Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Interviews with top marketers sharing tactical tips, strategies, and lessons learned to help you grow your business. Hosted by Dave Gerhardt, founder of Exit Five, former CMO, and author of Founder Brand. Learn more at exitfive.com
Dave [0:00:01]: You're listening to The Dave Gerhardt Show.
Dasha [0:00:17]: Connor.
Dasha [0:00:17]: Welcome to the pod.
Dasha [0:00:18]: Connor Lewis from Studio Lewis, very creative name.
Dasha [0:00:22]: How are you?
Connor [0:00:23]: I'm good.
Connor [0:00:23]: I'm good.
Connor [0:00:24]: It's busy here right now.
Connor [0:00:25]: Video is supposed to be popping off which is great.
Dasha [0:00:28]: Video is popping up.
Dasha [0:00:28]: Do you think it's tied to Ai in any way?
Connor [0:00:31]: I don't know.
Connor [0:00:32]: We've had a lot of people who have tried Ai ads and then come to us and like can you fix this.
Connor [0:00:36]: So...
Connor [0:00:36]: But I'll talk a little bit about how we use Ai in our process and certainly not out of it.
Dasha [0:00:40]: Let's do it.
Dasha [0:00:41]: I've jumped way ahead.
Dasha [0:00:42]: Let's introduce you to our listeners to our viewers.
Dasha [0:00:44]: Cool.
Dasha [0:00:45]: Connor.
Dasha [0:00:46]: Who are you?
Connor [0:00:47]: Who am I?
Connor [0:00:47]: My name is Connor Lewis.
Connor [0:00:48]: I've been doing video since I was sixteen, But more importantly, I've been doing Saas video since I was twenty.
Connor [0:00:54]: I worked at an Hr tech company called the predictive index led a video team there.
Connor [0:00:58]: Figured out what worked in video and then kind of branch off of my own when I was twenty six.
Connor [0:01:02]: Now I'm thirty, and I know way too much about software video.
Connor [0:01:07]: It seems to be in the niche I've kind of fallen into her my main quest as I like to call it.
Dasha [0:01:12]: What was happening when you were a sixteen year old?
Dasha [0:01:14]: Were you the kid in high school that, like, always had their camera on them?
Connor [0:01:18]: I love that you asked that?
Connor [0:01:19]: I kinda wanted to be a Youtuber sixteen.
Connor [0:01:21]: Now I don't.
Connor [0:01:22]: It's too much work.
Connor [0:01:23]: And also, I was editing video game montage.
Connor [0:01:26]: So, like, people would pay me twenty bucks to, like, take their clips and make it into, like, this dopamine fueled video game montage.
Connor [0:01:32]: So I started as an editor actually.
Dasha [0:01:35]: Oh, that's hilarious.
Dasha [0:01:35]: Are they still live?
Connor [0:01:37]: I'm not telling you that.
Dasha [0:01:38]: We don't need to go down that Rabbit Hold.
Dasha [0:01:39]: Okay.
Dasha [0:01:39]: Okay.
Dasha [0:01:39]: Okay.
Dasha [0:01:40]: Okay.
Connor [0:01:40]: Are.
Connor [0:01:40]: But you're...
Connor [0:01:41]: I will not share later.
Dasha [0:01:42]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:01:42]: Okay.
Dasha [0:01:42]: Taking that to the grave.
Dasha [0:01:43]: Okay.
Dasha [0:01:44]: Well, today, your sweet spot is B2B videos like saas company ads.
Dasha [0:01:49]: What kind of clients are are hiring you guys.
Connor [0:01:52]: Yeah.
Connor [0:01:52]: We're lucky you to work with some of big ones now, click up, Zapier, Hr ahrefs, Those the ones that I list and people are like, oh, I know those.
Connor [0:02:00]: But also a lot of Series A and Series B companies.
Connor [0:02:02]: We work on really big scale projects that are like six figures and try to get a ton of assets.
Connor [0:02:07]: We work on really small product launches that need to be scrappy and just record the founders.
Connor [0:02:11]: So somewhere in the, like, Series B to series d realm is where we usually stay?
Dasha [0:02:18]: And so those marketing teams are usually what, like, twenty some people.
Connor [0:02:22]: Usually less.
Dasha [0:02:23]: Less?
Dasha [0:02:23]: Yeah.
Connor [0:02:23]: Marketing teams are scrappy these days.
Connor [0:02:24]: I swear.
Dasha [0:02:25]: I love it.
Connor [0:02:26]: I think anywhere from, like, three people to, like, twenty is kind of like the marketing team.
Dasha [0:02:32]: Okay.
Connor [0:02:33]: Realm.
Connor [0:02:33]: From smaller marketers, but, yeah, less so these days.
Dasha [0:02:37]: Got it.
Dasha [0:02:37]: Okay.
Dasha [0:02:37]: And you've produced eight hundred B2B video ads.
Dasha [0:02:41]: Is that right?
Connor [0:02:42]: Two Yeah.
Connor [0:02:43]: I'm counting.
Dasha [0:02:44]: That's crazy.
Dasha [0:02:44]: That's actually crazy.
Dasha [0:02:46]: Usually, when you are working with those marketers, the team, talk to me about the team, like, who you working with?
Dasha [0:02:52]: Typically on the team is it if it's like a team of three are all three involved?
Dasha [0:02:55]: Is it the demand gen person?
Dasha [0:02:56]: Who is your point of contact?
Connor [0:03:00]: Depends on the size of company.
Connor [0:03:01]: If it's a larger company, usually, I'm in contact with demand gen.
Connor [0:03:04]: So, like, click up their head of demand and paid creative is, like, a person I basically report to and and collaborate with?
Connor [0:03:11]: On smaller teams it's directly with the head of marketing and VP of marketing and they usually have, like a big brand vision and know the product really well.
Connor [0:03:18]: Know the customer really well.
Connor [0:03:19]: So and they're wearing a lot of hats.
Connor [0:03:21]: And my goal is to take as much off their plate as I can versus demand is, like, super focused on optimization.
Connor [0:03:26]: So different projects to be honest.
Dasha [0:03:28]: Cool.
Dasha [0:03:28]: And you mail that drive, And I think you were, like, about to make your first hire.
Dasha [0:03:32]: Is that right?
Dasha [0:03:33]: And now you're not you're not, like, a two person operation.
Dasha [0:03:36]: It sounds like you're you're quite a bit larger.
Dasha [0:03:38]: How many people work at Studio lewis is today?
Connor [0:03:42]: Full time just three.
Connor [0:03:43]: We've kept it really lean, but we pay...
Connor [0:03:46]: I don't know.
Connor [0:03:47]: Upwards of fifty thousand dollars a month to subcontractors.
Connor [0:03:49]: So we have a bench of people that we love.
Dasha [0:03:51]: Like, flexing in and out.
Connor [0:03:52]: And pretty much know our process.
Connor [0:03:53]: Yeah.
Connor [0:03:54]: I found that the best creators work for themselves sometimes.
Connor [0:03:56]: So We've kept a lot of people on our bench and just like, constantly hired them, But we do have an in house person now.
Connor [0:04:02]: Her name is Iris.
Connor [0:04:03]: She's incredible.
Connor [0:04:03]: She's the best producer you've ever met, and she's a project manager too.
Connor [0:04:07]: We're thinking about hiring someone else near the end of this year, which is exciting.
Dasha [0:04:11]: How do you think about your specific role?
Dasha [0:04:13]: I assume you all wear, like, upward of twenty hats?
Dasha [0:04:15]: But...
Connor [0:04:16]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:04:16]: If you were to say, okay, I am the blank person, what would that be?
Connor [0:04:20]: At this point, I am, like, the executive producer slash creative director, and, I'll explain those two hats really briefly.
Connor [0:04:27]: Executive producer, meaning, I'm am coming up with budgets coming up with strategies and plans and doing a lot pitching.
Connor [0:04:32]: Like, most of my job is walking people in software companies through a workshop that gets them to scripts, that gets them to a pitch.
Connor [0:04:39]: And then from the pitch, they basically decide.
Connor [0:04:41]: Do I wanna work with Studio Lewis or do you wanna take these ideas and run?
Connor [0:04:44]: And then, the second one is creative director.
Connor [0:04:47]: So I'm super involved in briefing crews and making sure that the creative stays solid, looking at prop books looking at Wardrobe, looking over the edits and leaving comments and Frame.io, and then the last thing I do is I'm a content creator, so I make Linkedin content.
Connor [0:05:01]: So I I kinda switched between those three hats mostly.
Dasha [0:05:04]: Have you always been a creative person.
Dasha [0:05:06]: I had S On the show?
Dasha [0:05:07]: A few weeks ago, and we talked about, like, where creativity comes from?
Dasha [0:05:11]: Are you someone who's inherently creative?
Connor [0:05:14]: I think of myself that way.
Connor [0:05:16]: Yeah.
Connor [0:05:16]: I love music.
Connor [0:05:18]: I played the base guitar.
Connor [0:05:19]: I was in a band for five years.
Connor [0:05:21]: I hosted, like, how shows.
Connor [0:05:22]: I also got into oil painting, so Was really into that for a while.
Connor [0:05:26]: I started in photography, specifically landscapes, and I've even printed some of them out in there around the house now.
Connor [0:05:32]: So, yeah.
Connor [0:05:33]: I've just always been...
Dasha [0:05:35]: You're creative through and through.
Connor [0:05:37]: I've been very right brains, which as we scale I'm realizing the weakness and the strengths of right brands and pulling in left brain people actually to kind of get the operations underway.
Connor [0:05:46]: So...
Connor [0:05:46]: But, yeah, I would say I lean more creative.
Dasha [0:05:49]: Something I think is interesting too about you is you...
Dasha [0:05:51]: Before you went out on your own, you were working in Saas environment?
Dasha [0:05:54]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:05:55]: How do you think that has shaped the type of work you're doing today?
Dasha [0:05:59]: What do you think you bring the an agency that, like, started out as an agency is maybe missing?
Connor [0:06:05]: Yeah.
Connor [0:06:05]: I think we bring an understanding of, like, how software companies go because I was on that marketing team.
Connor [0:06:10]: Right, I had to beg for budget.
Connor [0:06:12]: I had to fight for every video idea.
