• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, May 31, 2023

Following key creative strategies can drive much higher performance for luxury brand campaigns on LinkedIn, according to a study released Wednesday.

VidMob analyzed creative research for luxury brands, showing the elements that drive the highest performance for paid ads on LinkedIn. The data identifies the key elements, examines corresponding creative principles and identifies best practices.

The study, by Luxury Creative Video Insights, shows that changes in creative design such as product placement, color scheme, musicality, and scene pacing were seen to improve key metrics.

“Creative is the most important component to campaign success,” said Prune Nouvion, head of Southern Europe at VidMob. “LinkedIn offers a unique whitespace opportunity for brands to advertise and reach their target audiences.”

The insights are based on findings from VidMob Creative Analytics, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to identify the creative elements present in ads.

VidMob analyzed 2,300 ads and more than 120 million impressions on LinkedIn globally for one year between December 1, 2021, and December 16, 2022.

Timing is everything -- from audio to visual elements. VidMob's data shows that when the ad’s talent appeared in the video after the first three seconds it resulted in a 460% lift, compared when the ad’s talent appeared within the first three seconds. 

Focusing solely on the luxury item in the first 3 seconds is more effective than pairing the product with talent from the outset.

Cooler color temperatures used in creative can boost view through rates (VTR) results, about 27% lift above the Awareness average for VTR. High VTR in awareness content used calm, cool color tones with associations to water, sky and certain times of the day like evenings. 

When music is used to drive the narrative, the research shows more than a 6% lift across the 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% VTR metrics without sub-titles. Integrating sound and music in ads can provide a feel-good factor and connect with the audience on an emotional level, rather than having the sound comprised solely on talent speaking or narration subtitled.

Micro storytelling captivates audiences. Creatives with one to two scene changes in the first three seconds led to an 8% lift for ads with a VTR of 100%. Medium pacing also allowed for luxury brands to use storytelling more than frenetic scene changes would.

Videos that showed an artisan at work in their natural setting resulted in a 3.2% lift in Consideration in ads with a VTR of 100% and a 9% lift against Awareness.