8 Best practices to create perfect Facebook video ads

Facebook ads are really interesting. Why? Because they get the attention as soon as possible and generally allure a lot of audience real quick but when they don’t deliver the content and message correctly, they stop watching.

To make a person watch the Facebook videos completely, when I say Complete video I literally mean the part of getting to the final CTA, you video add needs to be engaging. That’s why I have curated a list of 8 best practices to create perfect Facebook video ads

1.Keep the length short

First you need to know about the type of ads before we get to start, there are in-stream ads and standalone ads.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said that compared to 15–30 seconds video, higher brand metrics were attributed to 5 or 6 seconds video.

Instream ads are the ones that start before a video or appears in between a video. Though you have the liberty to make a video of length 31 seconds, the audience wouldn’t definitely like to be distracted when they are already watching a video. So even facebook recommends 5–15 seconds ad for an in stream video ad copy.

Standalone ads are individually placed video ad copies in facebook news feed. Facebook again recommends shorter duration like 5 or 15 seconds.

So final verdict. Go short like 5 to 10 second.

2.Sound Off Views

In 2016 85% of the total Facebook video ad copy views were run with their sounds off. So after that Facebook decided to run video ads with their sounds off as a default option which you can turn it on in a tap.

Even a lot of users keep the tab in mute, regardless of computer or mobile versions they use. With every user watching video ads without sound. How well does your video ad make sense without a sound?

Facebook has recommended that advertisers add captions to their video ads to make sense.

If sources are to be considered, videos with subtitle have increased viewership by 12%.

The voiceover or any sound obviously adds value and an aesthetic appeal but it should never turn out to be an essential.

3.Facebook Video Ad Specs

One of the basic components of setting up a facebook video ad is how you want it to look.

Without a right video ad format, your video ad will probably look out of proportion and fall blunt. Facebook has pretty standard recommendations for a perfect and ideal video ad copy.

First thing first, the optimum aspect ratio for a Facebook video ad should be 9:16 and 16:9.

Now the resolution, the higher the resolution, the better the brand image. Try choosing 4k resolution for a premium video experience. The aesthetic value definitely adds a lot.

The next thing is video size, Facebook supports video size upto 4GB, so make sure your 4k video doesn’t overshoot the size limit.

4.Video Mode

It is highly recommended to either choose from 9:16 vertical ration or 1:1 square ratio video format for your ad copy.

In the mobile versions, square videos take up 78% more screen size than the landscape one.

With over 95% of total Facebook users accessing Facebook through mobile, 78% seems like a really good deal for anyone with basic math knowledge. Simple because the fact that more screen space calls for a better impact and a layout while your texts get instant attention.

A case study from Buffer went on to show that square videos got 35% more views and 100% more engagement ratio than horizontal ones.

Landscape mode is where the video looks aesthetically really pleasing but people won’t really turn their mobile to landscape mode to see just a video.

So the main idea is to seamlessly integrate a bigger video ad format and grab as much attention as possible.

5.Create a story or concept

I get it, it’s so hard to incorporate a story into a 5–10 seconds video. In that case, keeping the video really simple with your brand getting more screen space is a highly beneficial idea.

But if you are looking to create ads for longer duration like 30 seconds to 1 minutes, start by drafting a quick story or a concept around which the video ad or your product revolves. Bonus tip, Go for the emotional factor. That works almost all the time.

The message can be integrated into the concept. But you need to understand if the video ad copy is for conversion or for brand engagement. If it’s for brand engagement, then you can start drafting your story and if you are looking for conversions and sales, stick to shorter video format.

Start brand engagement and then go for short video ad formats for the best results

6.Placement of CTAs

The best place for hosting a CTA is probably the middle part, which has shown to work most of the time by prompting people to take the necessary action you want them to make.

The first big NO is to never place a CTA at the start. First thing, people will never get anything without having a slightest clue of what the products actually are.

Second thing it ruins the aesthetic appeal of the overall ads and the last thing, probably the most important fact is losing a quality 3 seconds to catch audience attention by wasting it on a CTA that no one clicks.

Video hosting company named Wistia analyzed over 300000 videos with their CTAS. 95.9% had CTA at the end, 4% had them in the middle and only 0.1% had them at start.

The middle part had the highest conversion rate by 16.95% when compared to the qo.98% for video end CTA.

By placing it at the end, chances are there where people eventually walk out watching a specific video ad. So place it in the middle as the audience have already engaged with the video and your product.

7. Perfect Thumbnail

Perhaps the one space where people always overlook, the need for a perfect Thumbnail snap. Even though Facebook has auto play video option enabled, most users tend to turn it off to save data. (hey I’m not complaining about that though)

Take a look at this video ad from Tommy Hilfiger where the thumbnail just enhances the overall caption and mood.

How do you get someone to click on your video ad when they have it turned off? You create an element of surprise, bring in a wow factor to build curiosity and probably the only way to do that is to create a tantalizing thumbnail snap.

According to ads guide, thumbnails with over 20% of text on them had a visibly low delivery ratio.

You can either make a custom thumbnail of your own or choose from the 10 thumbnail facebook recommends once you are done uploading your video.

8.Keep Mobile First

Over 95 % of total Facebook users use the mobile version to access the social media giant. And 65% of all Facebook video views come from mobile versions only.

So it is highly recommended to give mobile versions their number one priority. Every time you draft a video ad copy, you always make sure that how it will look on mobile.

Facebook users(mobile users) prefer video lengths of less than a runtime of 15 seconds.

Considering the attention the video ads are getting, it is safer to say that the future is indeed safe for video ads.

Always make sure your video ads are optimized for a better experience for the audience.

Get in the trend now and make your video ads a raging hit. Always remember you can even get a video shot on a normal camera and get it an instant ad hit if your content is really engaging.

Do you wish to learn more or want us to help you grow your business? check us out on Nautica surven, a digital marketing agency, where we talk about ecommerce business and much more. We also help ecommerce businesses to scale greater heights using Facebook ads.