Connor [0:06:15]: I had to push executives to do something risky, which is really hard by the way, especially founders are very...
Connor [0:06:21]: It's their baby, You know?
Connor [0:06:23]: So every piece of media that goes out is very sensitive.
Connor [0:06:25]: So I just understand the political intricacies, the structural intricacies is and the budget in intricacies is that comes with software.
Connor [0:06:33]: And then from, like, a creative perspective, I know what converts people to become software users.
Connor [0:06:39]: It's different from consumer ads, and we don't even make consumer ads We literally just do software because it's what we know.
Dasha [0:06:45]: That's interesting.
Dasha [0:06:46]: In what way would you say it's different?
Connor [0:06:48]: Well, it depends if your product led sales led, I'll start there.
Connor [0:06:50]: But in sales led software org a lot of times your goal with video is to like build trust, build brands.
Connor [0:06:56]: Mh.
Connor [0:06:57]: Or sometimes convert down funnel so like customer testimonials work really well and sales led org.
Connor [0:07:01]: I know that they're quote boring but boring is is working.
Connor [0:07:04]: Just to say, if your product led, if you have some kind of freemium model, your goals is to get them to sign up, click up monday.com.
Connor [0:07:11]: Those kinds of products can make it a math game to be honest on Ad networks.
Connor [0:07:15]: And that's kind of what it's become, And, there's really good formulas, which we can talk about to get people to convert to free and then from free to paid, which is a whole separate funnel.
Dasha [0:07:25]: Let's talk about it.
Connor [0:07:27]: Well,
Dasha [0:07:28]: you say that a script is what kills an ad or makes it great.
Dasha [0:07:31]: So I'm excited to deep dive into what makes a good ad.
Connor [0:07:36]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:07:36]: It sounds like you've got some examples and frameworks to share.
Connor [0:07:41]: I do.
Dasha [0:07:41]: Let's dive in.
Dasha [0:07:42]: Maybe let's start with some examples.
Dasha [0:07:43]: You can walk through what's working in those examples?
Dasha [0:07:46]: What's not working.
Dasha [0:07:47]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:07:47]: And we'll we'll voice it over for anyone who's listening.
Connor [0:07:51]: I can do that.
Connor [0:07:51]: I'll show you...
Connor [0:07:52]: I'll show you three examples.
Dasha [0:07:54]: Oh, okay, Can.
Connor [0:07:55]: I'm, I think that we'll do well, pull up now.
Connor [0:07:58]: Okay.
Connor [0:07:59]: You should see a canvas screen right now.
Dasha [0:08:02]: I sure can.
Connor [0:08:03]: Okay.
Connor [0:08:03]: Cool.
Connor [0:08:04]: I'll start with this.
Connor [0:08:05]: So these are slides for those listening and not looking.
Connor [0:08:08]: These are slides that I used at my talks when I go to conferences because examples are really helpful for understanding what's good what's bad.
Connor [0:08:15]: But what you'll notice is that I kinda have this, like, scripts format at the bottom here so what you'll be watching if you are watching is basically a video plane, and then the...
Connor [0:08:25]: We're we're seeing what block of script we're in as the script plays out.
Connor [0:08:30]: So it kinda makes you think about the product marketing behind
Dasha [0:08:33]: scripts.
Connor [0:08:33]: It's all very formulaic lag.
Connor [0:08:34]: Monday.com is the first.
Connor [0:08:35]: I'll show you.
Connor [0:08:36]: These guys are the kings of Youtube.
Connor [0:08:38]: Genuinely.
Connor [0:08:39]: They spend so much on Youtube and most of their acquisition comes from this channel, and they're really good at it.
Connor [0:08:43]: And so it's valuable to learn from them.
Connor [0:08:46]: I'm kinda spoiling if this is a good or bad ad by giving them that intro, but say love.
Connor [0:08:49]: Here we go.
Connor [0:08:50]: I'll play.
Connor [0:08:51]: It's hard to rule over an entire organization, But with Monday.com work West.
Connor [0:08:59]: Any team can cross collaborate and now we're much more on point.
Connor [0:09:03]: Now I have everything I need to run my teams from marketing to sales to inventory tracking.
Connor [0:09:11]: And that's a reason to celebrate.
Connor [0:09:17]: Silly.
Connor [0:09:22]: Right?
Connor [0:09:22]: We should marry for the folks listening.
Dasha [0:09:24]: We should marry.
Dasha [0:09:25]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:09:25]: It is silly.
Dasha [0:09:26]: It's not what you would backed and describe what we're looking at, and then I'll share my thoughts, and then I'm very curious to hear your thoughts as someone who, like, comes up with these types of ideas.
Connor [0:09:36]: Yeah.
Connor [0:09:36]: We're looking at a Viking, using a laptop in the woods with the vikings in the background, like, his viking teammates.
Connor [0:09:41]: And he's sharing about how to lead his hoard of Vikings using Monday.com, which is really fun.
Dasha [0:09:47]: But Connor, do you think that Monday.com's ICP is a viking, like, why would they do this?
Connor [0:09:53]: I know.
Connor [0:09:53]: That's so crazy.
Connor [0:09:54]: This shouldn't have, like got the green light.
Dasha [0:09:56]: It how to just get approved?
Connor [0:09:58]: I don't know.
Connor [0:09:58]: Obviously, it's a metaphor for teams, and it's something that catches you off guard because you're expecting to see an office environments in every single freaking software ad.
Connor [0:10:08]: And certainly, I still pitch a lot of office environments gets.
Connor [0:10:11]: They work but to break kind of like the expectations they give a Viking metaphor, which is really fun to watch.
Connor [0:10:17]: You know, the props are hitting the the wardrobe is hitting well.
Connor [0:10:19]: The music is it's really on beam and to spoil it, This is a good ad.
Connor [0:10:23]: I do, like, good at, bad.
Connor [0:10:25]: This is good.
Connor [0:10:26]: And the reason is this is...
Connor [0:10:28]: The brand mentions within five seconds.
Connor [0:10:30]: I think sometimes as marketers were allergic to mention our brand because we're like, well, I don't wanna make it too heavy handed, which is valid, but you're paying for these ads.
Connor [0:10:38]: Right.
Connor [0:10:38]: Most people, to be honest, even if they're great or not going to watch the whole ad.
Connor [0:10:42]: So you should get free impressions by getting your brand mention in the first five seconds.
Connor [0:10:45]: It works really well, and it increases the conversion rate of ads.
Connor [0:10:48]: If you're doing, like, an organic linkedin video short, you can do something that's fun, and you don't have to mention brand, but you're putting real spend behind this.
Connor [0:10:55]: So get your brand in there.
Connor [0:10:56]: Really clear simplified product shots throughout the whole thing.
Connor [0:10:59]: Like, even though we're in viking lands, like, we see over his shoulder and we can just...
Connor [0:11:03]: Like, it looks really clean and easy to understand.
Connor [0:11:06]: Like, if you've never seen Monday.com before, you're like, oh, this is project tracker.
Connor [0:11:09]: And then they sub converted creative norms which is great.
Connor [0:11:12]: We talked about that a little.
Connor [0:11:13]: And then the last thing I wanna mention is the script itself is one of the best performing scripts in software ad history, and it's repeated time and time again.
Connor [0:11:21]: It start with the pain point.
Connor [0:11:22]: In this case, it was.
Connor [0:11:23]: It's hard to rule over an entire organization.
Connor [0:11:26]: Rule over is interesting.
Connor [0:11:27]: The more relatable and specific the pain the better.
Connor [0:11:30]: And so in this case is very broad based pain so they can probably use it for a lot of verticals.
Connor [0:11:33]: And then mention the brand name and then go straight into features and benefits.
Connor [0:11:37]: So, like, here's what we can do with this software.
Connor [0:11:39]: Here's what it allows us to do.
Connor [0:11:40]: And that that hooks really well.
Connor [0:11:42]: So this is, like, the ad that I show people that's, like, if you're looking to do something quintessential, kinda go in this direction where you want this script format, try to convert creative norms and get product shots in there, and then the brand mentioned in five seconds.
Dasha [0:11:55]: What is verde creative arms mean?
Connor [0:11:57]: Oh, it's it's what we're talking about with the office?
Connor [0:11:59]: So, like, most people expect a softer or software ads being in an office.
Connor [0:12:03]: The fact that it opens on a viking and makes you curious about, like, where this is going.
Connor [0:12:08]: That's what I mean by creative norms.
Dasha [0:12:10]: Okay.
Dasha [0:12:10]: Got it.
Dasha [0:12:11]: You're creating, like, a slippery slope from the beginning?
Dasha [0:12:13]: Where is this going?
Dasha [0:12:14]: What even add is this for?
Dasha [0:12:15]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:12:16]: But you find out pretty quick.
Dasha [0:12:18]: That...
Dasha [0:12:18]: I feel like as a commercial watcher.
Dasha [0:12:20]: That annoys me where thirty seconds in, I'm still wondering, is this gonna be an ad for a computer?
Dasha [0:12:26]: Is it an ad for an allergy medication.
Dasha [0:12:30]: Like, I just...
Dasha [0:12:30]: I'm so lost.
Dasha [0:12:31]: I like that they don't leave us one too long.
Connor [0:12:35]: I'll show you an example that kind of goes into that vein, which is a Zap video.
Connor [0:12:39]: Shout out Zapier.
Connor [0:12:40]: Love the team there, and they're okay with me sharing this.
Connor [0:12:42]: So I I will share it now.
Connor [0:12:44]: Want to automate, but you don't know where to start try apps wild tv workflows.
Connor [0:12:49]: Just open and more.
Connor [0:12:51]: To activate sap your Ai powered workflow.
Connor [0:12:54]: Automate as fast as you can type or zap.
Connor [0:12:57]: Ai and a can.
Dasha [0:13:01]: Got it.
Dasha [0:13:01]: Let me guess.
Dasha [0:13:02]: This is not a good ad.
Connor [0:13:05]: Yeah.
Connor [0:13:05]: You're right.
Connor [0:13:06]: And it's kind of what you were talking about.
Connor [0:13:07]: Right?
Connor [0:13:08]: Where it's, like, they're clearly diverting creative norms.
Connor [0:13:10]: Like, they're doing something really cool.
