Improve Your Online Video Marketing with Facebook Video Ads

The Future of Video Marketing is Facebook AdsHere’s yet another reason to add professional video production to your marketing budget: Facebook is moving towards providing video ads to businesses.

You may have noticed that recently the videos in your Facebook NewsFeed have started to play automatically. Facebook is preparing to start offering video advertising to companies through 15 second clips that automatically start playing (without sound) when people scroll past them on their NewsFeeds. No word on when these new Facebook ads will roll out to all pages, although a select few brands have already been granted access to them.

Why You Should Invest in Facebook Video Ads The audience targeting that will be possible with video Facebook ads is a huge reason why you need to seriously consider adding them to your marketing plan. More than any other platform at any other time in history, you have the power to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time…and isn’t that the whole goal of marketing to begin with?

What Videos Will Be Successful with Facebook ads? Being successful with Facebook video ads will require creativity, and thinking outside the box. Engaging videos that are creative, artistic, or provide value will be the most popular and get you the best return on your investment. Focus on inciting emotion or helping your viewers rather than trying to sell your product, and you will be successful.

Think about the type of content that you normally see on your Facebook NewsFeed. A successful & engaging Facebook video ad will blend in to the landscape of Facebook and not be obtrusive. You don’t wan’t people to realize they are watching an ad until it’s too late, they’re already captured.

It will also be important to create videos that can tell a story visually, sound not required. Facebook video ads will play automatically without sound until the user chooses to unmute it. So make sure that the video you produce is enhanced by audio, but doesn’t require it to tell the story.

Videos that target a very specific audience will also be successful. There’s an infinite number of ways you can target Facebook audiences to see your video. You can target people who like your competitors Facebook page, and create a video that compares your product to your competition. You can also target people who like a certain sports team or activity, and work that interest into your video. The customization that is possible with Facebook ads should be mirrored by the video content that you create.

What Videos Will Not Be Successful with Facebook Ads Gimmicky, traditional push marketing videos that look like commercials will be ineffective with Facebook video ads. And since the consumer has the power to hide the ad, block you from advertising to them, or unlike your page in just once click, you want to be extra careful to make sure that your video is right for the audience you are targeting.

How To Run Video Ads Right Now You don’t need to wait for Facebook to roll out their official new video ads feature to start using video in your Facebook ads. All you need to do is post a video to your Facebook page, and then Boost the post.

The videos won’t automatically play like they will in official Facebook video ads, and the layout will look a little different, but the basic concept is the same. The bonus is that you can use videos that are longer than 15 seconds, although 15 seconds is an ideal length for posting to Facebook.

Hint: Go through the advertising page on your Facebook account to boost the post instead of boosting it from your page. You will get a lot more control of the where the ad is displayed and who it’s displayed to with the advanced features that are not offered with the simple version of boosting on the page.

Have you had success using video on Facebook or in conjunction with Facebook ads? Share your experience in the comments below.