Libraries/Social Media Ad Techniques/Formats

    Lo-fi UGC (talking head)

    One person, one phone, talking straight to camera. The native default of social.

    VideoCost: low

    The most reliable format on the platform because it doesn't look like an ad. A real-seeming person talks to the lens like they're texting a friend. Production value is the enemy here - the rougher it looks, the more it earns the benefit of the doubt and the longer it survives in feed.

    Why it works

    It does not look like an ad, so it slips past the scroll-past reflex. A real-seeming person talking to camera reads as a recommendation from a friend, and the lo-fi look signals authenticity - the very thing polished production destroys.

    Format Examples

    How this format plays out across different products and segments.

    Supplements

    Creator at their desk: "Nobody tells you the 3pm crash is dehydration" - then stirs the product into a glass.

    SaaS

    Founder to camera explaining the one workflow the tool fixes, no slides.

    Beauty

    Bathroom-mirror talking head walking through the morning routine with the product.

    How to build it

    1

    Open on the hook

    First 3 seconds, straight to camera, no intro. State the problem or claim before anything else.

    2

    Talk it through

    One person, one continuous-feeling take, plain phone footage. Keep the energy and pace up.

    3

    Land the CTA

    End on a clear, casual next step - not a hard sell.

    Example executions

    Creator films a 20-second piece to camera about the problem and the fix.

    Founder explains the why while holding the product, no script visible.

    Customer recounts the before-and-after as if telling a friend.

    Carries these angles well

    Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS)Founder Story / OriginObjection HandlerMyth-Buster / Contrarian

    Reach for it when

    Almost any angle, any awareness stage, on a tiny budget. The first format to test for a new product.

    Skip it when

    Products that need to be seen working rather than described, and luxury positioning where polish is the point.

    Common mistake

    Over-producing it. The moment it looks like a polished commercial, it loses the native trust that made the format work.

    Combine it into an ad

    A format is the container. In the Hi5 Framework it wraps an angle and opens with a hook to become a finished concept.

    The Hi5 FrameworkBrowse angles