Connor [0:13:11]: It reminds me the sham wow I, like, from a brand perspective, really, really cool and interesting and, like, kinda funny, especially if you get the reference.
Dasha [0:13:19]: And just to voice it over, it is a man with, like, a can that says zap, and it looks like an info commercial and the whole time we are left thinking that this is an ad for like, a almost like, a a beverage product.
Connor [0:13:31]: Maybe like an energy drinks.
Connor [0:13:31]: Exactly.
Connor [0:13:32]: And, like, sure enough, the plot was a little bit lost in the sauce.
Connor [0:13:37]: You know?
Connor [0:13:37]: Like, the creative brain is there, but we don't walk away knowing what Zapier does.
Connor [0:13:42]: If you are already a zapier your user, this is probably a pretty good ad because you're like, oh, yeah.
Connor [0:13:47]: They're doing something fun.
Connor [0:13:48]: But if you're trying to acquire new users, this doesn't really teach anything, and it's an example of, like a brand video that's gone too heavy brands and hasn't brought it back to product education, which is the core of any yet.
Connor [0:13:58]: You wanna educate people and what problem your product solves.
Connor [0:14:00]: And how it does it.
Connor [0:14:01]: And so, yeah, that's just the the example I can.
Dasha [0:14:04]: So is there a place for something like this?
Dasha [0:14:06]: Like, if I'm, maybe...
Dasha [0:14:07]: I don't know.
Dasha [0:14:08]: Trying to upsell an existing customer or I don't know.
Dasha [0:14:12]: Like, I guess, is there ever a time where this would make sense or not really?
Connor [0:14:17]: This is a fun social video.
Connor [0:14:18]: I think that it builds brand character.
Connor [0:14:21]: So like, I'll give you a non B2B example, Jeep like the car company.
Connor [0:14:26]: Has a lot of commercials that don't even sell offers on Jeep.
Connor [0:14:30]: They just sell the idea of freedom.
Connor [0:14:31]: Like most jeep ads are, like, the American flag and people returning from war and an Eagle, and they spent huge super bowl dollars on that last year.
Connor [0:14:40]: And, like, that's a play by them to associate the brand jeep with Freedom.
Connor [0:14:44]: And when I look at this ad, I'm like, oh, Zapier is trying to associate the brand Zapier with Goofy za funny, interesting, culturally relevance, you know, all these words.
Connor [0:14:54]: So that is probably what I would say this accomplished, and there is a time in a place for that.
Connor [0:14:59]: I think at zap size.
Connor [0:15:01]: In fact, you could probably make an argument for that.
Connor [0:15:03]: I'm just again, it'll probably work better on folks who already know it's Zapier is.
Connor [0:15:06]: Otherwise, they're like, why is this Sham wow got in front of my face.
Dasha [0:15:09]: Right.
Dasha [0:15:09]: Why?
Dasha [0:15:10]: Get why is sham wow on my Linkedin feed.
Dasha [0:15:13]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:15:13]: That makes sense.
Connor [0:15:15]: I do have one more example that I could show, which is kinda classic.
Connor [0:15:18]: This is, like an ad that usually...
Connor [0:15:20]: So right now, we've shown a lot of human examples.
Connor [0:15:22]: Like, ads with actors in them.
Connor [0:15:24]: Right?
Connor [0:15:25]: I'm gonna show one last ad, which doesn't have any actors in them.
Connor [0:15:27]: And if we're gonna talk about it a little bit.
Connor [0:15:29]: So I'll play this one.
Connor [0:15:30]: So what did you think about this ad, Batch?
Connor [0:15:45]: I just didn't na what we saw?
Connor [0:15:46]: It was emotion graphics for text heavy product launch video by Zoom info to launch their marketing Os tool?
Connor [0:15:53]: Mean, it was kind of speaking about the benefits and the...
Connor [0:15:56]: And showing off the features a little bit.
Dasha [0:15:58]: I think this ad was pretty good.
Dasha [0:15:59]: Considering, you know, no actors.
Dasha [0:16:01]: It's clear.
Dasha [0:16:02]: I like that there aren't a ton of buzz words I feel like the in app kind screenshots have been simplified a ton.
Dasha [0:16:12]: I can kinda tell what's going on.
Dasha [0:16:14]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:16:15]: Probably written at, like, a grade seven, eight level, which I like.
Connor [0:16:18]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:16:19]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:16:19]: I think in general, am I, like, drawn to this sort of ad probably not, but there is a place for it.
Dasha [0:16:25]: So I'll give it, like, an eight out of ten.
Dasha [0:16:27]: What do you think?
Connor [0:16:28]: Yeah.
Connor [0:16:28]: I think it's an okay ad.
Connor [0:16:30]: Okay.
Connor [0:16:31]: I kind of have it somewhere in the middle where this is the classic product launch video.
Connor [0:16:36]: Like, everyone makes emotion graphics videos like this that kind of launch product.
Connor [0:16:40]: And that's probably my only problem with it is that it's not very memorable.
Connor [0:16:45]: It's not gonna stick in your brain.
Connor [0:16:46]: It's something you champion will share upwards.
Connor [0:16:49]: Like, they'll probably share with their boss and be like, could we get this?
Connor [0:16:52]: Here's what it does.
Dasha [0:16:54]: Oh, my god.
Dasha [0:16:54]: And a boss would probably approve it.
Dasha [0:16:56]: It is a safe ad.
Dasha [0:16:57]: It's the color below.
Dasha [0:16:58]: It's so safe.
Dasha [0:17:00]: No one is gonna be, like, whoa this is too spicy.
Dasha [0:17:03]: Are you sure we can run this ad.
Dasha [0:17:04]: And I think for that exact reason, it's not that memorable.
Connor [0:17:08]: Yes.
Connor [0:17:08]: This it's like the Salesforce of ads, Low key.
Connor [0:17:10]: It's like, no one's gonna get you in trouble for getting this ad.
Connor [0:17:13]: Yep.
Connor [0:17:13]: It was very brand forward in the beginning and, like, if you're showing this on a Youtube ad.
Connor [0:17:19]: For instance, people are gonna see this and be like, okay.
Connor [0:17:21]: I'm skipping this as fast as I can because it's trying to push something on to me.
Connor [0:17:25]: It's just, like the feeling gives you.
Connor [0:17:26]: Very motion graphics for no human beings But here's the thing that you pointed out really well is that the product language is clear.
Connor [0:17:33]: It's written at a...
Connor [0:17:34]: Like, the copy is so strong.
Connor [0:17:35]: It's really good copy it's really good design.
Connor [0:17:38]: It flows really well.
Connor [0:17:39]: The motion is interesting, and it shows a little bit of the product without getting too complicated and the weeds.
Connor [0:17:44]: So that's where I'm torn on this Adam.
Connor [0:17:46]: I'm like, we've seen this a billion times before, but it is effective.
Connor [0:17:49]: At doing what it's meant to do, which is educate buyers.
Connor [0:17:52]: So would I run it as a Youtube app?
Connor [0:17:54]: I test it, but probably wouldn't do too well.
Connor [0:17:56]: Would I make it at some video for other parts of the org like the sales team?
Connor [0:18:00]: Hell yeah.
Connor [0:18:01]: Sure.
Connor [0:18:01]: It would do its job.
Dasha [0:18:03]: I'm curious when we're...
Dasha [0:18:04]: Like, I love that you do these, I think you were calling them script blocks underneath like you're almost, like, breaking down why the ad is working or not working.
Dasha [0:18:12]: When we see an ad, and it doesn't resonate with us.
Dasha [0:18:16]: What is usually missing or off about the ad for someone who isn't analyzing it Connor lewis style?
Connor [0:18:25]: When it's not resonating with us.
Connor [0:18:26]: I mean, to break it down to its very simple core, it's like, is the ad emphasizing, or does the ad understand you?
Connor [0:18:33]: If you're getting shown an ad chances are that marketers spent a lot of time thinking about your pain points as, you know, head of marketing, for instance, in your case.
Connor [0:18:42]: And did they get it right?
Connor [0:18:44]: Is the pain point landing as it's specific enough that you feel like it was made for you is the situation...
Connor [0:18:50]: The funny situation that they put you in relatable enough?
Connor [0:18:53]: All that comes from empathy towards pain and empathy towards value props or benefits.
Connor [0:18:57]: So it's customer research and product language at its core.
Connor [0:19:01]: I say this all the time, All ads are copywriting and, like, evie if the copy isn't good.
Connor [0:19:07]: If the customer research isn't good, then you've just made something generic and it's gonna relate to no one, and that's when it feels like kinda math.
Dasha [0:19:14]: Is copywriting something that you deliberately, like, sat down and tried to learn or trying to get better at and, like, master your craft over time?
Connor [0:19:21]: Yeah.
Connor [0:19:21]: I'm definitely trying to get better at.
Connor [0:19:23]: It's it's not something somewhere I started.
Connor [0:19:24]: I started in editing in, like, we talked about.
Connor [0:19:27]: Right.
Connor [0:19:27]: But every time, a client hands me a video script, I have to basically cut it in half because you just don't have a lot of time in video.
Connor [0:19:35]: Thirty seconds is not a lot of time.
Connor [0:19:36]: You can say maybe fifty words.
Connor [0:19:38]: And so how do you...
Connor [0:19:39]: What fifty words do you say is basically copy.
Dasha [0:19:42]: You know the thing if I had more time, I would write a shorter letter.
Connor [0:19:46]: Yes.
Connor [0:19:46]: Who said that?
Connor [0:19:47]: I freaking love that quote.
Dasha [0:19:48]: I don't wanna attribute mis attribute it, but like, someone really smart at it, and it's so true, and I think about it, probably, like, once a day because Ai is so verbose.
Dasha [0:19:57]: You ever tried
Connor [0:19:58]: to ask
Dasha [0:19:59]: Ai for, like, I don't know.
Dasha [0:20:00]: V one of anything and it's, like, five thousand characters and you're like, whoa.
Dasha [0:20:04]: You're doing way too much.
Connor [0:20:06]: Or you're, like, coworker or hands you an Ai document and and it's, like, ten pages and you're, like, I'm
Dasha [0:20:11]: not getting.
Dasha [0:20:11]: Please respect my time.
Dasha [0:20:13]: I'm not reading all that.
