communities , which contain a lot of clients and MCN agencies . Every day, everyone seems to discuss the same topic: Why is it that other people can get tens of millions of views by just posting a simple video like “Crying, crying, Pu Ruo Da Pu Ruo Da,” while the short videos I worked so hard to shoot on Tik Tok have not become hits?

At the same time, many so-called self-media bigwigs, Douyin celebrities and their behind-the-scenes promoters, and training institutions are using the name of Douyin to teach everyone how to create Douyin hits through various online and offline teaching methods.

If you have paid the tuition for these courses but found them to be useless after learning them, I strongly recommend that you save today's article.

In order to tell clients how to shoot a creative and popular vertical video, Douyin used its best big data analysis . There are two sources of data :

One is the 350 finalists of the first "V-up Vertical Screen Advertising Creative Competition". These works were all uploaded by a Douyin account, and their playback volume, likes, shares and comments are all from real users' data;

The other is the real background data of 150 advertising materials launched by the brand on Douyin.

In other words, the suggestions given by Douyin officials are not made up on the spur of the moment, nor are they the personal opinions of some creative guru, but are completely based on actual experience. Through the analysis of real data from 500 vertical screen ads, five very practical creative rules were summarized.

Vertical screen advertising is the future. This trend was analyzed in detail in my article about TikTok in March this year. So, today I will focus on interpreting the rules one by one.

Douyin believes that if vertical screen ads want to ignite users, they must do the following:

1. Content materials should follow the hot topics;

2. The picture should be cool;

3. People should be good looking;

4. Adding dance or jokes can increase the interaction rate;

5. Make good use of special effects and reversals to inspire users to imitate .

Judging from the data of the shortlisted works of the first "V-up Vertical Screen Advertising Creative Competition", among the top 20 materials in terms of playback volume, fun and entertainment accounted for the largest proportion, close to 50%, followed by fresh and cool (23%), beautiful appearance (18%), emotional resonance (6%) and other types of content. Obviously, Tik Tok users prefer to watch cool content and pretty boys and girls.

The context of short videos, different from the context of previous TV commercials, namely TVCs, has changed from the context of "authoritative education" to the context of "equal dialogue". Vertical screen ads need to adapt to the content attributes of the short video platform. For example, short videos on Douyin should be fast-paced, light-hearted and entertaining, and suit the tastes of young people.

Data shows that content themes such as music, Douyin-specific twists and turns, creativity, and food have higher interaction rates. Compared with pure advertising, the effective playback rate of advertising implantation methods such as music, dance, and skits has increased by 53.7%; the average single playback time has increased by 45.6%; the completion rate has increased by 139.2%; the forwarding rate has increased by 10.7 times; and the comment rate has increased by 23.9 times. Therefore, life-oriented and entertaining content themes are more in line with the context and user preferences of vertical screen platforms.

Vertical screen ads should be good at combining some special effects, tools and technical gameplay on short video platforms, so that the content can better integrate the tone of the platform and make users willing to follow up and imitate. On TikTok, actions, dances, and music are all platform elements that can be imitated in vertical screen ads. The ultimate goal is to achieve spontaneous fission growth of content and become a hit.

Judging from the shortlisted works of the competition, content with high interaction rates is more likely to be imitated (interaction rate exceeds 10%). Therefore, creative elements that are easy to spread and imitate, such as simple and easy-to-learn dances, catchy songs, and plot twists, can trigger users' "active participation."

Douyin cited two examples.

JD ’s Douyin advertisement imitates Douyin’s popular split-shot quick-switching gameplay, presenting nearly ten techniques within 15 seconds to achieve the effect of “one point, multiple touches”. The advertisement is well-made, with exquisite pictures, highlighting the brand tone.

Oreo’s TikTok advertisement features a simple interactive plot, capturing the little beauty of life and exuding a youthful atmosphere. It is simple and easy to imitate, and wins with high-quality images and an unexpected ending.

