Write ads and gather proof 17 of 26 in this group
SOP 120
Use the five ad meat formats
What this page is for. Use it when you have your hooks and need the body of the ad — the meat. It gives what the meat has to do, how much of your preparation it gets, how many to make per recording session, and the five formats to choose from, each with the kinds of ad that sit under it.
SOP-120-Use-the-five-ad-meat-formats.md
1. What the meat does
Every ad has creative: the part that delivers on the hook. The creative lines up with the hook, and the hook lines up with the audience's level of awareness (SOP 118 — Write hooks for each level of awareness). So the creative tends to inform the customer about the offer, the product, the solution and the problem — or it makes them aware of the phenomenon that is your product, to begin with.
2. How much attention it gets, and how many to make
The meat takes twenty percent of the preparation. Hooks take eighty percent and calls to action roughly none; the split is on SOP 119 — Assemble hook, meat and call to action, section 2.
The reason it needs less: fewer people ever reach the body of an ad, so it needs changing less often and wears out less often.
Usually three to five meats per weekly recording session is more than enough.
3. The five formats
Looking back across every ad run, five major formats came up. These are not necessarily the only formats — only the ones used that worked. They are said to have worked across all industries: services, education, physical products, brick-and-mortar shops, software and so on. Mixing and matching them is encouraged.
The kinds of ad that sit under each format:
| Format | Kinds of ad |
|---|---|
| 1. Demonstration | Live use or reactions; showcasing your product or service; unboxing; comparisons; before-and-afters; high-production hero ads |
| 2. Testimonial | User-generated content; direct to camera, the founder included; podcast style; professional testimonials; raw testimonials, iPhone-style; walk-and-talk rants; group testimonials with many people in the frame; lifecycle ads; street interviews with passers-by; influencer or celebrity collaborations |
| 3. Education | Educational or informational; explainer videos; whiteboard explainers; how-to lists; how-to or tutorial videos; list videos; high-performing organic content |
| 4. Story | Storytelling or narrative; lifestyle; warnings and opportunities; documentary style; skits; emotional or sentimental; humorous or comedy; problem and solution; brand manifestos |
| 5. Faceless | Screenshots of customer comments or texts; text only; slide shows; animations; cartoon ads; ads built on visual effects |
Lifecycle ads are set out on SOP 123 — Run the standing proof streams, section 4.
4. How to use the list
- Write the hooks first (SOP 118 and SOP 119).
- Pick a few of the formats. The instruction here is to write three to five meats and pick a few of the types for them.
- Make each meat fit the hooks it will carry, and through them the audience's level of awareness (section 1).
- Mix and match formats where it helps.
- Whenever you get stuck on what kind of ad or which format to use for the meat, come back to this list. That is what it is for: a quick reference.
With the hooks and the meat done, the last piece is the call to action, on SOP 119, section 5.
5. What this page does not decide for you
- Which format suits which level of awareness. Section 1 ties the meat to the hook and the hook to the level. No format is matched to a level. Not established on this page.
- How long a meat runs. This page gives no figure for the length of the body of an ad.
- What a lifecycle ad is is SOP 123, section 4.
6. The checklist
| Question | The answer |
|---|---|
| What the meat does | Delivers on the hook; educates about the offer, product, solution or problem, or makes them aware of the phenomenon that is your product |
| Its share of preparation | Twenty percent |
| Why it needs less than the hook | Fewer people see it, so it gets used up less often |
| How many per weekly session | Usually three to five |
| The five formats | Demonstration, testimonial, education, story, faceless |
| Are these the only formats | Not claimed to be; they are the ones that worked |
| Mix them | Yes, it is encouraged |
| Which format for which level | Not established on this page |
7. What this page does not cover
Where the hooks come from and how the parts are put together are SOP 119. The hooks for each level of awareness are SOP 118. What a hook is made of is SOP 121 — Write a hook. The middle of an ad, as what it says, who says it and when, is SOP 39 — Write what an ad says, who says it, and when.
Filming, lighting and editing are not covered on this page.
Terms defined on this page
- Creative (body of an ad)
- The part of an ad that delivers on the hook; another name for the meat. See Meat.
- Demonstration ad
- One of the five meat formats: showing the product in use or people reacting to it, unboxings, comparisons such as before-and-afters, or high-production hero ads.
- Education ad
- One of the five meat formats: explainers, how-to or list videos, and strong organic content. Filmed in a teaching setting, such as at a whiteboard, it reads as value and authority and suits complex, new or pricier offers.
- Faceless ad
- One of the five meat formats: ads with nobody presenting, such as screenshots of what customers wrote, plain text, picture sequences, animation, cartoons or visual effects.
- Five meat formats
- Demonstration, testimonial, education, story and faceless: the formats that worked across industries, though not necessarily the only ones. Mixing them is encouraged.
- Meat
- The body of an ad, between the hook and the call to action: one of your three to five really valuable points or ideas that break a belief, more or less another way of stating the offer. Fewer people reach it, so it gets less preparation and wears out less often than hooks.
- Story ad
- One of the five meat formats: narrative ads, including lifestyle, documentary style, skits and brand manifestos, among others.
- Testimonial ad
- One of the five meat formats: customers or founders speaking, such as user-made clips, talking to camera, podcast style, raw or polished testimonials, walk-and-talk rants, group shots, street interviews or influencer collaborations.