Connor [0:20:15]: For real, it's actually a problem.
Connor [0:20:16]: And so, like, there's power in being concise, which comes down to copy usually.
Dasha [0:20:21]: Totally.
Connor [0:20:21]: By the big on this topic.
Connor [0:20:22]: I'll say that I recommend, people test image ads before they hop right into the video because you can get a lot of reps, quick reps, and they're easier to make.
Connor [0:20:31]: And at the core, most image ads are talk copy about a pain point.
Connor [0:20:35]: Copy about a benefit or copy about a feature, and that all translates really well to video once you've learned what works.
Dasha [0:20:40]: If someone wants to get better at copy writing, where do you send them?
Dasha [0:20:44]: Where would you send them?
Connor [0:20:46]: Oh my god.
Connor [0:20:46]: There's a lot of good copy books out there.
Connor [0:20:49]: I think for ads specifically, I do my friend Sc who was on this podcast.
Connor [0:20:53]: Is really good at image ads, and we talk up together all the time, take his course.
Connor [0:20:58]: He spent so much freaking time on that thing.
Connor [0:21:00]: It's really good.
Connor [0:21:01]: Or just dm him to be honest.
Connor [0:21:02]: He'll probably shoot the the shit with you.
Dasha [0:21:06]: He's awesome.
Dasha [0:21:06]: He's so brilliant.
Dasha [0:21:07]: I love how his brain works.
Connor [0:21:10]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:21:10]: What's the most expensive bad ad that you've seen where you can tell a lot of money went into it and it just is not hitting.
Connor [0:21:16]: No my god.
Connor [0:21:17]: You're asking me to call someone out right now.
Dasha [0:21:19]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:21:19]: We can bleed it out, but I'm curious.
Connor [0:21:22]: Give me a sec to think about that.
Connor [0:21:23]: I think There's been a lot of Salesforce ads and I'm like, why did we make this?
Connor [0:21:27]: It's super.
Connor [0:21:29]: Even the the Salesforce mister Beast partnership.
Connor [0:21:32]: I'm still trying to understand.
Connor [0:21:33]: That one just felt like, such a weird match of ICP.
Connor [0:21:37]: I'll talk about that one.
Connor [0:21:38]: I mean, it's just like, a very public example.
Connor [0:21:41]: So it feels like they definitely spent, like, many millions on that, especially to get any kind of partnership with mister Beast.
Connor [0:21:49]: But if you think about mister Beast ICP, like, They're young.
Connor [0:21:52]: They're probably in.
Dasha [0:21:54]: They're in
Connor [0:21:54]: high school.
Connor [0:21:54]: Most.
Dasha [0:21:55]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:21:55]: They're...
Connor [0:21:56]: Like, most of them were probably in high school.
Connor [0:21:57]: And I know he's trying to mature his audience a little bit by getting on Amazon and doing game shows and things like that.
Connor [0:22:02]: But Right at the gate.
Connor [0:22:03]: I just thought the partnership was really weird because there's just a mismatch.
Connor [0:22:07]: So.
Connor [0:22:07]: Like, the partnership was weird.
Connor [0:22:08]: And then the creative itself looked really expensive.
Connor [0:22:11]: They did a lot of Ai production on the backgrounds I can tell, But I wish I had it up with me.
Connor [0:22:16]: Who can showed it on the screen maybe now, but there's, like helicopters and for Con vault and the sweep stakes for people to find the vault somewhere in the world to one million dollars.
Connor [0:22:24]: And it's like, if you...
Connor [0:22:26]: If this is a product video about Salesforce.
Connor [0:22:28]: We've taught nothing about Salesforce.
Connor [0:22:29]: And maybe you don't need to.
Connor [0:22:30]: They're so big.
Connor [0:22:31]: But, okay.
Connor [0:22:31]: Then then a brand video.
Connor [0:22:33]: Then we're trying to associate with Salesforce with something like we talked about earlier?
Connor [0:22:36]: What are we associate doing in salesforce with there?
Connor [0:22:39]: Mister Beast, money, sweep stakes, like, I learned nothing about Salesforce from that campaign, and it just seems like a massive marketing blu spend thing.
Connor [0:22:51]: And, you know, maybe they have so much money that it doesn't matter, but I remember seeing that and being like, I do not understand the goal here.
Connor [0:22:58]: Just gonna let this die off, and I think it has.
Connor [0:23:02]: Like, it has.
Connor [0:23:02]: We've talked about it since it came out.
Dasha [0:23:04]: Well, like, overlay the video or something, so people can can watch and check it out.
Dasha [0:23:07]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:23:08]: Let's talk about script blocks because you've, like, products ties or created a framework from this, and I think it'd be really helpful for marketers to break it down.
Connor [0:23:19]: Yeah.
Connor [0:23:19]: I can go into my process a little bit if you want.
Dasha [0:23:22]: I, yeah.
Dasha [0:23:22]: Let's do it.
Connor [0:23:23]: Okay.
Connor [0:23:23]: Cool.
Connor [0:23:23]: I'll share something on the screen and narrowed it to viewers.
Connor [0:23:27]: You're seeing behind the brains of...
Connor [0:23:30]: Connor Lewis Studio Lewis here.
Connor [0:23:31]: So these are Script locks.
Connor [0:23:33]: This is the thing that I kind of...
Connor [0:23:36]: I don't know if I invented it, but at least I cod it because it's how you get to the the outlines of each scripts.
Connor [0:23:42]: So, like, each...
Connor [0:23:43]: These are scripts.
Connor [0:23:44]: I I know it looks messy.
Connor [0:23:45]: But right now, what you're seeing is, like, a use case that we're basing something around the pain points here, the feature here and the benefit here, and this creates, like, the outline of script like, if I go to this tab over here, you can see that, like, it's the same thing.
Connor [0:24:00]: I'm just laying it out in post note form so that everyone can kinda of talk about it.
Dasha [0:24:04]: And where is that coming from?
Connor [0:24:06]: Where is what coming from?
Dasha [0:24:07]: All of this?
Dasha [0:24:08]: Like the pain, the feature are you sitting down with you're showing click ups example.
Dasha [0:24:12]: Did you get in a room virtual or in person with a click up team and you're just r on what is the pain?
Dasha [0:24:18]: Are you, like, going through their Gong calls?
Dasha [0:24:21]: Like, where do you start with something like this?
Connor [0:24:24]: Gong calls Yes.
Connor [0:24:24]: Also, with smaller companies will hop on with, like, the head of marketing, the CEO and product marketing and maybe like a sales leader.
Dasha [0:24:31]: Mh.
Connor [0:24:32]: And that that's a really good perspective committee, larger companies, it's like demand team, product marketing team sales team.
Connor [0:24:37]: But, like, three people in a room plus me, basically talk about this and nail down the product messaging.
Connor [0:24:43]: And so I'll talk about click up because, again, they're just here.
Connor [0:24:48]: And what we do is, like, okay.
Connor [0:24:50]: Click up has ten million features that you can talk about.
Connor [0:24:52]: Right?
Connor [0:24:53]: There's like, chat.
Connor [0:24:54]: There's calendar.
Connor [0:24:55]: There's time keeping.
Connor [0:24:55]: And honestly, we talked about that being one of the things that we have to address.
Connor [0:24:59]: I always boil it down.
Connor [0:25:01]: I'm like, okay.
Connor [0:25:01]: You...
Connor [0:25:01]: If you're a super product and you can do infinite things.
Connor [0:25:04]: It's not gonna teach anyone anything.
Connor [0:25:05]: You have to show people a use case that they...
Connor [0:25:07]: But make someone wanna download it now.
Connor [0:25:09]: Where it makes them curious enough have to hop on a sales call with you if your sales lead.
Connor [0:25:12]: So I always say limit to Max one feature for thirty seconds.
Connor [0:25:15]: And so I was with the click up team.
Connor [0:25:17]: Was like hey, guys, Where do you wanna start?
Connor [0:25:18]: Like, which features are most important for you to push right now.
Connor [0:25:21]: Click up brain was one of the things that they talked about.
Connor [0:25:23]: Super agents was another thing, and then this idea of convergence.
Connor [0:25:26]: The magic of having all of your tools in one foundation.
Connor [0:25:29]: And so that is where we started.
Connor [0:25:31]: We went into this board and, like, nailed those three down as our focuses is, Now the focuses are different with some of the new projects we're doing, but I'll just keep on this example.
Connor [0:25:40]: And then we backed into...
Connor [0:25:41]: Okay, for click up brain, what kind of pain problems do these solve, like, struggling to keep track of where that message was.
Connor [0:25:47]: You know, you can just ask Click a brain.
Connor [0:25:49]: I'm chasing approvals from all these people.
Connor [0:25:52]: Oh, well, brain can auto approve things based on certain parameters, You know?
Connor [0:25:55]: I'm switching between tabs all the time.
Connor [0:25:57]: Oh, well, what if everything was in one app, you know, convergence.
Connor [0:26:00]: So now you're starting to create all of these different scripts just by creating these blocks.
Connor [0:26:05]: We actually did it with the Exit Five Team m two.
Connor [0:26:08]: And so I'll show you the Exit Five pain points and features.
Connor [0:26:12]: So this works with, like, non software too.
Connor [0:26:15]: I guess you can call Exit Five software, but it's more community.
Dasha [0:26:18]: Totally.
Connor [0:26:18]: And so, like, some of the features we highlighted we're online community.
Connor [0:26:20]: Member match making, Ir events.
Connor [0:26:23]: Just high quality members is like a feature of Exit Five.
Connor [0:26:27]: And so what are some of the pain points that we're talking about there?
Connor [0:26:30]: I want Ir connection.
Connor [0:26:32]: I have a ton of responsibility suddenly, and I need help.
Connor [0:26:35]: And we'll actually, like, write down how customers say it in the blocks too.
Connor [0:26:39]: So, like, we just raised a Series a and I need to double the team holy shit.
Connor [0:26:42]: Classic problem that I had of marketing in my face.
Connor [0:26:44]: So once you do that, you can start to create duct, these kind of, like outlines.
Connor [0:26:50]: And so, like, the classics software, like I talked about is pain future benefit.
Connor [0:26:54]: That's just the starting point.
Connor [0:26:56]: So you bring the posted notes in here.
