Facebook video ads can create an impressive force for your business. By combining Facebook, the most popular social media channel, with innovative tools for targeting potential customers – your chances of converting sales becomes much higher compared to traditional methods.
Facebook video ads are the new TV commercials, except that the former doesn’t carry the extreme prices of the latter!
In fact, Facebook does a much better job targeting the right audience.
In this article, we’ll not just go step by step to discover how to set up Facebook video ads, but also reveal the tips and tricks to maximise your audience engagement.
Table of Contents
What Are Facebook Video Ads?
You probably know that being a free website, Facebook relies heavily on advertisements to pay its bills. Thanks to the two billion plus users scrolling their newsfeed every day, Facebook is not falling short on ads. Facebook ads can be in written text, images, GIFs or videos. To create Facebook video ads, you must of course upload videos on Facebook’s native player.
The platform allows you to give your videos a name and a description. If you are not already aware of Facebook’s handful of features when it comes to targeting audiences, you are missing a lot. The website allows you to target people by location, age, gender, language, relationship status, political views, interests and likes.
The choices get as specific as you can imagine. Interests and likes are divided into different categories – such as business, entertainment, fitness, food, sport, family and relationships etc. Each category has endless options. Nobody should find it hard to reach their target audience. Every small detail matters.
Why Choose Facebook Video Ads?
You know why you should choose Facebook. Wide reach and specific targeting. So, why should you choose videos and not any other format? Why not write informative text or use a visually engaging image?
First, because of distractions. Facebook’s newsfeed today is not the same as it was back in the 2000s. There are many distractions on Facebook. Sponsored ads, friends’ posts, page posts, friend suggestions, polls etc. It is a circus show. Most people tend to scroll their newsfeed without paying attention. Unless, something stands out to make them slow down and watch. Secondly, video marketing is now the fastest growing marketing channel, and it is expected to grow even more.
Smart Insights reported that 92% of marketers believe that video is a vital part of their marketing strategy. This has grown from 78% in 2015, proving that video has become a staple in catching people’s attention.
Finally, the online behavior on social media demands fast content. Users would rather watch a one-minute video that is rich with information than read a lengthy, bulky piece of text. That is the main reason behind the increasing popularity of video content.
8 Tips to Get Amazing Facebook Video Ads Results
Tip 1: Show Videos that Do Not Require Sound
Video content has many advantages. They are visually engaging, easily delivered and authentic. However, one disadvantage that videos have is that they are not always convenient to watch.
Most of the time, users are commuting, in a public place, or on a break from work. This means that they are usually around some form of company. So, watching a video with sound is not always appropriate and can be off-putting for someone who is genuinely interested in watching your content.
For that reason, creating videos that make sense without a sound increases the chance of people watching your content, even when the situation does not allow it.
What if your content obliges a dialogue? Add captions that relate to the context of your video. Alternatively, you can add text overlay to your videos using a video editing tool. That makes it easy for people to interact with the visuals of your videos on their newsfeed while being on mute, and without losing the context of the message.
Tip 2: Utilise CPM Bidding to Ensure Your Ads Are on Auto-Play
Do you remember when we mentioned how Facebook’s newsfeed is full of distractions? Auto-play is one of those distractions. However, using auto-play to grab the attention of your audience is a well-played tactic. Auto-play helps with sky-rocketing your number of views.
In addition, if your video material is catchy, auto-play can make your audience feel curious enough to stop scrolling and watch what you have. To be eligible for auto-play, you will have to employ CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions), instead of cost per click.
Tip 3: Get Straight to the Point
There is absolutely no reason to go in a loop of long introductions before getting down to business. Viewers do not have the time or attention span for that. They will probably shut off the video before you finish your long introduction out of frustration.
Video content has a different nature than that of an article. Readers are patient by nature, they will go through an introduction, main body and a final conclusion to sum up a long article. Unlike readers, video viewers are always on the go. One of the main factors whether a viewer will click ‘play’ is the length of the video. The shorter, the better.
Yes, there are exceptions but in most scenarios, anything between 30 seconds to 2 minutes is a better choice. More than two minutes is just too much. If your video content cannot be condensed in two minutes, try separating your video in sequels where each one is no longer than a minute.
Tip 4: Put the Videos to Test Before Advertising
Do not start advertising a brand new video right away. Upload a new video and put it to test before you start paying money for its promotion. Share it on different channels and see how well it does with organic reach.
Organic reach is always a good indicator of whether or not people will watch your ad. Are people engaging with it? How many views is the video getting and how do people react to it? You should not advertise all your videos. Save only the best content for advertising. Selecting what to advertise will affect your brand image and the way people feel about your business.
Tip 5: Focus on Your Audience
Although this is something that applies to online marketing in general, we had to highlight its importance again. Producing video content requires effort, detail and is not a low-budget expense. Nobody wants to waste high quality content on an audience that does not matter to the business. Moreover, Facebook video ads cost money, so you want to make sure that your investment is going to have a decent return.
