“How faces on ads make us watch, click, and buy”
Faces get attention.
When our mind registers a face, we subconsciously categorize it as trustworthy (friend), not trustworthy (foe), or someone we’re attracted to (a possible mate).
The human mind loves visual cues.
We naturally look for faces — and even instinctively create them out of inanimate objects. ‘Face pareidolia’ — the phenomenon of seeing faces in everyday objects — is a human condition related to how our brains are wired. UNSW Sydney researchers have shown we process these ‘fake’ faces using the exact visual mechanisms of the brain that we do for real ones. (Source: Why the brain is programmed to see faces in everyday objects)
Your buyers are instinctively drawn toward faces, making them a magnetizing part of advertising.
Here are some interesting experimental results on faces:
- Ads and content featuring faces are 11x more likely to get noticed.
- Richard Van Der Bloom spent over 1,200 hours researching LinkedIn, and he found that by posting selfies in personal posts, people are getting 3x more engagement and 2.5x more reach on their LinkedIn posts
- The next time you’re scrolling through Netflix trying to pick something to watch: Notice how many faces are in their thumbnails.
This is not a coincidence. Netflix spent a lot of effort in A/B testing their thumbnails
(Read “The Power of Picture” or “Selecting the best artwork for videos through A/B testing” by Netflix)
Here’s what they’ve found:
1. Faces showing an emotion aligned with the genre of the movie or show performed best
2. Showing the villain over the hero performed better
3. People react differently to faces around the world
- 10:10 is the default setting for clocks and watches in advertisements.
An experiment revealed that watches set at 10:10 (resembling smiley faces) showed a significant positive effect on the emotion of the observer and the intention to buy.
Moreover, watches set at 10:10 induced in women significantly stronger ratings of pleasure than in men. (Source: Why Is 10 Past 10 the Default Setting for Clocks and Watches in Advertisements? A Psychological Experiment)
Your buyers will notice faces in your content. But, it only takes them 40 milliseconds to conclude after looking at a face in a photo.
Make sure it’s the correct conclusion.
Show your face, employees, buyers, influencers, or even inanimate objects that resemble faces preferably faces portraying the emotion or direction you want buyers to feel or look.
