How to make Facebook video Ads that convert
In my other blog, while I gave you quick tips on how to create the perfect ad, I highly recommended the video format. Here I hope to help you with a few hacks that will help you create a Video Ad that works.
In a highly engaging Facebook or Instagram newsfeed, you have got only a few seconds to make your impact once you have reached the right audience. So make it count.
Tip #1: Use Facebook Native videos
Make sure all your videos are uploaded natively to Facebook. Why? Studies show that native videos have 2x more interaction rate and 5x more share rate than YouTube videos.
Tip #2: It’s recommended that you keep it short, but do experiment
As Facebook recommends shorter videos, they will account for a lower CPM initially and hence lower Cost per Result. But the key here is to make an impact and ensure good engagement, so keep an eye on the relevance score.
At HealthifyMe, we found that longer video formats gave us a better RoI, despite giving a higher CPR(Cost per result). Read more about the same in the Facebook Case study here.
Tip #3: Never forget to caption your video
Most of the video content is consumed with audio off. No one wants to play a video out loud when they are outside or with their friends. So focus on delivering your message visually.
Captioning your video can increase the view time by 12%. So add subtitles and captions where ever applicable.
Tip #4: Design for mobile
Keep both video and static images in 1:1 aspect ratio as this provides a larger real estate(78% more than the traditional 16:9). Also, make sure all your subtitle and captions are readable on phone.
While vertical ads give you a larger real estate, I have noticed that these ads do poorly than the 1:1 ads- especially when you are driving just not video views but an action thereafter.
Tip #5: Make an impact in the first few seconds
I know, you have heard this before. But it’s too important to be left out. You need to make a quick impact to keep the user engaged. The first few seconds are golden. So lose the long intros and get to the point as soon as possible or build enough curiosity to get them to click on the call to action.
While we are concentrating on Facebook video, it doesn’t hurt to learn from few of the best 6-second ads on YouTube.
Tip #6: Choose the right thumbnail
This one is a little tricky. After reading the previous point, you might think a good powerful thumbnail is a key to the success of your ad, well, it might not be true.
First, I want you to check how many of your video views happen on auto-play. If most of the videos are watched on auto play, I recommend that you have little or no text in your thumbnail. Having no text on your thumbnail will drastically bring down your CPM, which over-compensate for any loss in CTR or View rate.
If your audience is not using auto-play you have some work to do. Only suggestion here is to keep A/B testing with your thumbnails while making sure you are keeping the image text ratio in check.
Note: The image text ratio is taken into consideration for only your thumbnail and not the entire video
Tip #7: Outro & Call to action
Keep an eye on how many people are watching over 90% of the video. If it is a good chunk then you definitely need to start optimizing the outro for your video.
A quick snippet at the end of the video pushing the users to take an action or to build credibility can do wonders.
If you are running your ad for just video views you can add an outro asking users to like your page or share the video.
Tip #8: Use custom and lookalike audience
If you are using a lot of video creatives in your ads or driving just video views through post boost, it is very important for you to use custom and lookalike audiences.
- If you are looking for engaging current users/following
Facebook allows you to make audiences of people who have already watched 3secs, 10secs, 25%, 50% (and so on) of your video. Choose what is best for you and target these with next videos. This way you will reduce reaching out to people who don’t meet your quality expectation. - Increasing your reach
Once you have created a custom audience, you can make a lookalike of the same to reach out to a larger more apt audience.
You can either use it to narrow down your existing target audience (if you are looking for better quality) or use them directly in your targeting (if you are looking for scale). - Increase conversion by building a funnel
If you are looking to make your audience take an action, say install your app. Use custom audience to target users who consumed your content but did not install the app.
For example, at HealthifyMe, we initially used videos on App features and diet tips to get users to install the app. Once we had sufficient data, we used longer videos on Customer testimonials on how they reached their fitness goals through the app and targeted it to people who had watched the over 75% of the previous video and had not downloaded the app.
This helped us achieve great ad interaction and conversion. I have explained the targeting options thoroughly in this blog.
Do drop in your feedback on what you thought of the article. Also, if you have any more tips or suggestions do let us know in the comments section.