MetrixLab research in Asia Pacific found that when a product demonstrates actual application, it is more likely to arouse consumers' interest in the brand and increase purchase intention . This observation has been verified on both Facebook and TikTok. Data from Douyin shows that the click-through rate of advertising content that showcases product life scenes is 1.34 times higher than that of promotional ads, and the click-through rate of advertising ideas that use people as life scenes is 71.4% higher than that of advertising ideas without people.

In vertical screen mode, people don’t have much time to watch “awkward” and “pure” advertisements. From a creative perspective, if you can’t cleverly display product or brand information, you won’t be able to adapt to the media attributes of short videos. Therefore, vertical screen ads cannot be shot like TVCs, nor can they be lengthy and tedious. They must consider the clever combination of brand and content, and deep interaction with users' life scenes is what vertical screen ads need to think about.

Douyin provides three directions for vertical screen advertising to be deeply native:

The first is the native form, adopting the "Tik Tok style" that is highly accepted by users , and fully considering the integration of vertical screen advertising plot and user experience , such as vertical screen, 15 seconds, rhythm and BGM.

The second is intent-native, which is based on insights into the user's true intentions to create advertising content that meets actual needs, such as reversals, showmanship, and coolness.

The third is emotional originality, showing the beauty of life in multiple dimensions . The advertising concept should resonate with users' beautiful emotions. This is the slogan of brands such as Tik Tok.

Douyin cited two examples.

Faceu’s super cute Douyin ad displays the majestic building in vertical format, with built-in music effects and the skill of “changing the sky with a snap of fingers” in the background music. Several important elements, vertical screen, 15 seconds, BGM and rhythm, are all in line with the characteristics and popular gameplay of the Douyin platform.

Skyworth’s Douyin advertisement is based on the theme of public welfare. The brand approaches the issue from the perspective of children, using native forms and stories to call on parents to care about their children and grow with them, which quickly resonates with users. "You are done with your work, and your children have grown up." The title is like a kind reminder from an elder, which attracted a large number of reposts and comments, achieving the effect of deep interactive communication between users and advertisements.

This is relatively easy to understand. Whether it is a celebrity or an ordinary person, introducing a character helps to establish a sense of reality, and using the first person can increase the depth of the connection. In Douyin's vertical screen ads, real people, especially beautiful women and handsome men, especially celebrities or influencers can get higher attention and the advertising effect will be better.

Data shows that the outstanding performance abilities of celebrities and influencers will lead to deeper advertising reach. The effective playback rate of advertising creatives featuring celebrities and influencers increased by an average of 60%. At the same time, compared with other expressions, expressions using the first person have an average increase of 35% in click-through rate, 21% in effective playback volume, and 28% in average single playback duration.

If they are all in the first person, which one will have a better effect: celebrities, experts or materials? The answer is: celebrities are better than experts, and experts are better than ordinary people. Of course, this effect does not take into account the cost of investment.

Douyin gave two examples, both of which were seen by the uncle.

One is China Toothpaste. The advertisement uses the popular star Liu Haoran as the spokesperson. He uses the first-person perspective to feed snacks, pat the head and other killer moves that are essential for a warm man to face the screen, and naturally brings out the marketing point of China Toothpaste, which is to "relieve gum inflammation." Users gain positive psychological experiences through the screen and transfer positive emotions to the brand.

The other one is MAX FACTOR. The advertisement uses Papi Jiang as the protagonist, and displays the product through constant scene switching. Finally, with its unique "sarcastic and funny" style, the sentence "Did you see that I changed my lip color?" not only strengthens the product awareness, but also indirectly shows MAX FACTOR's brand concept of advocating true color and showing the true self. It is worth mentioning that Papi Jiang is one of the first stars who can shoot scene switching videos.

