10 Facebook Video Ads Best Practices For Ecommerce Brands

Facebook video ads have emerged as a powerhouse, revolutionizing how brands connect with their audience.

With over 2.8 billion monthly active users on Facebook, the platform presents a vast arena for marketers to showcase their brands. But what truly sets Facebook apart is its robust engagement with video content. Recent statistics reveal a staggering trend: users watch over 100 million hours of video on Facebook daily, highlighting the immense potential of video content in capturing user attention. With such massive consumption, knowing the best practices of video ads on Facebook is critical to the success of your business. 

This surge in video content consumption on Facebook isn’t just a passing trend; it’s a significant shift in user behavior. With their dynamic and engaging format, videos have become the preferred medium for content consumption on the platform. This preference for video content is reshaping marketing strategies, compelling businesses to adapt and leverage the power of Facebook video ads to reach, engage, and scale your brand effectively.

The Power of Facebook Video Advertising: Impact on Users and Conversion Potential

Regarding impact, Facebook video ads stand out for their ability to create meaningful connections with users. These ads, often characterized by compelling narratives and stunning visuals, are not just seen but experienced. This immersive experience translates into remarkable viewer engagement rates. Data indicates that video ads on Facebook have an average click-through rate (CTR) of 1.84%, the highest among all digital ad formats. This statistic alone underscores the efficacy of video ads in driving user engagement.

But the power of Facebook video ads extends beyond just engagement; it drives conversions. Businesses leveraging video ads on Facebook report significant increases in conversion rates, with some sectors witnessing up to a 30% rise in sales attributed to video advertising. The secret lies in the format’s ability to convey messages more effectively, foster emotional connections, and persuade action.

Moreover, with advanced targeting options on Facebook, video ads can be precision-targeted to reach specific demographics, interests, and behaviors, ensuring that your message reaches the most receptive audience. This targeted approach, coupled with the compelling nature of video content, results in higher conversion rates, making Facebook video ads a critical tool in the arsenal of digital marketers.

Best Practices for Video Ads

1. Use High-Engagement Hooks

Start your video with a compelling hook within the first 3 seconds to grab attention. Test different angles to see which resonates most with your audience.

Conventional wisdom suggests that shorter is better for online video ads, with many marketers aiming for the 15-30-second sweet spot. However, this perspective overlooks a crucial element – viewer engagement. An entertaining, captivating video ad can hold the audience’s attention far longer, turning what could be a mere transactional experience into a memorable one.

How do you make good hooks for ads?

1. Identify Your Audience’s Pain Points

• Understand Your Audience: Research to understand the challenges or desires of your target audience. Your hook should directly address these pain points or aspirations.
• Empathy: Start with a statement or question that shows you understand and empathize with their situation.

2. Use a Strong Opening Statement or Question

• Provocative Questions: Pose a thought-provoking question that prompts viewers to think and seek answers.
• Bold Statements: Use a bold or controversial statement to pique interest. Ensure it’s aligned with your brand and not misleading.

3. Incorporate Visual Surprises or Unusual Imagery

• Unexpected Visuals: Start with an image or scene that’s unexpected or out of the ordinary to draw immediate attention.
• Visual Metaphors: Use a visual metaphor relevant to your message but presented unconventionally.

4. Use Humor or Wit

• Light Humor: Open with a light joke, pun, or witty remark relevant to your product or message.
• Relatable Humor: Ensure the humor is relatable and appropriate for your target audience.

5. Create a Sense of Urgency or Intrigue

• Intrigue: Start with a mysterious or intriguing premise that leaves viewers wanting more.
• Urgency: Use words or scenarios that create a sense of urgency or importance.

6. Show the End Result or Benefit

• Desirable Outcome: Show the end benefit of your product or service. For example, start with a satisfied customer or a resolved problem.
• Before and After Use a quick before-and-after scenario to demonstrate the effectiveness of your product.

2. Advanced Retargeting Based on Viewer Engagement

Facebook provides a whole lot of data on the performance of ads; one such thing is the ability to retarget based on the retarget based on view rate of video ads.

Implement retargeting strategies based on how much of your video was watched. For instance, target viewers who watched more than 75% of your video differ from those who watched less. As the former are more engaged and more likely to buy the product.

Retargeting campaigns should be tailored based on these engagement levels. High-engagement viewers might respond more to direct sales pitches, while low-engagement viewers may require more brand storytelling or educational content. You can move users further down the sales funnel by customizing your approach for each segment.

3. Optimize for Sound-Off Viewing

Create videos that are equally effective with or without sound. Many Facebook users scroll through their feeds with the sound off. So, it’s essential to craft videos that are just as effective without sound as they are with it.

