Facebook ads are among the most valuable assets you can rely on to reach customers on social media. Each year, Facebook videos are progressively transforming from a mere trendy feature to an effective strategy to reach and engage with new audiences, generate conversions, and build brand awareness!
Marketers and business owners are aware of this change and are quickly hopping on board, providing their audiences content that enhances their experience with their brands.
But ask any experienced company in the niche, and they’ll all tell you that successfully pulling off a video campaign through Facebook ads requires a lot of important considerations – and creating high-quality video content is just one of them!
To help with the rest and give you a blueprint for a carefully planned approach, we’ll be discussing the basics (and not so basic) aspects of a video ads strategy on the platform that actually delivers results.
Why Facebook Video?
The fact that so many businesses have a solid Facebook presence should already suggest the huge potential it has as far as marketing campaigns go. No one seems to be missing out on this opportunity.
But, in case you are still unconvinced, let’s look at some numbers.
1. Facebook videos attract 60% of video consumers
Don’t underestimate the power of Facebook to attract viewers by thinking that hubs like YouTube hold a monopoly on video. Facebook is the second-largest platform where people watch videos, garnering an impressive 8 billion daily views.
2. Video posts generate an average engagement rate of 6.13%
There’s nothing immediately surprising about this stat until you compare it with the typical engagement rate of Facebook posts, which is just 3.6%. When you communicate your message through video, users are twice as motivated to engage with the content.
3. Users rely on Facebook to discover new products
Facebook has become more than just a platform to get in touch with friends. A recent survey suggests that 68% of Americans who use Facebook have discovered retail products at some point there. People seem to be using the platform to browse and get information about what to buy.
Any way you look at it, Facebook is ripe for a successful video marketing campaign. The question is: How do you take advantage of this huge (and popular!) asset?
Stage Zero: Choose the Right Target!
The secret to carrying off an effective Facebook ad campaign is to deliver your message to the right audience. By enhancing your ad targeting, you'll be able to customize your content for that audience and improve your overall performance and ROI. But how do you do that?
The simplest way is by zeroing in on the demographic and interest options available on Facebook, so you make sure you target audiences who haven’t engaged with your brand yet. Some of the most basic demographic variables and interest setups Facebook offers are age, gender, relationship status, and life events - which are essential for reaching your general buyer persona.
You also have geographical location and language, which are especially crucial for campaigns of local reach. And more complex targeting options such as likes, purchase history, and financial variables.
The rules to customize your ad sets for your target are not set in stone. But if you want to take our advice, know that you can achieve better results by taking a layered approach.
What we mean by this is that you can produce a more optimal customer profile by combining different demographics, interests, and behaviors to filter your content to your ideal audience.
For example, say you’re leading a brand selling sports goods. You should start by targeting people generally interested in sports and outdoor activities. Next, narrow your audience with more specifics: perhaps your products are useful for people under forty-five. Finally, consider layering according to a financial option such as annual income range or previous purchase behavior.
Effective Video Styles for Each Stage of the Funnel
Now that you have a general idea of how to determine your audience think about the style of video you are delivering to them. There’s a wide variety of ad formats at your disposal, and you should choose according to the stage of the sales funnel your prospects are.
A marketing sales funnel adapts content to the process your customers go through when they are mulling over making a purchase. Not all prospects have the same level of familiarity with your brand, so you need to give them the right video to address their particular problems, questions, and issues. Let us help you with that by reviewing the three objective categories or stages of the funnel.
1. Awareness stage – Focusing on your audience’s needs
When customers are in the awareness stage, they are just looking for ways to make their lives easier. They are not interested in your product yet, but they are receptive to any content that gives them real value and answers.
Educational content and simple teasers seem to work best at this stage. The type of content that subtly starts driving people to your brand, message, landing pages, and products, without trying to sell them just yet.
2. Consideration stage – Meeting your prospects’ challenges
Once your prospects are in the consideration stage, they are more open to learning more about your product.
One of the most compelling styles to use here are animated explainer ads, which aim at educating your audience through engaging storytelling techniques and sympathetic characters. These videos excel at letting your potential customers know how and why you can help them, turning occasional viewers into potential leads and buyers.