Due to the time limitation of vertical screen ads, vertical screen ads cannot display all the selling points of a product. Instead, they should focus on amplifying the core selling points of the product. The more single the selling point is, the easier it is for consumers to remember it. An eye-catching introduction should grab the user's attention within 5 seconds.

The data from this study shows that there is a significant relationship between the length of an ad and the completion rate of a consumer's single viewing of a video ad . Compared with ads longer than 15 seconds, ads shorter than 15 seconds have a 96.3% higher completion rate, and the forwarding rate and comment rate increase by 3.03 times and 5.45 times, respectively. A higher completion rate can help advertisers disseminate information more completely.

Douyin believes that in order to capture attention in a short period of time, the advertising selling point should be single and avoid spreading the selling point. The uncle agrees with this point very much.

Judging from the data, the advertising content has a high completion rate and acceptance in terms of selling points, such as function demonstration, scene interpretation, and concept communication.

In addition to the single expression of product selling points, Douyin also suggests that scenario-based settings should also follow a single appeal. Specifically, the more segmented, specific, and single the "life scene" or "usage scene" is, the faster users can remember it, and small scenes can often convey big needs more quickly. For example, mobile phone brands’ “night light shooting”, “sports shooting”, etc.

Douyin gave two examples.

One is Zhou Hei Ya, which most people think is takeaway and tastes terrible. Therefore, this advertisement is intended to allow users to eat Zhou Hei Ya’s duck neck elegantly as if they were eating Western food. How to do it specifically? The advertisement begins with a scene of meal preparation in the kitchen, which quickly implants the Zhou Hei Ya brand image. The strong color contrast and picture composition can catch the user's attention more quickly.

Another one is Swarovski. The advertisement quickly reveals the brand information and, accompanied by strong rhythmic background music, quickly brings the audience into the usage scenario created by the brand, constantly strengthening the brand impression. Of course, the young lady is very beautiful.

The original text of this rule is a bit confusing, but it is actually very simple: a good title is half of the success of advertising creativity .

Therefore, the creativity of vertical screen advertisements must not only conform to the "labeling" trend in the mobile Internet era, but also follow the "title rule" of traditional advertising creativity. Without good labels to improve recognition, even if the content is good, the chance of attracting users will be greatly reduced.

The setting of titles and labels should have two clear purposes: first, to stimulate users to click, and second, to make users remember deeply . This requires the use of reasonable keywords in the title, abstract, keywords and detailed description.

Douyin gave two examples.

One is Pepsi 's "True Love Is When You Feel Numbness From Electric Shock". The title of the advertisement, "True Love Is When You Feel Numbness From Electric Shock", gives users a preconceived idea of ​​what "true love" is; secondly, "True love is when you feel numbing from electric shock" contrasts with users' original understanding. The entire advertisement sets the tone that true love refuses to be bland, and the technique is clever, using spicy Sichuan cuisine and Pepsi to electrify the tip of the tongue.

Another one is Meituan Waimai ’s “10 Minutes at the Old Place on the 21st Floor” ad title which leaves people with a sense of suspense and leads them in step by step, attracting users to finish watching the ad. The video content uses the popular "chicken-eating equipment" to increase the sense of intimacy and arouse users' interest in the content. Finally, through the twists and turns of the plot reversal, it demonstrates the selling point of Meituan 's on-time delivery.

Finally, let me briefly summarize

For the clients, I think the five suggestions given by Douyin officials this time are very down-to-earth, and all the suggestions have been verified through real big data . This is consistent with Toutiao’s belief in "data is king" and there is no water in it. Don’t repeat the same pitfalls as the 500 cases, just copy their successful strategies.

For the second party and MCN agencies, although vertical screen advertising is nothing new, at least from the current perspective, there are not many truly excellent cases. This is a great opportunity for professional advertising and marketers to enter the market. However, since vertical screen ads are significantly different from traditional ads, everyone is actually in the learning and exploration stage, which is also an opportunity for non-professionals.

Source: Wannengdedashu (ID: wannengdedashu)