Strategies for Sound-Off Viewing:

1. Captions are Key:
   • Incorporating captions ensures that your message is conveyed even when the video is viewed without sound. It’s not just about displaying dialogue; captions can also describe critical audio cues.
2. Engaging Visual Storytelling:
   • Rely on strong, visually compelling storytelling. Use vibrant visuals, expressive characters, and clear visual narratives that grab attention and convey your message without sound.
   • Visual cues and storytelling become even more crucial here – think of how to use imagery, text, and transitions to tell your story.
3. On-Screen Text and Graphics:
   • On-screen text and graphics can effectively convey key messages. This includes overlay text for headlines, key benefits, or call-to-actions.
   • Make sure the text is large and legible enough to be read easily on small screens.

4. No Ad is Too Long; it’s Just Too Boring

The first rule of an ad is to be entertaining; the second is to sell. People come on social media to be entertained and rarely to buy.

An excellent way to find what entertains people about your product is to not think about your product but think about the category, so zoom out. Now look at subreddits related to category or search for hashtags and see which type of content gets maximum engagement. That’s it. This template can now be converted into an ad with a sprinkle of creativity.

But nothing would work if not for a good hook, so,

Start with a Relatable Hook

• First Few Seconds: Capture attention in the first 3-5 seconds with something relatable to your audience. It could be a common problem, a humorous observation, or a surprising fact.
• Use Strong Visuals: Make the initial visuals striking or unexpected to draw viewers in immediately.

5. Don’t Make Good Ads, Make Good Content

If there is anything you take away from this best practice for Facebook Ads article, then this is it. To make ads that are just good pieces of content. The true impact of Facebook advertising lies not in creating ads but in crafting content that resonates, engages, and entertains. This pivotal takeaway transforms the traditional view of advertising into a content-centric approach.

How to find good content?

1. Analyze Your Successes:
   • Start by reviewing your brand’s social media channels. Identify posts that have garnered significantly higher engagement, shares, or comments. These are your goldmines.
   • Look for patterns or themes that might explain why these posts succeeded. Did the storytelling aspect, humor, visuals, or user interaction spark interest?
2. Draw Inspiration from Competitors and Community:
   • Expand your horizon by analyzing your competitors’ social media presence. Note which of their posts have high engagement rates and why.
   • Keep an eye on broader community trends. Viral content within your niche provides valuable insights into audience preferences and behaviors.
3. Repurpose with a Twist:
   • When using organic content as a basis for your ads, add a unique twist or value proposition that aligns with your ad objectives. It’s about building on proven success, not just copying it verbatim.
   • For content inspired by competitors or viral community trends, consider how to differentiate while tapping into the same audience interest.

6. Copy from Organic Social

Just scroll through your Instagram feed and find content that has outsized reach or engagement; that is good content; run them as ads or use that format as inspiration to create ads. It has been validated, so there is a low risk of failure.

Hat Tip: Don’t just use your social media. Look at your competitor’s most engaged posts and track what is going viral in your community. Can you create an ad out of this viral template? Then jump on it and make one.

Why Organic Success Stories Matter

• Proven Engagement: Content that has performed well organically has already demonstrated its appeal. Using these as a blueprint for ads reduces the risk of launching content that might not engage your target audience.
• Authenticity Resonates: Organic content often carries an authenticity that polished ad campaigns can sometimes lack. This authenticity can help ads break through the noise and capture attention.

7. Use Post ID’s When Duplicating Ads

Even the best media buyers forget this, but engagement and “social proof” are critical. When you use post ID, when it reaches new audiences, they will likely trust more.

Understanding the Value of Post IDs

• Unified Engagement Metrics: When you duplicate an ad using its Post ID, all likes, shares, and comments from the original ad are retained. This accumulated engagement can boost the ad’s visibility and credibility to new audiences.
• Consistency Across Campaigns: Using the same Post ID maintains message consistency, which is crucial when testing different targeting strategies or placements but wanting to keep the creative constant.

How to Implement Post IDs in Your Strategy

1. Locate the Post ID: Here is a video walkthrough on how to find post id. First, find the Post ID of the ad you want to duplicate. This can be done through Facebook’s Ads Manager by navigating to the ad level and looking for the Post ID in the ad preview section.
2. Duplicating the Ad: When creating a new ad in Ads Manager, choose “Use Existing Post” and enter the Post ID of the ad you wish to duplicate. This action creates a new ad that retains all the engagement of the original.

8. Not Testing Multiple Hooks for the Same Video

I can’t tell you how many times there have been instances where the video ad that did not spend a single dollar suddenly becomes our best ad just because the hook (first 3 seconds) of the ad has been changed

You create one video ad but test at least 3 different angles before discarding it. You will most likely find an ad variation that converts

9. Specific placements creatives

When launching ads on Facebook, always create 2 video sizes, one 1:1 for feed and the other one 16:9 ratio for stories and reels format. The extra work to make those 2 variations is worth it and provides a noticeable performance increase.

You can customize the thumbnail for each placement; sometimes, ads have improved because the thumbnail was changed to a different one.

Where Are Facebook Video Ads Displayed?

Facebook offers a diverse range of placements, each catering to different user behaviors and contexts, making it essential to know these platforms to tailor your video ads effectively.

