Creative Best Practices for E-Commerce Wellness Brands

E-commerce brands in the wellness space have led some of the most disruptive marketing efforts in post-pandemic years. After all, they often deal with sensitive topics that may be difficult to promote in traditional formats and need to engage new customers in an already complicated digital landscape. 

One attendee of a recent tech conference hosted by wellness and beauty media brand Glossy stated as much: “We have to find very creative ways to talk about [our brand] and to target [customers] with ads. With Google’s new algorithm [changes] … we have good retention, but now we have problems acquiring new customers.” That’s where CTV (Connected TV) comes in, with powerful IP targeting and an impactful storytelling format. Here’s how to make the most of it. 

Pick your strategy from the start

The goals of your campaign will dictate the type of creative and targeting strategy you need to develop. A nurture campaign, for example, should focus on premium channels and interest targeting with an engaging story arc, while a retargeting campaign should be shorter and more focused on performance. 

Evoke emotion

Study after study shows that emotion counts more for ad recall and action than any other factor, including ad channel or commercial length. Again, the type of product and campaign you are developing will help determine the kind of emotion your ad should elicit, but whether you decide to make an aspirational wellness claim or poke fun at yourselves and your audience, make sure your creative doesn’t fall flat. 

Talk like a human

Audiences may be slowly adapting to AI-generated content overtaking their screens, but at the end of the day people want to buy from people. Whether your creative includes a high-production storyline or still images with a voice-over, testimonials and product demonstrations featuring real people replicate the “word of mouth” experience audiences are looking for. 

Customize by segment

CTV advertising has all of the glamor of premium linear TV advertising, but where it really shines is targeting and real-time reporting. Supercharge your campaigns with small tweaks to your creative that will meet your audience every step of the way, with location-relevant CTAs segmented by geo, 30 second brand awareness ads for the top of the funnel, and performance-driven 15 second ads to close the deal. 

Invest in trust

Trust is probably the most important emotion to convey for e-commerce brands - especially in the wellness sector. While retargeting campaigns can get away with more to-the-point messaging on whatever channel in-market audiences are watching, try to focus your prospecting efforts on premium channels your audience feels comfortable with. Regardless of your campaign type, be sure to include testimonials, social proof, and/or any official wellness claims your brand has tested for. 

Show (and tell) them how it’s done

Viewers will only act on CTAs they can understand immediately, especially if it’s reiterated aurally. Remember, CTV advertising allows marketers to finally move beyond muted, skippable ads on social media or display and fully leverage the premium sights and sounds of TV. E-commerce marketers especially should highlight online purchasing and act out their calls to action in their creatives. 

Be consistent

CTV advertising really shines as part of an omnichannel campaign, driving up results across social, display, and more; but its tone, look, and specific messaging need to fit seamlessly within your overall campaign to make an impact. Keep your other channel creatives in mind when developing a new one for CTV so that a viewer following your call to action will find a landing page or app listing that fits their overall impression of your brand to minimize friction and increase conversion. 

Test early and often

While consistency is key, so is optimization. Leverage real-time campaign results to test multivariate strategies and learn which videos/devices/time slots/channels most engage your target audience. You can then optimize and customize your creative per audience segment as your campaign is running without ever having to hit pause. 

Keep a watchful eye  

You can’t manage until you measure, and that’s especially true for agile CTV campaigns that can be optimized in real-time. Make sure you have a measurement strategy in place before launching your campaign and place a pixel on your site to track CTV-enabled visits/clicks/purchases (whichever suits your needs), integrate with our MMM partners, or manage results with the MMP of your choice. 

Want to learn more about E-Commerce on CTV? Read our case studies!