It’s no secret that Facebook is the most popular social media network on the planet, boasting a whopping 2.6 billion monthly active users worldwide.
And you’ve likely noticed that video content has been dominating your news feed in recent years.
To ensure you can effectively leverage this powerful content format and stand out on Facebook, we’ll run through everything from Facebook video ads best practices to Facebook video ads examples.
Let’s get started!
What We’ll Cover:
Choosing the Right Audience for Your Facebook Video Ads
Before you jump the gun and kick off the creation process, it’s important to identify your audience.
After all, Facebook has more than 1+ billion active daily users, which means you only want to take into account the users who will be most attracted to your product or service.
Who has the most to gain from your business? What do these groups have in common?
Thankfully, Facebook is chalk-full of tools designed to help you zero in on the right people so you can better position your videos.
These variables include:
- Location—this is ideal for reaching individuals within a specified geographic area for shipping purposes.
- Demographics—you can further refine the outreach of your Facebook video ads by specifying your audience’s gender, age, relationship status, political affiliation, job title, and education level.
- Interests—page likes can aid in determining your base’s hobbies, activities, and what’s important to them.
- Behavior—it’s useful to know how users interact with your content, what their prior purchases are, and which devices they’re using.
You can also create custom Facebook audiences using email lists, website traffic collected through the Facebook pixel, and engagement actions on Facebook proper.
Creating Facebook Video Ads for Every Stage of the Funnel
Depending on how familiar they are with your brand, your audience’s needs will vary.
While there’s no universal formula for creating a profitable Facebook video ad, you want to move your target consumer from the top of the sales funnel to the bottom in a way that makes the most sense for your business.
Here’s the best way to achieve this:
Top of the Funnel: Build Trust with Value-Rich Videos
One of the more common mistakes companies make is attempting to sell early on using direct-response video campaigns. But, remember your audience is still cold.
Since your targets don’t know much about your brand yet, you need to start raising awareness around it.
To warm up these colder leads, avoid being self-promotional. Focus on the problem they’re seeking solutions for by serving up educational explainer videos.
Middle of the Funnel: Unveil the Solution with Product-Focused Videos
Now that your audience has a firm grasp on the problem on hand, they’re taking an active interest in researching your offerings and comparing similar options.
The best way to incentivize them to purchase your product or service is by making your value proposition known.
Product-centric videos showcase your product’s unique features and break down how it can be used to enrich their lives. Free trials are encouraged.
Bottom of the Funnel: Win Over Customers with Testimonials and Reminder Videos
At this point, your prospects may still be on the fence about making a purchase.
You want to address their concerns and make them feel confident about buying from you instead of a competitor.
Testimonial and cart abandonment videos can help reinforce your brand’s image as the most competent, reliable choice. Describe how other people have benefited from using your product.
Facebook Video Ad Specs
To cut down on the time and effort when developing Facebook video ads, it’s critical that you understand the specs you need to stick to beforehand.
Since you’re probably spending a pretty penny on advertising, your video content needs to be presented in the most pristine way possible.
Here are some of the Facebook video ads best practices and video specs to consider:
Aspect Ratios
Look into your Google Analytics devices usage and you’ll find that mobile occupies about 50% of your traffic.
Most people still hold their phone upright when watching videos, which means a 4:5 aspect ratio would be most appropriate for Facebook’s news feed. This will also deliver a better user experience to your users.
Image Courtesy: Facebook
Length
If you’re unsure of how long your videos should be, shorter is always better. Aim for a 15-20 second Facebook video.
It should be free of fluff and clearly convey your brand’s message, addressing your audience directly.
Keep in mind that Instagram Feed videos can’t exceed 60 seconds and Instagram Stories can’t be more than 15 seconds long. So, 15 seconds is recommended if you want to advertise across all placements.
Image Courtesy: Exabytes
Sound
Always assume that people will be viewing your video with the sound off. According to Digiday, “85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound.”
Utilize eye-catching visuals, titles, and descriptions to grab the viewer’s attention.
