It happened again; the social ads have evolved and changed. B-Roll ads are the trend. The best part is, they’re shared freely as a token of social currency, empowering social media marketers.

What’s a B-Roll Ad and why should I care? I’m glad you asked.

A B-Roll ad is an ad that never fixes on a human subject. Instead the ad is comprised of clips that you would normally see used as supplemental footage in traditional ads. You’ve seen them, I promise. Your Facebook feed is flooded with them as they gain more momentum. Here’s an example if you need your memory jogged, as an outdoorsy person this is my personal favorite, the Wind Turbine Smartphone Generator.

Wind Generator with 6.6 Million Views

What makes a B-Roll Ad?

◉Seemingly Novel Consumer Item

◉ Interactive Shots

◉ Made for Silent Viewing

◉ Contextualizing Text

More examples Here, here, and here.

Breaking Down The B-Roll Ad

Seemingly Novel Consumer Item

First, you need a way to make an item seem novel. Wind generators have been around for ages but only recently has anyone thought of making a small one with a USB port installed. Clean energy plus a smartphone makes nomophobic millennials and Gen-Zers happy to consume to content.

Interactive Shots

With the exception of .gif-vertisements, this is the first real shift away from narrative marketing on social. Instead of a story, we see wide and panning “authentic” shots of the wind generator in use. These shots sell the product as something anyone can use.

Made For Silent Viewing

Millennials and Gen-Z are consuming Facebook and Snapchat content silently. Silent consumption is popular for two reasons. First, millennials consume content publicly, and they don’t want others to tune into what they’re watching. Second, content is consumed primarily on mobile while listening to music or podcasts.

Contextualizing Text

Silent consumption means text is a must. It shares what the product is, what it’s capable of, and why you want it. It’s important to note that the text is never static. It moves in and out of frame, with colored backgrounds to increase viability. The text block needs to be readable in less than a second, and these ads run short. Brevity is the name of the game in B-Roll advertising.

How do We Know They Work?

Because B-Roll Ads are viral hits. They spread like wildfire, 6.6 million views on a wind generator video is huge. If just half a percent of those 6.6 million viewers buy a mobile phone charging wind generator that turns into 33 thousand sales.

They’re also cheap to make, anybody with a half decent camera, a fun product, and iMovie can make on of these ads in less than a day. Which means, if you have something you’re trying to sell, jump on this trend while it’s still riding high. Lately, causes have been jumping on board, using them to bring awareness to social issues and drive fundraising.

The best part is, these ads are portable. You could conceivably use this ad on Facebook and Instagram as sponsored posts without disrespecting the platforms. Additionally, it could be used on Youtube as a preroll ad via ad sense.

How Long Will We See B-Roll Ads?

Considering how many are flooding newsfeed, I would bet not that long. Here’s why: Facebook keeps it’s users engaged with new trends, and social trends move in real time. If users start to turn away from the newsfeed, they block or punish trends with their algorithm. (We’ve seen this before with click bait.) Most importantly, many of these ads are going viral with no advertising spend behind them, and since Facebook makes it’s income off ad spends, they will likely start to punish B-Roll ads. Strike while the iron is hot, make some B-Roll ads!