Facebook video is a great avenue for marketers that want to establish brand presence and tell a story at a very efficient cost to a specific audience. It can be debated whether or not Facebook video is more costly than YouTube ads for a completed view, but with the amount of rich data Facebook has, there are many more targeting capabilities than that of YouTube. Not only is Facebook the largest social network in the world, but it has made many advancements such as the auto play feature that help advertisers grab a user’s attention in a three second window as well as updated analytics that allow advertisers to gauge how many users completed a video.
The advancements made within the last year on Facebook video have now made it a powerhouse in video advertising, and there are a few secrets to this form of advertising not many marketers know about. Facebook is used to build brand awareness, create conversation or engagement, and ultimately drive traffic to a website at a very efficient cost primarily through the form of newsfeed ads. However, video ads can do all three, if not more! Here are a few secrets to help your Facebook video campaign flourish:
- Align your Facebook campaign objective with your main KPI. If you want users to watch your video, setup your Facebook campaign with the video views objective. If you want to drive traffic to your website, setup your campaign with the website clicks objective. Facebook will serve ads to users with similar behaviors based on your campaign objective. For example, the video view’s objective allows marketers to reach users that are more willing to watch a video all the way through while the website clicks objective allows marketers to reach users who are more willing to click through to the website. It only seems appropriate to choose the video views objective in a video ads campaign, but if marketers want users to watch the video ad and click through to the website, then choose the website clicks objective to achieve optimal results.
- Retarget users who completed your video with Newsfeed ads. Facebook auto-populates users who have viewed and completed a video into their own audience. Users who completed the video will be more interested in clicking through on a Newsfeed ad than users who viewed it because they were engaged throughout the video. Remember to offer similar messaging and content in the Newsfeed ad to ensure users click through to the website.
- Test both short and long videos to see which format resonates with your audience more. Short 15 and 30 second cuts can help build brand awareness quickly while videos longer than a minute can help shape a user’s opinion. Remember not to let the economics of video production determine how long a video ad should be; rather, determine the length by how effectively you tell a story and position your brand.
Strides in Facebook video have helped it become a growing leader in the video community with over 500 million daily video users. It continues to grow in strength and creativity, as Facebook introduces many new forms of video each year such as 360 degree or live broadcasting. There is a huge opportunity for brands utilize Facebook’s video advertising capabilities. What’s holding you back?
Sean Brennan
Just Media, Inc.
Sources:
https://developers.facebook.com/videos/f8-2016/the-future-of-video-on-facebook/