Connor [0:26:58]: You have the customer language in front of you, and then you can get super creative.
Connor [0:27:01]: Because I think what happens so often with ad agencies, especially is they, like, prioritize creativity above anything.
Connor [0:27:07]: And then we end up with these weird ads, that don't really teach you anything.
Connor [0:27:11]: So if you start with the core, if you start with pain feature benefit, product marketing really, then you can get crazy on top of it.
Connor [0:27:18]: You can you can, you know, have Shy above show up and on a helicopter as long as you're talking about a pain point in the script and showing off a feature and and doing that stuff.
Dasha [0:27:28]: So in a thirty second ad, you've got pain, feature benefit, but then some of them have more colors They get more complex.
Dasha [0:27:34]: So what are you layering on here?
Connor [0:27:37]: You want me to share more secrets I can?
Dasha [0:27:39]: Yeah, please.
Connor [0:27:40]: I love sharing secrets.
Connor [0:27:40]: Okay.
Connor [0:27:41]: So I'll share these versions real quick.
Connor [0:27:43]: So I'll go through a few examples.
Connor [0:27:45]: There's a positioning ad where the pain is all about a competitive alternative.
Connor [0:27:48]: So it's very similar.
Connor [0:27:49]: It's just let you're calling out a competitor pretty directly.
Connor [0:27:51]: Doc dot Go.
Connor [0:27:52]: Does this a lot with Google and privacy.
Connor [0:27:54]: That's probably the most clear example I can think of Benefit focused ads are super common too.
Connor [0:27:59]: You don't always have to show pain if you show the promised land are good.
Connor [0:28:02]: Just remember you show just connect the promised land to the software.
Connor [0:28:06]: That's what I always teach people is like, don't just say increased revenue.
Connor [0:28:10]: You know what I mean?
Connor [0:28:11]: Show how the software gets you to finish a task faster that you can do more of that task so you can increase revenue.
Connor [0:28:19]: You have to work your way to that benefit.
Dasha [0:28:21]: Right.
Dasha [0:28:21]: Connect the dots for someone.
Connor [0:28:22]: Yeah.
Connor [0:28:22]: And Arguably, you probably don't even need to say increase revenue.
Connor [0:28:26]: Like, they will...
Connor [0:28:27]: They'll get that on their own.
Connor [0:28:28]: You should save that screen time for showing what the product actually does.
Connor [0:28:32]: There's a few other brand ad vibes.
Connor [0:28:34]: I could talk about brand ads, but that's probably gonna take a whole episode.
Connor [0:28:37]: And then there's stuff like social proof, there's ways to structure customer ads that are around benefits brands and social proof.
Connor [0:28:44]: When I say a social proof script Rock I'm mostly talking about, like, how much what were the results?
Connor [0:28:49]: What was their experience working with them?
Connor [0:28:51]: It's just like storytelling?
Connor [0:28:52]: And then I've got some some stuff for launch videos too, but again, I think it's gonna take us too much time to get through.
Dasha [0:28:59]: So there's many, like, flavors.
Dasha [0:29:00]: What I'm seeing is there's no, like, one formula.
Dasha [0:29:04]: There's a number of formulas depending on what you're doing, and I assume these map to, like, where you're at in the funnel as well.
Connor [0:29:12]: They do.
Connor [0:29:12]: And it's worth testing each one.
Connor [0:29:15]: So normally, when we do ads with companies, Yes, we're gonna do a classic software ad most likely because those have just been the most successful for us, but we'll try positioning out.
Connor [0:29:25]: Let's get a feel good at in there.
Connor [0:29:26]: You know, let's do a quick overview Ad, and that's more explain and down funnel.
Connor [0:29:30]: And that way, you can actually see what works.
Connor [0:29:33]: And at which point in the funnel they work.
Connor [0:29:35]: Because if you're doing ads right, you're dividing your ad sets by funnel stage, and you're doing a lot of retargeting, and I'll just tell you now testimonials ads.
Connor [0:29:43]: Are really good in the bottom of funnel, really bad at the top of funnel.
Connor [0:29:46]: So just an example of, like, you never know what's going to work at what stage in the funnel.
Connor [0:29:52]: You should test them.
Dasha [0:29:54]: Okay.
Dasha [0:29:54]: For top of funnel, if you...
Dasha [0:29:56]: Let's say you're, like, just starting out your video ad strategy.
Dasha [0:29:59]: For top of funnel, you can't go wrong with blank formula.
Connor [0:30:04]: Okay.
Connor [0:30:04]: I mean, it's probably gonna be the classic software.
Connor [0:30:07]: I'm sorry.
Connor [0:30:08]: I know I talk about this one a lot.
Connor [0:30:09]: If anyone walks away with anything from this podcast, it's to just copy this for.
Dasha [0:30:15]: Pain future benefit baby and until that...
Connor [0:30:17]: I'll do that I'll do the thirty second version, which is paying brand for feature.
Connor [0:30:19]: Okay.
Connor [0:30:20]: If you're truly a new software and your...
Connor [0:30:22]: Done video on that.
Connor [0:30:23]: No one knows you.
Connor [0:30:23]: So really put your brand in there.
Connor [0:30:25]: Like, for the love of God, don't try to be coy about it.
Connor [0:30:28]: Just put your brand in there and then get a ton of different pain points and test the hell out of them.
Connor [0:30:33]: So, like, don't commit to one pain.
Connor [0:30:35]: If I'm a Crm, don't commit to, like, forgetting to reach out to my prospects on a follow up email.
Connor [0:30:41]: That's just one of, like, fifteen thousand pounds that I could try.
Connor [0:30:44]: So one thing we'll do is do hook alternates.
Connor [0:30:46]: So get the same ad with the same actors, but do five or six different takes for the first line because it's basically free on set.
Connor [0:30:55]: You can just like, okay.
Connor [0:30:56]: Take two new line.
Connor [0:30:57]: Take three new line and just get, like, five or six different pain points at least per creative, and then see which pain works and like, this is the formula I would recommend, but that's the strategy I recommend for an early stage company.
Dasha [0:31:10]: I'm cri because I'm thinking of all the ads we've recorded where we had the opportunity to record multiple takes of the intro and just did not do that.
Dasha [0:31:18]: And man, our budget could lot gone so much further.
Dasha [0:31:21]: I'm sure a lot it.
Dasha [0:31:23]: Like, someone is listening to me to to this and saying, oh, same.
Dasha [0:31:26]: And I feel seen.
Dasha [0:31:28]: Hopefully I'm not alone in that.
Connor [0:31:30]: By that invisible person.
Dasha [0:31:31]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:31:31]: That invisible person I'm talking to you.
Dasha [0:31:33]: I hope you're also feeling the pain with me because Dang...
Dasha [0:31:36]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:31:36]: We've done a lot of in house ad recordings, and we've recorded.
Dasha [0:31:41]: I know you're...
Dasha [0:31:42]: One of the...
Dasha [0:31:42]: Your suggestions is to find a shoot day and record multiple ads in one day.
Dasha [0:31:46]: We should talk about that?
Connor [0:31:48]: Yeah.
Connor [0:31:48]: I could talk about.
Dasha [0:31:49]: So that...
Dasha [0:31:49]: Someone's not not making it even worse mistake, which is, like, scheduling someone's full day and then not maximizing that.
Dasha [0:31:55]: How do you get, like, the most out of a shoot day.
Connor [0:31:58]: I'll show you our exact schedule here's a, like, a product launch schedule.
Connor [0:32:01]: Also, I wanna address what you said earlier, I didn't do the hook thing for, like, five years.
Connor [0:32:06]: All, all the entire time I was in house, and then the first year, I started my business.
Connor [0:32:09]: I didn't do that.
Connor [0:32:09]: And then I, like, stumbled on it accidentally.
Connor [0:32:13]: I was like, set, let's just try this because the client was having second opinions about a line.
Connor [0:32:17]: Mh.
Connor [0:32:18]: And then we were right, and we had three different tests out and we're were like, oh, it was the pink we didn't expect.
Connor [0:32:25]: And so I was like, we should just do this on every shoot because you think, you know, your customer, but you don't know what works and ads until test.
Dasha [0:32:32]: Well you yourself.
Dasha [0:32:33]: I had a question about ads that are just animation versus ads that have humans in them?
Dasha [0:32:38]: Yes.
Dasha [0:32:39]: Do you have the data?
Dasha [0:32:40]: Like, is the data showing?
Dasha [0:32:42]: Does it matter?
Dasha [0:32:43]: Do you need a human in the ad for it to perform well?
Connor [0:32:47]: So the answer to that is complicated, but I'll give you, like, a Tl version, which is...
Connor [0:32:52]: Sure.
Connor [0:32:53]: This is what the data shares is.
Connor [0:32:54]: Is that humans will disarm people a little better, like, new people to the brands.
Connor [0:32:59]: So if people never seen your brand before, a skit a human, a Uc influencer, they'll kind of disarm folks a little bit and not have them skeptical at the gate about the ad.
Connor [0:33:09]: And then depending on how the creative does.
Connor [0:33:12]: It'll go from there.
Connor [0:33:13]: The animation based ads are better for folks who already know you, folks who you're calling out a problem very directly in the first line of copy, and it's relatable and so they'll stay.
Connor [0:33:24]: But just understand that if you create a motion graphic space video, It's going to read as an add right right up upfront.
Connor [0:33:31]: And so it's good to just be upfront with it, it's good to put it as a retargeting layer.
Connor [0:33:35]: It's good for launch videos on Linkedin, although sometimes launch videos starting the founder or some product person are a little better.
Connor [0:33:42]: The Tl is if you're going to a cold audience, I would go with human beings, and it doesn't have to be high production.
Connor [0:33:48]: Right?
Connor [0:33:48]: You can just do, like, iphone stuff too.
Connor [0:33:49]: If you're going to warm audience, they kinda just wanna see the product and, like, just tell me what it does.
Connor [0:33:56]: Okay?
Connor [0:33:56]: Cool.
Connor [0:33:57]: I I know your brand already, You'll download this if this solves my problem.
Dasha [0:34:01]: That makes sense.
Dasha [0:34:01]: How do you decide iphone or high production?
Connor [0:34:05]: Start iphone, go towards high production later.
