6 second ads:

1. Will Be on YouTube, Facebook, streaming TV & more

   All of the major advertising platforms relevant to small business users, including YouTube and Facebook, have introduced a 6 second ad format. Major brands have been the first to adopt these micro-ads, including Michelin and Monday Night Football, and experts predict that by 2018, they’ll be available for everyone.

2. Are being called the most important ad format

   The widespread emphasis on 6 second ads matters because customer expectations are shaped by what they see major brands doing. When the McDonalds and Nikes of the world use 6 second ads to connect with customers, it is inevitable that before long, the Hometown Hamburger and Community Shoe Shop will need to do the same.

3. Are designed to appeal to a younger audience

   Brands that are chasing a younger demographic have the most to gain from the shift to six-second ads. Millennials and Gen Z are characterized with shorter attention spans; both groups are extremely reluctant to commit their time to paying attention to anything unless they’re sure of the pay off. Taken together, Millennials and Gen Z represent 45% of the buying public, so catering to their preferences makes sense.

   [Tweet “Millennials and Gen Z represent 45% of the buying public”]

4. Resemble Vines, GIFs, and other short form content

   15 and 30 second ads – and even longer video content – isn’t going to go away. 6 second ads are being presented primarily as bumper ads – to be shown before or after a desired piece of content, or even bracketing other, longer ads. Their rapid format evokes types of content particularly enjoyed by younger consumers, including Vines – the gone but not forgotten 6 second videos designed to be watched on infinite loop – and animated GIFs.

5. Will work best when repeated frequently

   Six seconds goes by so quickly that it’s entirely plausible that a viewer will need to see your ad several times before they fully get the gist of it. This fact dovetails nicely with Millennial & Gen Z’s media consumption patterns: ads that are shown repeatedly during a binge-watching session will help cement your brand identity in the viewer’s mind.

6. Make introducing yourself to new customers easier

   Google’s research on bumper ads found that nine out of 10 of them drove ad recall, while 61% lifted brand awareness. Customers who are resistant to watching longer ads for brands they don’t already know and appreciate are more open to paying attention when an ad is only 6 seconds long. Once that familiarity has been established, customers who meet you through 6 second introductions can learn more about you from the other types of content you make available. A smart content strategy will include techniques for capitalizing on the awareness created via 6 second spots to strengthen customer relationships and drive sales.