Create Powerful Social Video Ads for Your Small Business

Video ads are the top way that consumers find out about a new brand before purchasing, with Instagram standing out as a purchase driver this year. The social media giant is showing the biggest increase year over year of any platform. However, consumers still rate Facebook and Youtube as the first and second best platforms for watching socials videos from brands.

Here’s the nice thing about video advertising — it’s the ad format with the highest engagement rates on the internet, and since mobile video viewing is at all time highs, more and more people are ready to watch your video ads. Does that mean that your next video advertisement will magically perform better than your image ads? Not necessarily. It’s easier said than done.

A video ad requires more work than an image ad, a bigger budget, and coordination with more people. There’s also a higher probability of doing it wrong and undermining the success of your next marketing campaign. So how can you ensure the highest likelihood of success with your social video ads?

Don’t Sell a Product. Sell a Solution.

Once I heard someone say that when people go to Home Depot to get a drill, they are not actually looking forward to buying the tool. What they need is a hole in the wall.

With social video advertising, the idea is to provide value to your customers in the first place.

Here are just a few ideas on how you can make sure the video ad addresses customers’ needs:

1. Provide a solution to a common pain point
2. Entertain the viewer
3. Evoke emotions and educate your audience. Share curious facts, industry trends and stats, or useful tips related to your product or service.

So, What Makes a Social Video Ad Successful?

With ever-changing social trends and saturated environment, it seems more difficult than ever for a business to create compelling social video ads. How can your company thrive and get results with social advertising? Check out our tips below.

In order to win the video ads war, shorter video ads seem to be a key component. Of course your video has to be engaging in order to keep viewers watching, and it must also represent a strong call-to-action to get your viewer to action as you intend whether it’s subscribing, requesting a quote, signing-up, driving viewers to your website (landing page) or making a direct purchase.

1.Make the first seconds count.

2. Focus on a single goal.

3. Use the right dimensions (different platforms have different sizes, dimensions and even vertical vs horizontal)

4. Think about thumbnail that will attract viewers

5. Have a clear, strong call-to-action

6. Try A/B testing instead of throwing darts at a dart board  blindly.

Final Thoughts…

While video is quickly becoming consumer’s favorite kind of branded content on social media, there are still reasons for marketers to be weary of it. Successful video creation requires the proper knowledge and equipment to produce eye-catching, engaging successful video marketing campaigns. For this reason, video ads should be left to video marketing and production professionals  and not the do-it-yourselfer.

When you plan out your content for your first touch point, create video that engages, entertains, and educates. If you pass a cookware salesperson in a retail setting, and that person is a bore, you keep walking, which is the same as scrolling or skipping. But if they’re impossible to look away from, you may stand there for 2, 3, 5 minutes and before you know it you’re buying cookware you didn’t even know you needed.

Are you ready to add social video ads to a part of your marketing mix? Contact us for a free, no-obligation video marketing discovery session today.