Additionally, providing subtitles in multiple languages is always a plus.
Image Courtesy: Exabytes
Facebook Video Ads Best Practices
With the right strategy, Facebook video ads give you the opportunity to show off your brand’s personality and forge meaningful relationships with your followers.
Adhering to the following Facebook video ads best practices will ensure that your videos will be too good to ignore:
Don’t Lose Your Audience
Think about how you behave online. Do you get bored quickly and click away from video content that takes forever to get to the point?
Chances are so does your audience.
To deter them from scrolling past your video ad, interesting, relevant insights need to be delivered right away. By right away, we mean within the first 3-5 seconds.
Make Your Story Compelling
To make your video more memorable, you need to think like a storyteller.
Storytelling humanizes your brand, differentiating you from competitors who are overtly trying to sell products to consumers.
Bring your story to life with a narrative hook.
Put yourself in the shoes of your customer. What would draw them in, make them laugh, or garner a reaction?
Feel free to experiment with colors, music, fonts, and copy here.
Optimize Your Video Ad Copy
The ad title and description play a key role in determining whether or not a user will engage with your video.
It needs to be catchy, while also informing them of what they should expect to see.
Incorporate keywords into your copy as Facebook’s targeting algorithms will scan your text to establish which users are most suitable for your video.
Phrases that typically perform well include “things to know,” “what you need,” and “5 reasons.”
Add a Call to Action
Having a call to action is an easy way to drive traffic back to your company website and convert viewers into repeat customers.
Although Facebook no longer offers the call to action functionality for videos, luckily, there are plenty of ways you can still include them in your own.
You could embed it into your post copy, add a mid-roll text overlay, or feature it towards the final few seconds of your video.
Conduct A/B Tests
One of the most essential, yet highly overlooked Facebook video ads best practices involves A/B split testing.
Doing so will help you build ads that will better resonate with your targeted Facebook users.
The variables you can test span audience, creative, product set, placements, and optimization event.
Facebook recommends that you give yourself a window of 3-14 days to collect sufficient data.
Top 5 Facebook Video Ads Examples
Now that we’ve covered some of the most common Facebook video ads best practices, it’s time to explore a few real world examples.
Take a look at these Facebook video ad campaigns that knocked it out of the park so you can replicate their success:
1. Sephora
Sephora is a brand that’s not afraid to experiment with bold colors and unique imagery. This ad packs a visual punch, and stands out in users’ feeds. Plus, it features multiple promotions and products within the span of a few seconds. When compared to their previous video campaigns, Sephora’s “Under $25” product video ad received a 41% higher click-through rate.
2. Dollar Shave Club
Known for its edgy, humorous campaigns, Dollar Shave Club took a slightly different approach with this promotion. They directly call out a competitor (Gillette) and use minimal copy to pique their customers’ curiosity. With its simple messaging and high-quality photos, this Facebook ad saw a 150% increase in subscribers.
3. Spotify
Spotify’s Facebook ad is proof that your video doesn’t need to be lengthy to get the job done. Although it’s only three seconds long, the repetitive animation, concise copy, and charming call to action together tell a story.
4. TOMS
Unlike other campaigns, TOMS was looking to generate some brand awareness. What makes this video ad work is the lack of a tangible promotion or call to action. Instead, the striking visuals and company tagline lead us to ask—“what’s going on here?”
5. Project Repat
Despite being one of the lesser known brands on this list, Project Repat managed to launch one of the best Facebook video ads, resulting in a 65% increase in revenue for Q4 in 2016. The success of this campaign proves that you don’t need to go overboard with your design or your copy. Using a customer as the center focus is a testament to how well user-generated content can work in your brand’s favor.
Wrapping Up
If this guide has proved anything, it’s that 2020 is the year to start investing in video so you can take your advertising campaigns to new heights.
Not only are they great tools to help you explain what your business has to offer, but they enable you to build stronger connections with your customers and ultimately, boost conversions.
So go forth and look to these Facebook video ads examples for inspiration and apply our Facebook video ads best practices to your strategy today!