1. Facebook News Feed

• Primary Placement: The News Feed is the most traditional and prominent placement for Facebook video ads.
• User Engagement: Here, video ads appear organically as users scroll through their feeds, offering a natural and seamless viewing experience.

2. Facebook Stories

• Full-Screen Experience: Stories provide a full-screen, immersive ad experience. Video ads here are particularly effective for grabbing attention in a more personal and engaging format.
• Engagement Opportunity: They allow direct user interaction through features like swipe-up links.

3. Facebook In-Stream Videos

• Mid-Content Placement: These ads appear within the videos that users watch, similar to traditional TV commercials but with the added benefit of targeting and personalization.
• High Engagement: They’re ideal for capturing users’ attention already engaged in video content.

4. Facebook Marketplace

• Contextual Advertising: Marketplace video ads align with users’ shopping interests, offering a unique opportunity to showcase products and services in a shopping-oriented environment.
• Targeted Reach: It’s a strategic spot for reaching users in a purchase mindset.

5. Video Feeds

• Dedicated to Video Lovers: A newer placement, Facebook’s Video Feeds is a section where users frequently watch videos on the platform and can discover more content, making it a hotspot for engaging avid video consumers.

6. Facebook Instant Articles

• Embedded within Articles: Video ads can be placed within Instant Articles, combining the power of written content with engaging video ads.
• Balanced Engagement: This placement is ideal for a more informative and content-rich approach to advertising.

7. Audience Network

• Beyond Facebook: Audience Network allows your video ads to be shown in apps and websites outside of Facebook, expanding your reach beyond the platform.
• Extended Reach: This is crucial for tapping into a broader audience that is not limited to Facebook users.

8. Messenger

• Personal Space Advertising: Video ads in Messenger are displayed in the inbox or between chat threads, reaching users in a more personal digital space.
• Intimate Engagement: Although a more delicate placement, it can be effective if the content aligns well with the conversational nature of the platform.

Optimizing Video Ads for Different Facebook Platforms

Crafting effective Facebook video ads requires understanding the nuances of each platform within Facebook. Each has its own set of best practices, particularly regarding aspect ratios, video lengths, and formats. Let’s delve into how you can optimize your video ads for various Facebook platforms:

Facebook Feed:

• Best Practices: Your video needs to capture attention quickly in the Feed. Use engaging visuals and clear messaging within the first few seconds.
• Video Length: The ideal length is 15-30 seconds, as users typically scroll through the Feed quickly.

Facebook Stories:

• Best Practices: Stories are viewed vertically and in full-screen, making them great for immersive, attention-grabbing content. Incorporate interactive elements like polls or swipe-up links.
• Video Length: Keep it short, preferably under 15 seconds, to match the quick-view nature of Stories.

Facebook Marketplace:

• Best Practices: Since Marketplace is shopping-oriented, your video should be product-focused. Showcase key product features and benefits.
• Video Length: Shorter videos, around 15-20 seconds, work best to engage potential buyers.

Aspect Ratios and Formats:

Measuring Facebook Video Ad Performance

Key Metrics to Track:

1. Hook Rate (3-second video view/Impression) – This helps understand the video ad’s ability to capture the attention of the audience
2. Hold Rate (Video thruplay/3 second video views) – To understand how strong is the story of the video ad after the initial hook
3. View-Through Rate (VTR): The percentage of viewers who watched your video ad to 25%, 50%, 75%, 95%, and 100%. It helps assess the video’s ability to retain viewers.
4. Click-Through Rate (CTR): Indicates the effectiveness of the ad in prompting viewers to take the desired action.
5. Conversion Rate: The percentage of viewers who took a specific action, like making a purchase or signing up, after watching your ad.
6. Cost Per Action (CPA): The cost incurred for each action taken by viewers is essential for evaluating the ROI of the campaign. This is usually purchases for the eCommerce category

Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Facebook Video Advertising

1. Ignoring Mobile Optimization: Ensure your videos are mobile-friendly, with most Facebook users accessing mobile.
2. Overlooking Silent Viewing: Many users watch videos without sound. Use captions or ensure the message is conveyed visually.
3. Neglecting Testing and Adjustments: Regularly test different elements of your video ads (like formats and CTAs) and adjust based on performance data.
4. Inconsistent Branding: Ensure your videos consistently reflect your brand identity and messaging.

Future Trends in Facebook Video Advertising

• Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR): Immersive technologies could revolutionize how brands engage with audiences through video ads.
• Interactive Video Ads: Expect a rise in video ads that allow direct user interaction, enhancing engagement and personalization.
• AI-driven Customization: Advanced AI could enable hyper-personalized video ads based on user behavior and preferences.

Conclusion

To harness the potential of Facebook video ads effectively, staying abreast of best practices and continuously adapting your strategies based on performance data and emerging trends is crucial. Remember, the key to success in Facebook video advertising lies in creating engaging content, optimizing for different platforms, and rigorously measuring performance.

Author: Kanish Jain