Social media image ads work well. They can get the job done. That’s why when you visit social networks you always get bombarded by multiple image ads.
But if you want to generate more engagement and get a higher ROI from your ads you need to switch to videos.
Video ads generate on average 7.5 X more clicks than still ads. There are also studies like this one that show that video ads on networks like Facebook can generate 20 to 30% more conversions.
Video ads generate more engagement because fewer people publish videos on social media. Recent studies show that, although the number is growing, only 15% of Facebook posts are videos, and only 18% of Instagram posts are videos.
This is why when you publish a video ad on social media it will stand out amongst the sea of still images and text and gather more attention.
However, you won’t automatically see a better ROI just because you switch to social media video ads. In order to get the best results, you need to create the right video ads for the right network and follow up with a funnel that complements the ad.
I'm going to show you how to do just this below...
Choose your social networks well
Not all social networks will suit your purposes. In choosing social networks for your video ads, you need to take 2 main things into consideration:
Demographics: People of different demographics are active on different networks. For example, if you want to target an older audience, for example, Facebook would be a good option, while for reaching a younger audience, you also need to consider YouTube, Instagram or Snapchat.
Source: Statista
And of course, if you want to reach business professionals, a network like Linkedin would be your first choice.
Type of traffic: Another factor you need to take into account is the type of traffic you want. For example, if you want more warm traffic, Facebook and Instagram would be the best options as retargeting ads convert really well with these networks.
While if you want more cold traffic, you’d go for YouTube as you can target a massive number of people who have never heard of you before, just like you do with GDN (Google Display Network) ads. On GDN you can display your ads on the most read articles, while on YouTube you can display your ads on the most viewed videos.
If you were selling gardening equipment. You’d get your video ad to appear on a video like this one from Garden Answer on growing succulents.
With over 2.7 million views you can be sure that many of the people who watch this will be interested in your gardening products.
Set up high converting landing pages
After you’ve selected your social media platforms, you should create your landing pages. I like to set up the landing pages before I create the video ad because I want the video to complement the landing page.
The landing page is as important as the ad when it comes to generating sales. The ad drives the traffic and the landing page converts it. So, spend as much time on the landing page as you do on the ad, if not more.
If possible, create a longer version of the video you plan to use in your ad and place it on the landing page. This can make the landing page and the ad work cohesively.
An example of a good landing page with a video is this one from Right Channel Radios.
It’s not only got a video, it also has several other key design elements:
- photos
- a prominent call to action button
- the best seller badge
- reviews
- well-written, persuasive copy
If you don’t have the time or know-how to design your own landing page there are many e-commerce services that have teams of experienced designers and marketers who can create videos, landing pages, and even write high converting copy. Shopify, for example, has both a design service and a builder and apps you can use to design your own landing page yourself.
Create different ads for different networks
One of the reasons why you need to decide on which networks to focus on early on is because you need to create different ads for different networks. A video that works for one network will not necessarily work well on another.
For example, landscape videos work best on YouTube, while on Pinterest it’s portrait/vertical videos.
Different lengths and formats will be optimal so once you’ve chosen your platform(s) make sure you research their particular requirements and guidelines.
It’s best to create unique footage for each ad, but if you are pressed for time, you can take a single one, modify the dimensions and edit the video length for different networks. There are lots of great free and paid video editing tools you can use for this.
Brand reinforcement
One thing all your ads should have is strong brand reinforcement, so make sure you add your logo and slogan or strapline. Adding it to the end of your video is a very effective way to make sure your brand is firmly fixed in your audience’s mind, and it’s something that many top brands such as Nike or McDonalds will do.
Nike commercial
And if you don't yet have one, there are lots of free slogan generator tools to give you ideas.
Optimize for silent viewing
An important point to bear in mind while creating your video ad is that many people will watch it on the go, while travelling or in public places.
Results of a survey show 83% of people will watch videos with the sound off, and 80% of consumers are more likely to watch an entire video when it has subtitles available.
Optimizing your videos for silent viewing and adding subtitles is easily done with video editing software, as for example in this video ad from Yogabody.
Launch to video viewers
Once your videos and landing pages are ready you can begin writing the descriptions, setting up the ads, and choosing who to target.
On networks like YouTube, it is obvious that you will reach only video viewers. However, on networks like Instagram and Facebook, people consume different kinds of media and the network gives you the option to create a custom audience consisting of video watchers.
So, take advantage of this and target video watchers. If they have watched your videos in the past, they will be more likely to watch your video ad fully. You can actually get more specific about the video metrics here, targeting people based on how much of your videos they have watched.
Launch your video ad this way, and if it does well with this audience, you can start targeting other audiences, for example retargeting website visitors, email subscribers or existing customers.
To get the most out of your ad it’s worth running a warm-up campaign where you share videos organically. These can be a combination of in-feed posts, stories, and live videos. Live videos can help you rack up a lot of views as they are a one-time event like webinars and more people will want to take part.
Many webinar platforms let you simultaneously cast your webinar as a live video on networks such as Facebook and YouTube. Take advantage of this to reach more people on multiple networks.
Track data and improve your ad and landing page
As with other content and marketing, you should tweak and test your ad and landing page to see what works best with your audience.
However good the first version of your ad and landing page is, you should test changes to improve performance further. So, keep monitoring and split testing. A good social media analytics tool will help you with both your organic and video ad analytics.
Conclusion
Follow this process to produce video ads and a funnel to boost conversions. Creating video ads take longer than still image ads, but you’ll reap the rewards in higher click-through and conversion rates.
