You may have noticed that for a while videos have been set to auto-play on Facebook. They are muted, but as you scroll down your news feed, they start playing as soon as you reach them. For businesses trying to attract more clients through Facebook advertising, this is very good news indeed. You just have to learn a few things about unleashing the full power of video ads and you will become a pro in no time.
So today we’re going to discuss video ads on Facebook and, more precisely, the most important aspects you need to know about how they work, how you should use them and how you should target your audience. It is important to remember these aspects when starting to plan your next campaign because it can be a hit or miss depending on how precisely you prepare and deploy your ads.
Here is what you should always consider:
1. Views Are Counted after 3 Seconds of Watching
What does it mean for you? It simply means that you have exactly 3 seconds available to offer a powerful motivation for the person to turn up the sound and keep watching. Facebook video ads are different from any other kind of ads. You cannot build expectation, turn up impatience and use a classic TV or Youtube ad scenario.
Boil down your message to its bare essence and say it clearly during the first 3 seconds. Once you’ve passed this critical point, you can elaborate a little, but not to the point that you’re killing the users’ mobile data plan and boring them to death. You have not “got” them until they’ve clicked or tapped on the call to action button to visit your website.
2. Analytics Structure Has Changed to Accommodate Videos
Even mighty Facebook has realised that more and more marketers prefer news feed videos over other forms of advertising and have enriched their analytics page. Now you can see how your videos are doing in very high detail: the average time people spent watching one video, viewership broken down by demographics and so on.
What does this mean to you? Simply that you have all the tools you need to learn from your own mistakes and create better ads which are viewed until the end and which prompt people to follow the call to action.
3. Video Ads Must Look Genuine, Not Super Professional
Hiring an entire team to create a Facebook video ad might be the fastest (and not so effective) way to use up your advertising dollars. Just forget about the typical TV-ad, grab your smartphone instead and start recording yourself. People won’t watch ads that look like ads, but those that look like short videos made by their friends when they want to share something cool.
Be spontaneous, and share your message as if you’re addressing your friends on the social media. It is crucial to get past those critical first 3 seconds and still have people’s attention.
4. Engagement Is the Key Metric for Videos
Measuring ROI for Facebook videos has been under certain debate, but the key metric you should worry about is engagement. Comments and shares are a big part of your success. If you get a comment, you have someone’s interest. Maybe they need a little more persuasion but you have captured their attention enough to spend some extra time writing about your videos.
And shares, as we know, are considered the modern day referrals. So, make your videos so interesting that you’d share them to all your family and friends without being labelled as a spammer.
This being said, you know what Facebook video ads are all about: attention, engagement and funneling traffic. Keep these aspects in mind and start preparing your Facebook video campaign with confidence!