Connor [0:34:07]: Also, that's the basics.
Connor [0:34:09]: The complex is that it's channel dependent.
Connor [0:34:11]: So don't do an iphone video on Youtube pre roll.
Connor [0:34:14]: It's just not gonna work.
Connor [0:34:15]: Youtube creators are so good these days, like they're the quality of their videos is, like, you're watching Tv.
Connor [0:34:21]: And so the the the ads should match that quality.
Dasha [0:34:24]: Right.
Connor [0:34:24]: Same on Ct tv.
Connor [0:34:25]: But if you're on meta, like, what do you see when you scroll meta?
Connor [0:34:28]: You see mostly people, like, smaller creators using iphones even big creators using iphones.
Connor [0:34:34]: And it's vertical first, and so your ads should look like that too.
Connor [0:34:37]: When in doubt, be feed native, that's what I always say.
Connor [0:34:40]: So if you're advertising on Meta, what meta videos look like.
Connor [0:34:45]: If you're advertising on Youtube, what do Youtube videos look like?
Connor [0:34:47]: And go
Dasha [0:34:47]: from my.
Dasha [0:34:48]: I like that.
Dasha [0:34:48]: Alright.
Dasha [0:34:49]: Let's get into your schedule.
Connor [0:34:51]: Here it is.
Connor [0:34:51]: Ernie.
Connor [0:34:52]: Tada it's a work in progress.
Dasha [0:34:56]: Oh, holy heck.
Dasha [0:34:56]: This is intense.
Connor [0:34:58]: Yeah.
Connor [0:34:58]: I know it's a lot.
Connor [0:34:59]: For those listening, I'm showing, like, this very pink graphic that I think I'm gonna turn into a white graphic.
Connor [0:35:04]: So it's not so loud.
Connor [0:35:05]: But, essentially, I wanted to showcase how we structure a product launch because that maybe the most common Saas event that would spark a video is like, oh, we're launching products.
Connor [0:35:15]: Let's Let's make a video for it.
Dasha [0:35:18]: Mh.
Connor [0:35:18]: Classic.
Connor [0:35:18]: And so I wanna challenge you or anyone who's listening on this and say, do you just have to film a launch video on that day or could you pull off more?
Connor [0:35:28]: If you're booking executive time, if you're booking a crew, if you are, you know, spending all those money, get more stuff.
Connor [0:35:35]: Crews are hired for either ten or twelve hour days, I'm gonna show a twelve hour day, just based on that.
Connor [0:35:41]: Trying to fit more in.
Connor [0:35:43]: But you could just cut two of these ads and still do a ten hour day.
Connor [0:35:46]: But essentially, like, this is the role of everyone at the bottom here.
Connor [0:35:49]: So the director, camera department set design, executive talent and actors And then this is what they're doing throughout the day.
Connor [0:35:56]: So seven Am, everyone's just getting ready, eight Am, the directors put it...
Connor [0:36:00]: Giving notes on performance and blocking to the executive for the launch video while they learn lines, camera departments doing adjustments, and then we're shooting the launch video for the first three hours.
Connor [0:36:10]: And if you've made the launch video complex enough that it takes more than three hours.
Connor [0:36:14]: You probably don't need to.
Connor [0:36:16]: Most likely, depends on your idea, you can go bag and do, like, a launch for you that takes a whole data film.
Connor [0:36:21]: But what if you just time blocked yourself to the morning right before launch, ate lunch and then started to get people working on an explain her for your new product.
Connor [0:36:29]: You know, and a launch video should look very different than an explain.
Connor [0:36:32]: Explain can just be a talking head straight to camera here's how the product works, boom go into motion graphics.
Connor [0:36:37]: It's very straightforward it goes on the website, and it's really good down funnel because people just wanna learn what it is.
Connor [0:36:42]: Very good for champion education too.
Connor [0:36:44]: And then wow.
Connor [0:36:45]: You're already on set.
Connor [0:36:46]: What if we chose another corner of the room to shoot a few direct to camera ads.
Connor [0:36:50]: I know I only blocked out an hour for each of these ads to be clear, I'm not suggesting like skit or anything that requires a lot of shots, I'm just recommending direct to camera ads, like, the ads that you see on Instagram it's like, starts out.
Connor [0:37:05]: Are you ahead of marketing that's too stretch too thin to even eat lunch?
Connor [0:37:10]: While do I have a product for you?
Connor [0:37:12]: Those kinds of ads still really work?
Connor [0:37:14]: Are they gonna be as good as these skip based super creative ads?
Connor [0:37:17]: No.
Connor [0:37:17]: But you're just testing stuff here.
Connor [0:37:20]: And so if you put five direct camera ads with different copy into the same ad and test them against each other, you'll learn something that you otherwise wouldn't have learned from this day if you just did the launch video.
Connor [0:37:30]: So I'll share the schedule with you if or anyone who wants, but, yeah, This is a typical twelve hour shoot day for our product launches and how we try to handle them and try to get the most out a single day.
Dasha [0:37:42]: This is great.
Dasha [0:37:43]: And you walk away with six, seven creative.
Connor [0:37:47]: Six ads, one explain and one launch for you.
Dasha [0:37:51]: Got it.
Dasha [0:37:51]: Yep.
Dasha [0:37:51]: And you recently did.
Dasha [0:37:53]: I think I was seeing on on Linkedin.
Dasha [0:37:55]: You did a shoot day where you were, like, broke your own record for how much creative you got What was that number?
Connor [0:38:01]: What was that number?
Connor [0:38:02]: It wasn't scribe.
Connor [0:38:03]: We got fifty six ads in a day?
Connor [0:38:05]: I'm pretty sure because we
Dasha [0:38:07]: got stop.
Dasha [0:38:07]: Okay.
Dasha [0:38:08]: So someone listening thinking, I can't get this number?
Connor [0:38:11]: Yeah.
Connor [0:38:11]: How does that even work?
Connor [0:38:12]: Right.
Connor [0:38:12]: Well, let me be clear.
Connor [0:38:13]: That is six unique creative in one day.
Connor [0:38:17]: Mh.
Connor [0:38:18]: Split into fifty six ads through those hook alternates that we're talking about and those time alternates.
Connor [0:38:22]: So when I'm writing scripts, I'm writing a thirty second version a fifteen second version in a six second version just by default.
Dasha [0:38:30]: Six seconds?
Connor [0:38:31]: Yeah.
Connor [0:38:31]: Yeah.
Connor [0:38:31]: Six seconds.
Connor [0:38:32]: For Youtube pre roll.
Dasha [0:38:33]: Wait.
Dasha [0:38:33]: Say more.
Dasha [0:38:34]: For...
Dasha [0:38:34]: Oh, for...
Dasha [0:38:35]: Great, like, right before Youtube video rules, the little, like, tiny ad that you see.
Dasha [0:38:39]: Got it.
Connor [0:38:41]: Yeah.
Connor [0:38:41]: It's almost like a video grab.
Connor [0:38:42]: Like, there's six second ones you you can barely get seven words in, and so you're like...
Dasha [0:38:47]: Yeah.
Connor [0:38:47]: You're just...
Connor [0:38:47]: It's a vibe more than anything.
Connor [0:38:49]: Or a key message of the campaign.
Connor [0:38:51]: Right.
Connor [0:38:51]: But anyway, so you can turn each unique creative into nine different ads by doing three hooks of thirty, three hooks of fifteen and three hooks of six.
Connor [0:39:02]: So three three three, nine, all rolling up into this one, like, hero script is what I would call it.
Connor [0:39:08]: And that way you turn each chad into all these little test ads.
Connor [0:39:11]: And that have these minor variables tweaked, and you can learn from that.
Connor [0:39:15]: I love it.
Connor [0:39:16]: I've said the word learn a lot today, but it's because, like, ads are...
Connor [0:39:19]: The best testing ground ever because you're literally spending money to get them impressions.
Connor [0:39:23]: So, like...
Dasha [0:39:24]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:39:24]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:39:25]: A hundred percent.
Dasha [0:39:25]: Like, you're you're paying to learn, you get information.
Dasha [0:39:28]: It's never for nothing.
Dasha [0:39:29]: Even if the ad doesn't work, you've paid to learn that it doesn't work.
Dasha [0:39:33]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:39:33]: Which is a positive for a marketer.
Dasha [0:39:35]: That's how I rationalize things that don't work.
Dasha [0:39:37]: We learned that it didn't work.
Dasha [0:39:38]: And that's better than not learning didn't work.
Dasha [0:39:40]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:39:40]: Okay.
Dasha [0:39:41]: What you just described the three three three, that same thing exists for packing, and it's called the su method.
Connor [0:39:47]: What?
Connor [0:39:47]: Tell me more?
Dasha [0:39:48]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:39:48]: If usually look it up.
Dasha [0:39:49]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:39:50]: If you're ever going on a trip, and you want more outfits.
Dasha [0:39:52]: You can do this Su method, we'll link it in the show notes.
Dasha [0:39:55]: It's unrelated to B2B Saas, but, like...
Connor [0:39:57]: Oh, so like you paired the same pants with, like, three different
Dasha [0:40:00]: pieces That's exactly right.
Dasha [0:40:01]: Yes and you get all these variations of outfits.
Dasha [0:40:03]: And what you've described is just the Su method but for ads.
Connor [0:40:07]: But for ads.
Connor [0:40:07]: Yes.
Connor [0:40:08]: Oh, my god.
Connor [0:40:09]: Can I use that?
Connor [0:40:10]: That's...
Connor [0:40:11]: Of course.
Connor [0:40:11]: Yes.
Dasha [0:40:12]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:40:12]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:40:12]: Literally, you just described this to Yoga method.
Connor [0:40:14]: I hope you do a packing podcast personally.
Connor [0:40:16]: So I can learn from because I panicked.
Dasha [0:40:18]: It would be six seconds.
Connor [0:40:20]: I'm going to drive next week.
Connor [0:40:21]: Dasha.
Connor [0:40:21]: And I'm panicked about what to wear.
Connor [0:40:23]: So this would help.
Dasha [0:40:24]: Okay.
Dasha [0:40:24]: Maybe.
Dasha [0:40:25]: I'll do a linkedin post about it.
Connor [0:40:26]: Beautiful.
Dasha [0:40:27]: This Method for Drive.