3. Decision stage: clearing your audiences’ doubts to close the sale
Lastly, customers in the decision stage need just a final push to make a confident purchase. In this stage, you need to transmit trust to them, which is best done by testimonials and 'about us' videos. If customers can see stories of other individuals who have gone through the same journey or who share their values, you'll be just one step away from closing a sale.
When you pay attention to the stage of the funnel that your prospects are in, you can create content targeted to their specific needs — increasing the chances of them progressing all the way through a purchase.
Tips for Crafting an Awesome Video
Now, creating videos in tune with the platform’s sensibilities is just as important as choosing a style. Facebook users interact with video differently than people on, say, Instagram or TikTok.
Understanding how things run here is essential to developing a more effective video strategy. And even if you are considering outsourcing your content production, it always helps to know a thing or two of what makes for great ads on the platform:
1. Quickly capture your audience’s attention
With so much going on in the Facebook news feeds today, it’s crucial that your ads engage your audience right from the get-go. To do so, you need to begin your video’s script with an interesting hook to prompt them to pay attention to your message.
You can use any captivating element as a hook. Whether it is a shocking piece of information, a thought-provoking question, or a startling data point, there are a lot of elements you can use to catch your audience tuned to your message. Include them in your ads early on to boost metrics!
2. Design for mute plays
Who could have predicted that watching muted videos on Facebook would ever be a regular practice? Nowadays, most users scroll down their feed without taking the trouble of listening to most of the content they consume. At least until they get hooked.
So, if you want your message to reach your audience, it’s important that you take a visual approach to storytelling to boost video views. That means adding closed captions of the spoken parts of the video – which will make your message visually easy to follow – as well as using elements like motion graphics for illustrating data through movement and color.
3. Take a mobile-friendly approach
It’s not a surprise that most people love to use Facebook through their smartphones. Therefore, if you want to increase your chances of capturing their attention on this platform, you should always edit your videos to be mobile-friendly.
Tailoring your Facebook ads to mobile users means working to make them look as good on a pocket-sized screen as on a tablet or cell phone. In particular, you need to account for the overall visual composition of your video, making sure it doesn’t clutter on smaller screens.
Also, consider choosing the square video format over the standard landscape view for a more enjoyable mobile user experience.
4. Don’t forget to include a CTA!
It goes without saying that your ad is pointless if you don't direct your users to the next step! Include a simple but clear CTA or a button at the end of your video so your targets know where to go after watching your ad.
Common CTAs range from “Visit our site to learn more” or “Subscribe to our newsletter" taglines to a more direct "Shop now!” depending on your content and goals.
Making sure your video ads are in tune with the ins and outs of Facebook’s user preferences is a terrific way to reach a wider audience and give them a better experience with your brand.
Advanced Strategy: Retargeting Audiences Who Already Watched Your Videos!
Hopefully, there’s nothing you find too complicated so far. However, were you to stop at this point, you’ll be missing out on a huge opportunity the platform provides to its users!
Facebook ads offer you the unique option of retargeting your audience. After running at least one ad, you’ll be able to analyze your viewers’ behavior with your content, which will allow you to create a custom audience based on that data. Think of a custom audience as a list where you compile valuable information with which you can work on your future ads.
The idea here is to enhance your customers' overall experience with your brand. Remember that these are people who have already consumed your content. Being able to know, say, how much time they spent watching your videos gives you the chance to follow them by producing more targeted, conversion-focused ads.
The essential principle of custom audiences is that ads need to be different according to the audience’s familiarity with your brand. If you are seriously dedicated to your viewers - and you take the time to create better content for them - you'll establish a stronger bond between your audience and your brand.
Wrapping Up!
While not the only medium the platform offers for innovative promotion – Facebook live is becoming an increasingly popular outreach tool – Facebook video ads are popular among marketers for a good reason. As we’ve seen, the platform has all the tools your brand needs to give your customers an engaging journey and boost conversion rates.
The demographic and interest options of Facebook ads allow you to target your prospects with precision. The platform also gives you the chance to effectively address your audience's concerns according to the funnel stage they are located. Moreover, the ability to create custom audiences is a very convenient means of keeping up with users who have already shown interest in your content.
Facebook video ads are already part of the success of many companies making their presence online. Our hope is that, with the overview that we have provided, you will also take advantage of it.
