Video has been all the rage over the last few years with the rise of TikTok and a lot of short-form video.

We have seen platforms push for video when it comes to their algorithm and successful ads.

The need for statics died down, but recently I am seeing a huge success with static ads and I know many of my friends are also seeing the same thing amongst their brands.

We are going to breakdown what makes a great static ad so you can start putting together some great ads today.

1. Your headline is your hook

Similar to how people are so focused on the first three seconds of a video, you should be just as vigilant with your headline.

The headline is the signal to the viewer to either keep reading and viewing, or to scroll away.

Just like being hyper-specific with your hook in videos, the same process should happen for your headline.

This headline should dictate the imagery and other supporting text in the static ad.

2. An image built for static ads

You can't just throw text on an image and hope that it works.

Not all images are created equal when it comes to static ads.

You need to take photos with the statics in mind.

For example, as you take a photo of a product knowing you want to have callouts around the product, you will need to frame the product in a way that has space around it for text.

You can see in this photo we took this week that we have space and padding around the product to accommodate text.

You can see we have a lot of space on top of this second image for a great headline for a static ad.

3. Supporting text to sell the product

The headline and imagery should hook the viewer, and the supporting text should sell the viewer.

The best supporting text is building the case the headline created.

If we were to do a headline for this SPF from Kopari, it might say, "Not Your Basic SPF"

The supporting text should give points about why it isn't your basic SPF.

Maybe we talk about ingredients, no white cast, transfer-proof, waterproof for up to 40 minutes, etc.

The goal is to have supporting text that continues the selling based off of the headline.

At the end of the day, the headline dictates so much of what is said and shown in a static ad.

Focus on building lots of angles and hooks that can be turned into headlines.

The beauty is that from the winning statics, you can turn those winners into video ads that can also scale because the headline and text are already tested.

Statics need to be talked about more, especially as you are trying to dial in what works and doesn't work.