Video gets more and more powerful by the day.
From Snapchat and Instagram stories to Facebook Live video (and now even Instagram Live video), there are so many opportunities for you to express yourself and your brand through video.
And yet another opportunity is through Facebook Video ads.
If you can master these types of video ads and create videos that your audience will love, you can supercharge your marketing efforts (as well as your results!).
But wait – how exactly do you create a Facebook video ad that converts? Well, that’s exactly what we’ll talk about today.
Here is how you can create a high-converting Facebook Video ad…
Target the Right Audience
As always with any type of Facebook ad, the magic is in the targeting. We’ve already talked about targeting in our post about how to create a high-converting Instagram ad, but here’s a quick recap:
In the “Detailed Targeting” section, select 10-20 of the most relevant interests or groups you can find that are related to your niche
Omit any demographic you don’t want to be included
Initially, aim for an audience size of less than a million (and even less than 500k if you can swing it).
Keep It Short
While the average length of a Facebook Video is 44 seconds (source), videos that get completed the most are typically shorter than 21 seconds.
So, aim to keep your videos shorter than 30 seconds, and ideally even shorter than 20 seconds.
In doing so, you’ll increase the odds that people finish your video, and actually get to see your call to action at the end.
Start Strong
You need to grab your audience’s attention within the first few seconds – otherwise, they’ll keep scrolling down their Newsfeed and forget about your video.
That means avoiding the following:
Unnecessary intros – people don’t know who you are yet so they don’t much care about your introduction!).
Using logos or credits – these aren’t going to grab attention.
Talking head without context – this doesn’t grab attention either.
Instead of these things, aim to invoke a sense of curiosity right from the beginning. This will help capture their interest and keep them watching to the end of your video.
Here are some ways you can invoke curiosity:
Ask a compelling question (i.e. “How would your business transform if you could master Facebook Video ads?”)
Start with an open loop (i.e. “I didn’t always live in this mansion. In fact, just a few years ago I was sleeping on a couch with $30 in my bank account. But I’ll tell you more about that in a second…”)
Dig into the problem (i.e. “Do you ever feel like it’s impossible to get thousands of followers on Snapchat?”)
Choose the “Video Views” Objective
When building your Video ad campaign, you have to choose an objective. There are several to choose from, but its best to go with “Video Views”.
When you use this objective, Facebook will try to find users who are more likely to watch as much of your video as possible, which will allow you to create better video audiences.
Use a Strong Call to Action
All great ads have a strong call to action, and Facebook Video ads are no different.
But with Facebook Video ads, you should put your call to action in two places: At the end of the video, and also on the “Reply Video” screen, like you see below:
Towards the end of the video, tell the audience what you’d like them to do when they’re finished watching (i.e click a link, go to a certain URL, leave a comment, etc.).
Then, to add a call to action on the reply screen, follow these steps:
Below the video, click the “Add a Call to Action” button.
Click “No Button” and choose the text you’d like to appear at the end of your video.
Add the URL where you’d like to direct people who click.
Create a headline and describe the link.
Pick a Compelling Thumbnail
Not all users have the autoplay option activated on their mobile devices – in fact, many have disabled it (to save data, avoid unwanted distractions, etc.).
So, if you want to get your video played, you need a compelling thumbnail. This is the only thing people will see before they decide whether or not to click on your video.
Facebook allows you to choose from a range of images randomly selected from the video. If you can’t find any engaging options within that selection, you can upload your own.
To do upload your own thumbnail, click on the “Custom Thumbnail” area below your video ad in the ad creation screen.
For the best image, choose a thumbnail that has the same aspect ratio as videos (which is 16:9 or 1:1 for square videos).
Whether you upload your own thumbnail or choose a selection from the video, aim for an image that invokes curiosity and/or shows the benefit of watching the video.
Conclusion
Facebook Video ads can provide a huge boost to your marketing success – that is, if you do them right. So, follow the strategies here to start creating Facebook Video ads that actually convert!
What has been your experience with Facebook Video ads so far? Let us know in the comments below!