We all love a good ol’ video. I mean words and pictures are all well and good, but when it comes to videos – we cannot deny that they are the king of digital content. They speak a million words, forget a thousand words! If done correctly of course.
Because we are moved by action; video ads are WAY more effective than normal image ads in our fast-paced, easily-distracted society that we live in.
So have a read below to get to terms with how you can video ads right.
Determine your goals & objectives
With anything you set out to do there must be a clear goal and objectives in mind.
What is it you want to achieve with your video ad?
Do you want to increase your brand awareness and recognition? If so; brand awareness would be the right objective for you. FYI: with video ads; this is the most common video ad objective for businesses.
Or is it that you want to make sales through your video ad? A conversions objective should then be put in place.
You might however just want to get your video in front of as many people as possible? If so; then video views would be your best shot.
You get the drift huh?
Mobile first!
Did you know that over 95% of Facebook users access the platform via the app on their phones? No surprise there huh? & with that being said; over 65% of Facebook video views occur via mobiles. This is because mobile is all about speed. And we all love instance. It takes people only 1.7 seconds to consume mobile content on Facebook, compared to 2.5 seconds on a desktop.
So with this in mind, you have to think; will this video content still look good via a smaller screen? What length video will appeal most to someone watching through their phones? Facebook iQ also states that ‘mobile-first ads had longer average view times and better brand recall than mobile-adapted or traditional video ads’
Keep it short and sweet
Let’s cut straight to the chase with this one (pun intended); Facebook recommends a video ad length of around 5-15 seconds, albeit it allowing up to 31 seconds. The reason for this is because shorter videos are most likely to be watched all the way through or at least more than halfway through.
This is an increasing trend on Facebook (and Instagram, although this blog is about Facebook, we thought we’d put that out there since Instagrams short and snappy video ads have done really well.) Unless your video is short and straight to the point; our easily-distracted, short-attention-spanned generation will simply lose interest and keep scrolling.
Get your brand in ASAP!
Get your brand in right away, within the first 4 seconds; there is no time to be faffing about folks! This is in case viewers click off the ad within the first 4 seconds which they may do due to our short attention spans, so make sure you blast your brand within the first 4 seconds.
It’s important here to really showcase and sell that amazing brand of yours. Home in on how your product/service will change your target audiences lives for the better, how it will benefit them, why are you different from your competitors… play on their emotions, as that is what usually tends to get people caught in their tracks.
Grab that attention and run with it!
To reiterate the point above; it is absolutely essential to grab attention at the first hurdle. Your ad needs to be too good to miss out on. So as well as getting your brand in there within the first 4 seconds; it is also important to get your message across at the same time (if possible) or shortly afterward. Those first few seconds are crucial guys!
You can grab that all important attention by following these approaches:
- A piece of content; this is typically educational. This content involves helping your target audience with a problem that they are facing.
- A testimonial video. This creates social proof and trust as people will be more inclined to buy from you if others have had good experiences. At the end of these videos, you should state what they need to do next if they want to find out more or get in touch.
- A product demonstration (if you have a product based business) here you grab attention by showcasing your product, the benefits and how easy it is to use.
- Finally, a behind the scenes video could be your way of grabbing attention. This approach allows you to provide a story behind the reasoning and creation of your product/service.
Sound off videos
Create such effective, compelling and captioned video ads that your viewers don’t require a need to turn the sound on. You can also add subtitles. After all; adding Facebook video Ad subtitles increases view times by an average of 12%.
In a recent study, 76% of rated video adverts required sound to be understood. Crazy huh?
Therefore your Ad should communicate the message without audio, which means that the ad itself should be extremely eye-catching which can be easily understood with not much thought which brings me onto the next topic.
Get creative
For your ad to communicate a strong message (even without sound); it’s important that it is creative, compelling and eye-catching. Ensure your ad content is captivating with relevant bold graphics, text and typographic overlays.
Try your very best to appeal to your target audience. Create a huge visual appeal from the get-go with an engaging story that will entice your target audience to continue watching.
For example; if you know that your audience is young males from the age of 18-35 then ensure your content is exciting and fun-packed with action that will get them hooked on to watch more! If you’re a restaurant and your target audience are millennials who love their food (those that always hashtag “foodies”) then an idea for your video content could be to feature some local influencers and/or food bloggers enjoying your food and having a good time or a behind the scenes video of the chef working his magic in the kitchen, using healthy ingredients, doing tricks. Whatever floats your target audiences boat!
In regards to formatting; vertical or square videos are recommended as they take up 78% more screen space than landscape videos, so you are most likely to capture and retain attention with vertical and/or square videos. The bigger the video; the harder it is to ignore! A win-win situation!
Note; don’t forget to avoid overproducing your video. Simple video ads that are authentic and don’t feel like a forced marketing campaign will more often than not perform better than something that looks too professional and salesy. This is especially the case for Facebook as users are not on there wanting to be sold to with hard sell tactics.
Where to place your CTA’s
Finally; it’s important to consider where to put your CTA’s (Call To Actions). Because more likely than not; you will be wanting viewers to take some sort of action after watching your video.
So here’s the deal; there’s no use in putting it at the very beginning (within the first 4 seconds) because that’s the time that should be dedicated to showing off your brand and getting viewers familiar with your business. There’s also no use for it to be at the end of the Ad as viewers might get distracted (as you do) and continue scrolling after seeing the first half of your video. So the best place to position your all-important CTA’s is smack bang in the middle.
By then, viewers will have an understanding of your brand; so when you hit them with a CTA straight after showcasing your brand (if they like your brand, which hopefully they would have) they will be much more prone to taking desired action, but ensure you make it easy for them to take action.
& there you have it folks! These are all of our recommendations for creating amazing video ads, that will convert prospects into loyal customers!
We hope you had a great read!
