Content Is King: Why Use Video Ads?

With more brands moving to the digital space after a pretty turbulent (to say the least) 18 months for commerce. It’s crucial to utilise every ad format available for your campaigns: including the big one. Video ads. Arguably the most important and most overlooked ad format is video ads. With almost every platform trialing short-form video (we see you YouTube Shorts) businesses are fighting to gain users’ attention away from their inevitable scrolling.

Swapping out static images to video can improve your click-through rate, conversion rate, purchase intent, banner blindness, lead generation, and maybe even build brand awareness to your online audiences. It’s time to reach your marketing goals.

So why should you be using video advertising content?

The Mobile Marketing Association released a study in 2019 claiming that the human brain needs less than ½ a second to engage with an advert, with videos being twice as likely to trigger an emotional connection from the user.

Meaning, whilst static ads are effective at showcasing a particular product set for your retargeted users. Video ads are the best way to engage your audiences across the marketing funnel in shorter ads.

Plus, it’s a lot easier to follow digital video advertising trends with a video placement. For example, take the fact that social media platforms like Instagram is now favouring video to its online audience over photos – thanks, TikTok.

How does this affect my results?

Video ads can be most effective when driving awareness and consideration for your brand, website product or service. A study conducted by Animoto found that 93% of those surveyed said video is helpful when purchasing a product.

Consumers also reported that video was their number one favourite form of content from brands on social media. That is a pretty high percentage and one that you can’t ignore when it comes to where to place your digital marketing ads.

Put yourself in the shoes of the consumer, they’re scrolling through their Facebook feed and they’re hit with images consistently. A well-put-together video will grab their attention and get them clicking through to your landing page, and turn them into potential customers.

In the same study, 71% of respondents purchased a product after watching a brand’s video on social media. With 74% engaging with ads on Instagram stories compared to Facebook users.

Within Facebook ads, advertisers are able to retarget those who have watched their videos either as an ad or organic content. Making it easier for you to target consumers who have shown an interest in your product or brand. These retargeting ads are where you really ramp things up. You really want to hit your target audience with your best video ads here. Make sure you’re paying attention to USPs in your ad copy, use your best images or bestsellers.

Where do they appear?

Facebook’s recent placement updates have also given brands the opportunity to advertise on both Instagram stories and reels, similar to in stream ads. Instagram reels are a feed format aimed to compete with TikTok. TikTok recently reported to surpass the 3 billion downloads milestone. And we don’t mean to brag, but we’re kinda sorta TikTok famous now. Or, more that our Ben is.

TikTok’s popularity has inspired Instagram to start prioritising video content. Adam Mosseri recently commented that Instagram is more than a photo-sharing app and that they will start experimenting with shorter-form video on the platform in the coming months.

These developments open up ample opportunities for brands who want to engage their audience using video. With the variety of placements available across several platforms there is no better time to start serving your video ads to your audience.

When considering video content for your ad campaigns you should take into account the various placements available for your ads across social platforms, as this may affect which aspect ratio you shoot your video in.

What kind of video ads should you be using?

You should also consider if your brand would benefit from a professional shoot. Perhaps with models in a studio, or if your audience are more likely to engage with user-generated content – something that is currently widely popular on both Instagram and TikTok.

We (the experts) we ensure your edited video ads are fully optimised for a smartphone users customer experience. With the ability to trial different aspect ratios for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok for the mobile devices. We’re here to implement those video advertising campaigns as close to your marketing strategy as possible.

Our ads are optimised for the 3-second mark. Delivering your product messaging and brand identity within the users key engagement period. We also work with you to test out various video ads on your key audiences to boost both traffic and conversions for your business.

Rapid Fire Q and A’s:

We know in the marketing world things move fast. In other words, here is everything you need to know. Fast and effective. Just like us.

How long can video ads be on Facebook?

Video ads in Facebook can be anywhere from 3 seconds to 240 minutes depending on the placement. It’s recommended that you keep the vast majority of your digital video ads to 15 seconds as best practice.

How long can video ads be on Instagram?

Video ads on Instagram can be between 3 and 60 seconds. It is always recommended that you stick to 15 seconds as best practice. Short videos work best, like on Facebook.  Any longer than that and your audience are going to lose interest and carry on scrolling, This means losing some of that valuable video ad spend.

Are they more effective videos when they’re optimised?

In short, yes, we’ve found optimised video ads can work more effectively than static ads. Depending on the campaign they are running in.  The brilliant thing about Facebook is that they’re always adding new features or a new great tool that help your campaigns optimise even more, too. Nice one, Zuckerberg.

Do video ads autoplay on Facebook?

Yes, when you scroll past a video ad on Facebook it will autoplay. Making it even more important to keep up to date with the latest trends. You’re going to have a matter of seconds to get your users attention. So, it’s best to ensure that the content quality is top notch.

Are Facebook video ads more expensive?

Nope, there is no difference in advertising cost when launching a video ad or a still image ad on Facebook. The cost is determined by several metrics including Cost Per (Link) Click and Cost Per 1,000 Impressions, both of which are calculated by how your ad is interacted with.

Don’t worry if this all sounds a little confusing. We’re here to talk you through the whole process from start to finish and then some. If you wanna chat more about more video-related questions, Facebook advertising, Instagram advertising or even just a little chat – hit us up.

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