Tip 6: Analyse Your Results
Another precaution to ensure your money is not going to waste. After your video has gained views and engagement, sit down and analyse your results through Facebook Insights. Understanding video performance is key to improving the ROI of your video marketing efforts.
If views are all your business is getting, then maybe you are not targeting the right audience. How many of those who viewed your video did take action by visiting your website, purchasing a product, or calling for an inquiry? These are real measurements that should determine the effectiveness of your Facebook video ads:
Video Average Watch Time
This will give you a clue about the quality of your videos and the nature of your audience. It will demonstrate at what point your audience dropped off, which can help for future improvements. It can also show what points kept people interested, which will indicate where you have gone right.
10 Second View
This will let you know who watched your video until the first 10 seconds. Of course, if the video is only 10 seconds long, you will be shown who completed your video. These first 10 seconds are vital, as they will show how strong or weak your video’s introduction is, which is key to retaining viewers for the video’s duration.
Post Engagement
Post engagement tracking goes beyond the number of shares and likes. It allows you to know more details about these shares, number of clicks, negative feedback and the total number of people your video ad reached.
Tip 7: Craft a Descriptive Title and Video Tags
Search engine optimisation works with Facebook, too. More than two billion search queries are made on the platform every day. That means that giving your Facebook video ads clear and descriptive titles is going to increase your visibility when users search for relevant content.
In addition, video tags and hashtags are a way to connect your Facebook video ads to relevant topics. This means that people who are maybe not searching exactly for your content, but closely-related content, can easily stumble across your video and still find value in it.
Tip 8: Add a Call to Action
A call to action provides direction to your viewers. Your business created great video content and you are getting lots of views. But, what is the next step? You should ask yourself, what is the business’s purpose behind this video? Are you creating brand awareness?
Do you want people to engage with your content by liking, leaving a comment, or sharing it? Are you announcing a new vacancy and want people to go to your website to find out more? Be voiced about what you want your audience to do next and do not shy away.
How to Set Up Facebook Video Ads?
By taking on board our facebook video tips, you should be ready to create your ad! Here we will run you through each step of how to make a Facebook video ad.
You can create a Facebook video ad using Ads Manager. It is important that you make sure you use a supported file format and that your video meets the minimum specifications needed to deliver your ad successfully.
Steps to Create a Video Ad
It only takes a few simple steps to create a Facebook video ad. Follow this guide and your video will be ready to go.
- Go to Ads Manager.
- Click ‘+ Create’.
- Choose an objective that supports video and then click ‘Continue’
- Choose your targeting, placements and budget and then click ‘Continue’.
- In the ‘Formats’ section, click ‘Carousel’ or ‘Single image or video’. This format supports slideshow ads.
- Upload your video in Ads Manager. If your format is ‘Single image or video’: Select the ‘Video/Slideshow’ tab. Click ‘Upload video’ to upload a new video or ‘Browse library’ to select a video from your library.
- Click ‘Customise video’ and select ‘Crop’ to choose an aspect ratio (4:5, 9:16, 1:1 or 16:9) for your video, and then click ‘Apply changes’. Depending on the aspect ratio you choose, your video may be eligible for different placements.
- Click ‘Customise video’, then select ‘Thumbnails’ to upload an image or select a still frame to use as a thumbnail. Then click ‘Apply changes’.
- When you’ve finished, click ‘Confirm’ to publish the video ad.
Facebook video ads give you access to such a vast number of users, often directly to a hand-held device during their social time. This brings a new kind of power for marketers in place of expensive TV advertisements.
The latest Facebook video ad formats:
Video Carousels
Video carousels allow showing a series of 2-10 auto-playing square videos in one ad unit. They are ideal for demonstrating product capabilities, extended tutorials etc. Video views under 3 minutes work best. Carousels stand out in the news feed and each video can have its own caption and link.
Dynamic Product Video Ads
These templates automatically pull product catalog images and details into video ad formats. They work very well for ecommerce brands wanting to showcase products without shooting separate videos. The dynamic templates save effort while still catching attention.
Brand Video Spotlights
Video spotlights enable showing a longer 5-10 minute video prominently on the Facebook news feed. A thumbnail, title and persistent progress bar keeps viewers engaged. Well suited for more in-depth branded content.
Collection Ads
Collection video ads allow bundling 4 product videos, images etc together to promote under one campaign. Useful when wanting to highlight a product line or related offerings. A unified thumbnail ties the units together.
Testing these newer ad formats can help drive more engagement as they enable fresh video experiences compared to single static video uploads.
