🧑‍🔬 How To Create Stand Out Advertising

Use this psychology bias to make your ads pop.

Psychology Concept: Salience Bias

Days Running: 623 Days
(This gives an indication of how it’s performing)

🧪 The Salience Bias

The definition of salience is: “the quality of being particularly noticeable or important; prominence.”

So the Salience Bias is the tendency for people to focus on information that is more prominent or emotionally striking. Essentially, our brain prefers to pay attention to the most stand out elements of an experience.

🤳 How Oats Overnight Uses The Salience Bias

Oats Overnight’s ad uses the Salience Bias by combining unexpected visuals and striking copy.

Here’s what I mean:

The first three seconds are a rapid-fire burst of contrasting images and surprising language. We see three distinct people, each set against a vibrant, eye-catching background.

But the real hook?

The unexpected exclamation from an elderly woman saying, "Fuck, that's delicious." This combination of bright visuals and shock factor language is specifically designed to break through the noise of social media feeds, ensuring viewers stop scrolling to watch.

🧠 How You Can Use The Salience Bias

To use the Salience Bias in your own ads, focus on creating elements that are immediately noticeable and emotionally engaging. Here’s how you can implement this:

  • Incorporate Bold and Contrasting Visuals: Use bright, high-contrast colors to create a visual experience that stands out.

  • Add an Element of Surprise: Introduce an unexpected element in your ad—be it a surprising piece of copy, an unexpected spokesperson, or a humorous twist. This could be a shocking statistic, an unconventional character, or a playful tagline.

  • Utilize Quick Cuts and Dynamic Transitions: Keep the pace of your ad fast and dynamic to hold viewer attention. Quick cuts between different scenes or rapid transitions between different visuals can keep the viewer engaged.

  • Leverage Emotionally Charged Content: Use content that evokes a strong emotional response, whether it’s humor, shock, or nostalgia. The goal is to create an ad that not only captures attention but also stays in the viewer’s mind long after they’ve seen it.

By strategically using the Salience Bias, you can create ads that not only capture attention but also remain memorable, driving stronger engagement and better brand recall among your audience.

And as per usual, here’s a ChatGPT Prompt to help you use the Salience Bias:

I'm creating an ad for [brand] and need help with copy.

[Explain brand in one sentence.]

The target audience is: [list target audience]

The pain points it solves are: [list customer pain points]

The current solution to this problem is [list a current solution], but [explain why it's not a good solution].

The main unique selling propositions (USPs) compared to the competition are: [list USPs in bullet points]

Can you please help in creating a script for a 15-30 second video ad that uses the Salience Bias?

The goal with this ad is to capture attention immediately and make a lasting impression by using visually striking elements, bold colors, and unexpected copy. The ad should include contrasting visuals that stand out and grab attention, combined with surprising or emotionally engaging language that disrupts expectations. Make sure it aligns with the brand’s identity and addresses the pain points of the target audience effectively.

So, how will you use the Salience Bias in your ads?

How will you stand out from the crowd?

Lemme know how it goes!

Until next time,

Josh