Connor [0:40:28]: Oh my god.
Connor [0:40:29]: Please.
Connor [0:40:30]: Yeah.
Connor [0:40:30]: I'll repo it.
Connor [0:40:31]: I don't know care.
Dasha [0:40:32]: Okay.
Dasha [0:40:32]: Deal.
Dasha [0:40:32]: I'll send it to you What sounds like he need some help.
Connor [0:40:36]: Yeah.
Connor [0:40:36]: I think I do.
Dasha [0:40:37]: Okay.
Dasha [0:40:37]: Motion graphics.
Dasha [0:40:38]: We kinda talked about them?
Dasha [0:40:40]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:40:40]: How are you dealing with motion graphics.
Dasha [0:40:42]: Specifically, I'm curious.
Dasha [0:40:44]: So claude design does motion graphics to some extent.
Dasha [0:40:48]: Are you yay?
Dasha [0:40:49]: Are you nay?
Dasha [0:40:50]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:40:51]: In general, what is your your vibe when it comes to motion graphics?
Dasha [0:40:54]: And what's your read on using Ai for motion graphics?
Connor [0:40:58]: Yeah.
Connor [0:40:58]: So much my read on using the eye for video in general.
Dasha [0:41:01]: Okay.
Dasha [0:41:01]: Well, then let's take it there.
Connor [0:41:03]: I'll answer the first question which is how is Claude design for motion graphics.
Connor [0:41:06]: Right now, it's kind of junior motion graphics level?
Connor [0:41:09]: I would say, it can get a really good v one.
Connor [0:41:11]: It's great for story boarding, which I'll talk about in a sec.
Connor [0:41:14]: But don't think it has the level of polish or care that I motion graphics videos to deserve.
Connor [0:41:18]: That said, you can always afford that polish your care.
Connor [0:41:21]: So.
Connor [0:41:21]: Yeah.
Connor [0:41:22]: I know that's a nuance answer, but, I would hesitate to publish anything directly from Claude design.
Connor [0:41:27]: That said, I think it's a really good like, tool to get everyone on the same page about what the creative is about, which is exactly what we do with ads by the way.
Connor [0:41:34]: So we don't make Ai ad creative.
Connor [0:41:36]: I don't really believe Ai ad creative right now.
Connor [0:41:39]: I think it's uncanny.
Connor [0:41:40]: I think it's a little dis discontinuous too, especially, like, Ai U?
Connor [0:41:45]: That is so weird.
Connor [0:41:46]: Man, why are you getting these, like, fake influencers to talk about your product and call them real wednesdays?
Dasha [0:41:51]: So weird.
Dasha [0:41:51]: Yeah.
Connor [0:41:52]: And so if that's the first time people see It's an Ai ad, What impression do you think they have of your brands?
Connor [0:41:56]: Like, it's dis trust at its core.
Connor [0:41:59]: And we've seen that based on Linkedin, released this like feature that says this looks like Ai slot.
Connor [0:42:05]: You can flag things as looking like Ai sla.
Connor [0:42:07]: And that's just like an example of this overall consumer...
Connor [0:42:10]: Like, sentiment towards Ai video.
Connor [0:42:12]: And Ai content in general that's, like, pretty negative.
Connor [0:42:15]: So if you're going to make Ai video ads straight up the gates, like, to post, you better be damn sure that it looks that you're either, like, straightforward with it, meaning mean, I've seen, like, watermark marks at the bottom being like this is an Ai ad or it's done so well that you can't tell.
Connor [0:42:31]: But all that said, Ai has a really, really important, like, role in the process right now for us, which is visual story boarding.
Connor [0:42:39]: So when we're pitching concepts, we...
Connor [0:42:42]: It looks like this.
Connor [0:42:43]: These these are not actually filmed.
Connor [0:42:45]: These is this is created with V three.
Connor [0:42:47]: But we want everyone in the room to understand the visuals and, like, the story beats that we're talking about.
Connor [0:42:54]: And so and the camera movements even that we're talking about.
Connor [0:42:58]: That's not always easy to describe to people who don't, like, know video too well.
Connor [0:43:02]: And so what I'm showing on screen right now for those listening is, there's a script on the left that's, like a basic script that we do for approval.
Connor [0:43:10]: So we, like, do a script v one.
Connor [0:43:11]: That's more of an outline.
Connor [0:43:13]: And then on the right, it's, like, a few Ai frames that we've exported that kind of capture the vibe of the video or the most important moments.
Connor [0:43:19]: And that's really important.
Connor [0:43:21]: So I would think of Ai as, like, this tool for getting everyone on the same page doing a lot of the busy work like, contracts with editors and stuff like that.
Connor [0:43:29]: But please for the love of god, not yet at least don't go straight to the feed with Ai video.
Connor [0:43:35]: It's too big of a risk, and I don't see that changing in the next few years.
Connor [0:43:39]: I think also, we as consumers are getting smarter identifying Ai contents.
Connor [0:43:44]: And so, yeah.
Connor [0:43:46]: It just keep watching that, like, the consumer landscape change and the sentiment on Ai video change because this might be out of date in the year, but that's where At right now.
Dasha [0:43:55]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:43:55]: No.
Dasha [0:43:55]: That makes sense.
Dasha [0:43:55]: What's your suggestion to someone who reports into a CEO or CMO who sees your request for budget for a production with real actors?
Dasha [0:44:05]: And it's like, you know what Dasha are like, I feel like we could do this much cheaper with Ai?
Dasha [0:44:10]: What's the talk track?
Dasha [0:44:13]: That's a classic.
Dasha [0:44:14]: Classic.
Connor [0:44:15]: I think everyone gets asked that.
Connor [0:44:16]: Just show them an example of an ai video gone wrong and the...
Connor [0:44:19]: How people reacted to it.
Connor [0:44:20]: You can show them the Coke commercial.
Connor [0:44:21]: The Christmas coke commercials or the
Dasha [0:44:24]: most the Coke commercial.
Connor [0:44:26]: Yeah.
Connor [0:44:26]: Most importantly, the comments.
Connor [0:44:27]: Because I think, like, founders ask this a lot.
Connor [0:44:31]: They're like, no not I just make it with Ai.
Connor [0:44:32]: They don't want their products looking, like, crap out in market.
Connor [0:44:35]: They're spending money to pump this crap out, you know?
Connor [0:44:40]: Like, let's not make it crap.
Connor [0:44:41]: Let's make it really good.
Connor [0:44:42]: And so I think your argument needs to be around.
Connor [0:44:44]: Let's amplify something that makes our brand and software proud versus any money on something that we just kinda called in.
Connor [0:44:51]: And hopefully they understand.
Connor [0:44:52]: If they don't, you have a bigger problem, that's, I can't quite help with.
Dasha [0:44:58]: But it...
Dasha [0:44:58]: You might able to help someone get budget approval.
Dasha [0:45:00]: So when you were on the other side of this working for a Saas company said you would have to fight for for budget to get some ads created?
Dasha [0:45:08]: Yep.
Dasha [0:45:09]: What have you seen you work with a lot of clients?
Dasha [0:45:11]: What have you seen really work when someone maybe has to fight a little extra hard for budget for a video ad.
Connor [0:45:17]: Yeah.
Connor [0:45:17]: We still do this a lot.
Connor [0:45:19]: Like, because most people wanna make videos like, So one of the things I got into marketing for, but it's hard to fight for that line item.
Connor [0:45:25]: The first thing I recommend is to fight for the problem not for video.
Connor [0:45:30]: So, like, nobody funds, we should do video.
Connor [0:45:33]: They fund, like, we lose deals at stage three because prospects can't explain what we do to their boss or we lose deals with cybersecurity companies because they don't think that we work well with their industry.
Connor [0:45:47]: And so, well, we should make customer story showing that we work well with industry, or we should make an explain a video that shows exactly what we do in thirty seconds so that someone can share it upwards and get approval.
Connor [0:45:56]: These are problems that are business problems as opposed to, like, a want is just, like, I want video.
Connor [0:46:02]: Yeah.
Connor [0:46:03]: We all want something.
Connor [0:46:04]: So frame it is a problem.
Connor [0:46:06]: That's like, my first suggestion.
Connor [0:46:08]: I have two others, which I can talk about really quick.
Dasha [0:46:11]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:46:11]: Go for it.
Dasha [0:46:12]: And then I'm curious to get your take on, like, what is the production budget someone should be asking for?
Dasha [0:46:17]: Like, what is reasonable?
Dasha [0:46:18]: Maybe at every stage of your journey.
Dasha [0:46:20]: Like, I'm experimenting to...
Dasha [0:46:22]: I have an ad that's really working and might wanna take it up a notch.
Dasha [0:46:25]: Let's talk numbers.
Connor [0:46:27]: Love numbers.
Connor [0:46:28]: I even have, like, a I have a visual for this too.
Connor [0:46:31]: I have so many visuals.
Dasha [0:46:32]: You have so many visuals.
Connor [0:46:33]: I'll I'll share two other strategies that have worked really well for us with asking for budget, and then Get to the numbers.
Connor [0:46:38]: The first one is cost per asset, not cost per shoot.
Connor [0:46:41]: So frame it as we are getting, you know, twenty two videos for forty thousand dollars, which you could frame it as, like, it's two thousand dollars video, which is a lot better deal than being, like, you know, this forty thousand dollar video shoot that, like, sends warning flags don't be shady about it, obviously, be upfront, but emphasize the fact that we're gonna get a lot out of this and not just for one lightning strike to use a marketing term.
Connor [0:47:06]: And then shelf life.
Connor [0:47:07]: So most media spend evaporates the day that the campaign ends.
Connor [0:47:11]: Right?
Connor [0:47:11]: But a brand film or, you know, an explain sits on the homepage in sales tax and onboarding for even employees.
Connor [0:47:19]: And even on booth, like, event booth screens for years.
Connor [0:47:22]: So try to stretch how this video will be used and tag in your local executive producer on strategies to do that because it's my whole job to figure out how to fit the video into as many places as possible.
Connor [0:47:34]: Any agency you work with will want to help you sell this across the line.
Connor [0:47:38]: It's their job.
Connor [0:47:39]: And so if they're good to what they do, they'll help you come up with strategies on how to maximize a video because the last thing anyone wants is to, like, spend hundred grand on a single video that just dies on the feed.