Recent changes to Facebook video ad analytics and KPI reporting to cover:
Facebook Video Ad Metrics & Updates
Over the past year, Facebook has rolled out some significant expansions around video ad metrics and reporting:
- 10-Second Video Views: New metric highlights views of the first 10 seconds to gauge early engagement
- 2-Second Views: Tracks views of just the first 2 seconds to understand initial interest
- Audience Retention Reporting: Visualized retention graph shows viewing drop off
- Hashtag Challenge Metrics: For hashtag challenges, metrics for entries, entrants and views
- Multi-Touch Attribution: Custom modeling to credit conversions across channels
- 28-Day Click & View Attribution: Expanded attribution windows beyond 7 days
The additional attention metrics provide more granular visibility into video ad early engagement. Brands can use this data to tweak creative messaging, formats and bidding.
Expanded view attribution windows also attribute more downstream conversions to video ads viewed earlier in buyers’ journeys. This leads to better demonstrating true video ad value.
Staying up-to-date on Facebook’s evolving array of video analytics unlocks opportunities for tighter video ad optimization and superior reporting.
Key bidding strategies and optimization tips for boosting Facebook video Ads campaign performance:
Bid Strategies
- Start with aggressive impression-based bids to gain data quickly: Bid high initially (e.g. $0.10+ CPM) to amass impressions and metrics faster for analysis
- Transition to cost efficient engagement bidding: Lower CPM bids to $0.02-$0.05 range later on and focus spend on best performing audiences
- Leverage interest-based bidding signals for relevance: Use “Detailed Targeting” interest selections for 1-5% lookalike bid boosts
Optimization Tips
- Analyze 10-second views and 2-second views for early engagement clues
- Look at audience retention graphs to ID poor performing sections
- Test different formats – square, landscape, vertical
- Adjust bidding up/down based on view rates and cost per 10-second view
- Create seperate ad sets for best performing placements
Continually calibrate bids based on latest metrics and find the lowest cost bid ranges to achieve KPI targets. Not all audiences or placements will warrant the same bid levels.
Key ways Facebook video ads intersect with Facebook Live streaming and other video initiatives:
Promoting Live Streams
Video ads can drive planned Facebook Live broadcasts and episodic video content viewership. Geo/interest targeting helps reach interested audiences.
Repurposing Live Videos
Segments or clips from Live broadcasts can be turned into pre-roll/mid-roll video ads themselves. The authentic content already resonates with audiences.
Introducing Stream Content
Video ads also enable sampling and trailers from longer-form creator streaming content to orient viewers.
Driving Following
Video ads that capture viewer attention can convert impressions into Facebook Page follows for ongoing viewership. They establish recurring tune-in behavior.
In summary, video ads offer excellent synergy with Facebook video initiatives like Live and Facebook Stream. Ads provide organic discovery, repurpose existing content effectively and build durable interactive viewership when sequenced properly in the funnel.
Brands owning the full spectrum from video ads to live broadcasting to serial content can maximize reach and loyalty.
Updated social video advertising spend statistics and benchmarks:
- U.S. advertisers spent $26 billion on online video ads in 2022, up nearly 40% year-over-year. (IAB)
- Facebook holds the highest market share at 37% for all digital video advertising as of mid-2022. (eMarketer)
- Total social video ad spend reached $32 billion in 2022 globally, rising to over $56 billion expected by 2025. (Statista)
- As of 2022, typical CPM rates for social video ads range from $20–$30+ depending on audience targeting. (Influencer Marketing Hub)
- In terms of engagement, average view rates achieved are 4–8% across formats like video carousels, single video uploads. (Wordstream)
- By platform, typical click-through rates range between 0.5–1% on YouTube, 1–2% on Facebook/Instagram, and over 2% on TikTok. (Oberlo)
So in summary – advertisers continue ramping video ad investments across social channels, especially on YouTube and Facebook which combine to control over 70% market share. And optimized social video ads can drive engagement rates many times higher than static image ads thanks to richer formats.
Facebook Video Ads FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions on Facebook Video Ads:
Q: What video formats work best for Facebook videos ads?
A: Square and vertical videos tailor best to mobile. Landscape OK too.
Q: Do Facebook video ads need high production quality?
A: Basic quality is fine – authenticity and messaging matter more.
Q: How much do Facebook video ads cost?
A: $20-$30+ CPM on average depending on targeting.
Q: What’s the ideal video length for Facebook video ads?
A: 30-90 seconds performs best typically.
Facebook Video Ads Conclusion
In closing, as video consumption continues rising across digital platforms, Facebook video ads present a prime opportunity for brands to showcase products, convey messaging and drive website traffic at scale.
Success requires not just compelling video creative but also disciplined testing of ad formats, placements and bidding strategies based on robust analytics. Dialing in cost efficient bids while maximizing early engagement KPIs like 10-second views separates the best performers.
And platforms like Facebook provide turnkey video creation tools, diverse targeting options, and integrated follow-up actions to activate viewers after capturing their attention with video.
As budgets grow in the video ad space, mastering Facebook provides impactful returns.
For a relatively low budget, why not experiment to see what video ads can do for your business.
At ProfileTree, we offer a range of digital advertising training and services. If you’re curious, have a chat with us now.
ProfileTree
Claire Mulligan // 11th February 2024 
Eman Sameh // 11th February 2024