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5 Tips for Facebook & Instagram Video Ads
When social media is concerned, a lot can change in a matter of a year. Heck, a lot changes every month. Remember when Campaign Budget Optimization or In-Stream Video Ads weren’t a thing? Updates fly when you’re having fun.
To keep you on par for the course, Adespresso has outlined the top tricks for making sure your video ads remain top-notch—exemplary examples included!
Let’s see what the best video ads can teach us:
1. Make your video ads as short as humanly possible.
We should all know this one already. But the format for Facebook and Instagram video ads is 60 seconds! Take a note from successful video ads and don’t make them nearly that long. According to Wistia, people stop watching online videos just seconds in.
Battle our now-goldfish-brains by getting your message across in time by:
- Putting the important details in the first 5-10 seconds
- Making sure the entire video remains specific
Check out this quickly-captivating ad by Velocity Black.
2. Incorporate design to make your ads look highly-produced.
With all the simple video editing tools out there, you don’t need a professional to produce a professional commercial.
For example, this ad by Baked turns a simple shot of coffee being poured into an amateur short film with a tilted lens, natural lighting, and pro-looking title slide. Plus, it’s a GIF! Hypnotic…
3. Pair your IG or FB ad campaign with a specific product launch.
Catch viewer’s attention by using video ads in unique ways, like showing behind-the-scenes footage to drum up anticipation. Releasing teasers is a great way to make your social media followers feel like they are a part of something exclusive, which can help build customer loyalty.
Still a couple more to go, plus key visuals and examples →
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4 Unconventional Ways to Promote Blog Content on Social Media
Answer this question in 5 words or less: what’s your content promotion strategy?
Trick question! You shouldn’t be able to answer that in 5 words or less because the success of your content relies on more than just writing quality content. Successful content is always promoted successfully too. If you’re just clicking “share” on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, you’re totally not doing enough.
So, what should you be doing? Yes, obvious things like emailing your list, running Facebook ads, and promoting your content on relevant industry forums, but what else? This article from the Content Marketing Institute has a few out-of-the-box ideas:
- Use Facebook Live. Yep, you can use Live to promote your new content. The reach of Live is huge. Way bigger than just relying on organic reach. All you need to do is go Live and talk a little bit about your new blog post. All of your followers and fans will get a notification. Check out Buffer for some inspiration on using Live for promotion.
- Create static Facebook videos. Non-live video is another tactic that works well with Facebook’s algorithm. Create a summary video of your new blog post with a link in the description to the post. Hubspot kills it with this tactic.
- Create Instagram Stories. Instagram isn’t link-friendly, and unless you have more than 10k subscribers, you can’t add links to your Stories. What you can do is put a link to your new blog post in your bio, and create a story about it. You can use video or static images for these Stories. Just make sure they’re engaging.
- Engage with Snapchat. This is the one idea in the article that we don’t agree with. We tested Snapchat last year and it was a total flop for us. But, that doesn’t mean it’s not right for other brands. Test it for yourself!
- Bonus tactic not in the article: LinkedIn launched native video for users late last year. Use your CEO, Director of Marketing, or whoever’s account to publish videos!
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The Naked Truth
Here’s a new way to get viewer’s attention we haven’t talked about yet: getting naked.
Absolut Vodka’s latest campaign proudly declares that they’re “The Vodka with Nothing to Hide.” The video takes the audience on a tour of Absolut’s distilleries and culture—and subsequently their morals—as they spotlight their honest ingredients, production process, and more. All while 28 real-life employees (as well as actors) parade around in their birthday suits.
Anthony Austin, executive creative director for BBH, the agency behind the film, said in a statement, “When we first discovered how Absolut makes their vodka, we were immediately taken by how proud they were of their process… We wanted to celebrate that openness, in a way that felt true to their Swedish identity…”
What better way to highlight a brand’s transparency than the naked truth?
If you’ve stopped by our Instagram lately, you might have noticed that we love featuring designers, illustrators, and other creatives. We’re bringing that vibe to the newsletter today. Sarah Jung is one of our current favs.