Connor [0:47:50]: That's like everyone's fear.
Connor [0:47:51]: I'm pretty sure.
Connor [0:47:51]: So...
Dasha [0:47:52]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:47:52]: That gaming me chills.
Connor [0:47:54]: And then budget.
Connor [0:47:55]: Let's talk about budget.
Connor [0:47:56]: I'll show you really quick.
Connor [0:47:57]: So I think it's good to contextualize this in the crew anatomy.
Connor [0:48:00]: So I'm a producer at my core, so I think about cruise all the time and what talent is needed for what video.
Connor [0:48:06]: But it looks like this.
Connor [0:48:07]: Excuse the Fig board.
Connor [0:48:08]: I'm designing these for Linkedin.
Connor [0:48:10]: This one's not as pink.
Connor [0:48:11]: So it's nicer to look at.
Connor [0:48:12]: But essentially, what you're looking at is, like, three of the core videos that we make at Studio Lewis.
Connor [0:48:18]: It's video ads, customer stories and product launch videos, and it's the crew that we staff for each thing along with the cost of each crew member what their job is and what the total cost range should be for these things.
Connor [0:48:29]: This is based off of doing this for a long time and trying to be very reasonable about cost it's like our goal as an agency is to make good video production affordable.
Connor [0:48:38]: And so you'll see here that, like, we wanna pay people while.
Connor [0:48:42]: Like, we're paying a Dp, you know, two thousand dollars a day for a commercial production, but they're putting a lot of prep hours into it.
Connor [0:48:47]: They have to do a lot of work on the day.
Connor [0:48:49]: So Let's make sure to pay our accrual.
Connor [0:48:51]: But for to answer your question, customer story on average cost between ten and fifteen thousand dollars.
Connor [0:48:56]: I think if you're getting lower than that, you should just double check the quality, Maybe you are getting something great for a great deal.
Connor [0:49:02]: And that's awesome.
Connor [0:49:03]: You should stick with that vendor.
Connor [0:49:04]: Or if it's too much more than that, then, are they making this customer story needlessly complex?
Connor [0:49:09]: Like, wasting efficiency?
Connor [0:49:11]: Product launch somewhere between fifteen and twenty five k.
Connor [0:49:14]: Video ads are the biggest range, and I apologize.
Connor [0:49:16]: I know everyone on like, really specific numbers video ads.
Connor [0:49:19]: The problem is it just depends so heavily on the creative.
Connor [0:49:21]: Like, we can be at a freaking mas grade with seventy actors, and that's gonna cost a lot different than, like, three people doing a skin at a conference table.
Connor [0:49:29]: So generally, thirty five k to eighty days where we, quote, and that's where we're trying to get, like, fifty ads usually ish, like plus or minus fifteen.
Connor [0:49:40]: So somewhere in the range of, like, thirty five to seventy ads, it's like our goal and every shoot.
Connor [0:49:44]: And usually it's a one or two day shoot.
Connor [0:49:47]: So it depends.
Connor [0:49:47]: But This is a starting point.
Connor [0:49:50]: You can run your agencies by this.
Connor [0:49:51]: I'll share this as well.
Connor [0:49:52]: And you can kind of understand, like where the money goes.
Connor [0:49:55]: I think that's the most important thing.
Connor [0:49:56]: Is, sometimes it feels like a black box.
Connor [0:49:58]: Like, you're just depositing in forty thousand dollars into this little agency and where does the money?
Connor [0:50:02]: I don't know.
Connor [0:50:03]: Well, yours where the money goes, and you can check to make sure that all these things are on your set because I really do think that they're necessary for each of these videos.
Dasha [0:50:11]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:50:11]: This is great.
Dasha [0:50:11]: Thank you for d this.
Dasha [0:50:13]: I'm sure people listening are are wondering what ballpark is reasonable.
Dasha [0:50:17]: So this is great.
Connor [0:50:18]: Yeah.
Connor [0:50:18]: We were super transparent about pricing.
Connor [0:50:20]: So I
Dasha [0:50:21]: love it.
Dasha [0:50:22]: I love that you didn't gate this.
Dasha [0:50:23]: You didn't ask me for your email.
Dasha [0:50:24]: You just said let me...
Connor [0:50:25]: Yeah.
Connor [0:50:25]: We have a pricing page with numbers on it.
Connor [0:50:27]: Can you imagine as a service agency.
Dasha [0:50:29]: That's wild.
Dasha [0:50:29]: But I'm sure it also saves you time.
Dasha [0:50:31]: That's the thing like, you're not getting people that are not qualified or can't afford you, which is like, time saving for you.
Dasha [0:50:37]: You don't just screen people out.
Dasha [0:50:39]: Makes a ton of sense.
Dasha [0:50:40]: Okay.
Dasha [0:50:41]: Connor.
Dasha [0:50:41]: Before we exit, five questions for you, rapid fire.
Connor [0:50:45]: I'm ready.
Dasha [0:50:46]: You work with your now wife when I met you.
Dasha [0:50:49]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:50:49]: It was girlfriend.
Dasha [0:50:50]: What is something that you learned working with your spouse.
Connor [0:50:54]: Create a deliberate separation between work and home.
Connor [0:50:56]: Otherwise, your conversations will bleed together all the time.
Dasha [0:50:59]: Love it.
Dasha [0:50:59]: Who is your marketing mentor slash inspiration they don't need to know their your mentor.
Connor [0:51:04]: Oh, this is so cheesy, but I love Christina lee.
Connor [0:51:07]: I think she just has her heart and marketing and social and understands people in a really unique way, so I looked to her content all the time.
Dasha [0:51:15]: Love it.
Dasha [0:51:15]: Companies crushing it with their ads right now.
Connor [0:51:20]: Humble brag.
Connor [0:51:20]: Click up is crushing it with their ads.
Connor [0:51:22]: Check them out on Youtube outside of our clients.
Connor [0:51:24]: Look at ramp.
Connor [0:51:26]: Ramp is doing some really, really cool ads right now.
Connor [0:51:28]: And they're creating these huge integrated video campaigns that hit social ads everything.
Connor [0:51:32]: So look at ramp.
Dasha [0:51:33]: Ramp is great and sp across the board.
Dasha [0:51:34]: Not even just ads their careers page.
Dasha [0:51:37]: A My god.
Dasha [0:51:38]: So good.
Dasha [0:51:39]: Wow.
Dasha [0:51:40]: So good.
Dasha [0:51:40]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:51:40]: I love Ram.
Dasha [0:51:41]: I love following what they're doing.
Dasha [0:51:42]: Something that you wish you could go back and tell Younger Connor who is still working in B2B Saas making ads.
Connor [0:51:49]: Oh, you can do it.
Connor [0:51:51]: Because I was thinking about going out of my own for, like, a year or two, and it sucked the first year.
Connor [0:51:56]: I'll be honest, but have confidence in yourself, and the deals will come.
Connor [0:52:00]: The money will come.
Connor [0:52:01]: Chase your dream.
Dasha [0:52:02]: I love that.
Dasha [0:52:03]: Okay.
Dasha [0:52:04]: Something that you're still figuring out.
Connor [0:52:06]: How to manage my stress.
Connor [0:52:07]: I'm working on that.
Connor [0:52:09]: I'm transparent about this most people I have anxiety, and sometimes that try...
Connor [0:52:13]: It's hard as an entrepreneur to manage.
Connor [0:52:15]: And so I'm trying very mindful to log off at five Pm trying very mindful to not over work myself, and that is this year's goal that has not been my goal the past three years, and it's...
Connor [0:52:26]: I've burnt out a few times because of it.
Dasha [0:52:28]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:52:28]: Got a mix and some grass touching?
Dasha [0:52:30]: I hear you.
Connor [0:52:31]: For real.
Dasha [0:52:31]: Okay.
Dasha [0:52:31]: Your are a content creator?
Dasha [0:52:33]: Where should people find you if they wanna see some of the content that you're creating and putting out.
Connor [0:52:39]: Find me on Linkedin.
Connor [0:52:39]: I make videos, infographics, freaking breakdowns, text posts, photos.
Connor [0:52:44]: I'd talk about all things B2B Saas video production.
Connor [0:52:48]: Mostly around ads, but sometimes I talk about customer stories and product launches too.
Connor [0:52:52]: Yeah.
Connor [0:52:53]: Give me a follow.
Connor [0:52:54]: Shoot me dm, say, hi.
Dasha [0:52:55]: Say hi.
Dasha [0:52:55]: Alright, Connor, This was great.
Dasha [0:52:57]: Thank you so much for coming on the show.
Dasha [0:52:59]: I will see you.
Dasha [0:52:59]: In a few weeks, I Drive pumped to see you again?
Dasha [0:53:02]: Yeah.
Dasha [0:53:02]: And yeah, Thanks for coming on the show.
Dasha [0:53:04]: This is awesome.
Connor [0:53:05]: My pleasure.
Connor [0:53:05]: Thank you for having me.
Dave [0:53:10]: Hey.
Dave [0:53:10]: Thanks for listening to this podcast.
Dave [0:53:11]: If you like this episode.
Dave [0:53:13]: Do you know what?
Dave [0:53:13]: I'm not even gonna ask you to subscribe and leave a review because I don't really care about that.
Dave [0:53:18]: Have something better for you.
Dave [0:53:19]: So we've built the number one private community for B2B marketers at Exit Five, and you can go and check that out instead of leaving a rating a review.
Dave [0:53:27]: Go check it out right now on our web website, exitfive.com.
Dave [0:53:30]: Our mission at Exit Five is to help you grow your career in B2B marketing, and there's no better place to do that than with us at Exit Five.
Dave [0:53:38]: There's nearly five thousand members now in our community, people are in their posting every day asking questions about things like marketing planning, ideas, inspiration, asking questions and getting feedback from your peers, building your own network of marketers who are doing the same thing you are so can have a peer group, or maybe just venting about your boss when you need to get in there and get something off your chest.
Dave [0:53:59]: It's a hundred percent free to join for seven days so you can go and check it out risk free, and then there's a small annual fee to pay if you wanna become a member for the year.
Dave [0:54:07]: Go check it out, learn more, exitfive.com, and I will see you over there in the community.