Why Use Facebook Video Ads? 9 Benefits You Just Can’t Ignore

Video content consumption is all set to hit the 82% mark of all consumer internet traffic by 2022 and that is exactly why your marketing campaigns must include video ads.

With so many tools to nail down your audience, Facebook video ads were designed to be powerful. In fact, launching Facebook video ads is now a crucial part of most ad campaigns and the key to establishing a strong online presence. However, by understanding the many benefits of Facebook video ads, it becomes much easier to get the most out of them.

So, we decided to run you through the key components of Facebook video ads and also their many benefits. We’ll also provide you with some tips to help you design a power-packed Facebook video ads campaign that converts like none other, so let’s get started.

What are the main benefits of Facebook video ads?

Facebook video ads open up a whole new world that you can explore, and we’ll show you that they’re worth your time and effort.

So, let’s dive into some of the core benefits of video ads on Facebook and figure out how to get the most out of them.

1. Grab attention immediately

You definitely remember the movies you watch far better than the books you read.

Well, that’s because if a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video gets much ahead of that.

Therefore, showing up Facebook video ads such as In-Stream ads to a highly targeted audience is definitely more likely to grab instant attention.

In-Stream ads are especially great for grabbing this attention since they appear more than one minute into another Facebook video. At this time point, you can be sure the viewer wants to continue watching, so they’ll watch your ad all the way.

This is even more important in times of strong competition, such as Black Friday/Cyber Monday.

Quick Tips

• Shorter ads perform better on Facebook - 5-15 seconds is a good length.
• Use in-stream ads to increase your chance of grabbing attention.
• Grab the viewer’s attention within the first 3-5 seconds. That’s how long it takes Facebook users to scroll down their feed.

2. Increase ad engagement

Ad engagement has a direct impact on its reach as Facebook’s algorithm takes careful note of that.

Facebook, therefore, allows advertisers to reach out to higher-targeted and larger sets of audiences by sorting them out based on engagement rate.

You can also leverage that by creating a custom audience based on their engagement rate. This could be viewers who have watched your video for a particular amount of time.

As these audiences are likely to be more interested in your offering, retargeting them can definitely drive a higher conversion rate and higher ROAS.

In addition, picking the right ad format can drive more engagement as well.

Let’s say you wish to sell an online course and are trying to get your foot in the door. In that case, Facebook Feed or In-Stream video ads can help you drive more engagement.

On the other hand, if you run an e-commerce store and wish to crack more sales, then choosing video or image Carousel ads would probably be more profitable.

Furthermore, you can add polls to your video ads to create engaging Instagram and Facebook poll ads.

‍Quick Tips

• Select your ad format based on your campaign objective.
• Include or exclude engaged audiences from your campaigns for budgeting or retargeting purposes.
• Scale the ad sets that drive the most engagement.

3. Increase brand awareness

Facebook has over 2.7 billion active users, which is a huge potential audience, and if that’s not enough, almost 1.79 billion of them are active on a regular basis.

With that sort of audience, creating a strong online presence for your brand can be a piece of cake. However, you need to reach out to the right people - those who are interested in the kind of product or service you offer.

One of the key benefits of Facebook video ads is that you can reach out to a particular set of audiences. Facebook’s powerful algorithm helps you do that by letting businesses create objective-specific campaigns, and one of those objectives is Brand Awareness.

Facebook then optimizes the ads based on certain predefined metrics such as linger time to figure out who is most likely to recall your ad. And the recommended ad format for Brand Awareness campaigns according to Facebook is - you guessed it right - video ads.

4. Drive more conversions

Facebook ad conversion rates are much higher than on most other platforms, which means businesses can generate higher ROIs.

Among all ad formats on Facebook, video ads drive the highest CTR on average.

These ads drive more conversions as they help you create an emotional connection with your audience.

‍Quick Tips

• Set a clear conversion goal for your campaign, whether it’s Purchase, Lead, Subscribe, or any other type of conversion.
• Create your video ads based on the kind of conversion you wish to achieve.
• Make use of Facebook Analytics to assess your ad performance and optimize based on your data.
• Use your Meta Pixel data to retarget people who already visited your website and increase your conversion rate.

5. Share more information

As compared to text or images, a video ad lets you share a lot more information that can drive the viewer to take the desired action.

Facebook is quite generous with video ad length and lets advertisers post in-stream ads between 5 and 15 seconds.

You can also choose other types of ads that can (surprisingly) run for hours, but we do not recommend you to use videos that are too long, at least in most cases.

After all, attention spans are reducing, and if you wish to create a successful Facebook video ad, it is important to keep it short and crisp.

‍Quick Tips

• Keep your videos short - maximum 5-15 seconds long.
• Pack the most critical information within the first 5 seconds.
• Provide information that helps you connect with a diverse set of audiences.

6. Demonstrate your expertise

Unlike image or text ads, video ads allow you to speak to your audiences and demonstrate your expertise to sell them your product or service. You can package all the vital information within the first 5 seconds of your video and grab the attention of your potential customers.

Using video ads gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your success with previous clients and customers and educate your audience. This can become even more meaningful once your prospective customers apply your tips and see the results they desire.

This makes it perfect for selling various products, e-Learning courses, professional consultations, and other services. Also, it is perfect to sell B2B solutions because your potential customers may not always have the time to read through the text.

‍Quick Tips

• Create videos demonstrating success stories your customers and clients had.
• Give away free educational videos. This content is very popular because it gives value to your potential customers, and it’ll also make them acknowledge your expertise.

7. Differentiate yourself from the competition

Facebook advertising is a very competitive market with 9 million active advertisers in the second quarter of 2020. This means you must provide something special in order to differentiate yourself from the competition.

Creating a high-quality video ad is a tough task that requires a lot of time and effort. Therefore, most of your competitors may not do it. Hence, this is your chance to stand out and get ahead of your competition.

Use Facebook video ads to tell your potential customers what makes you different from the rest. You can do that by addressing the pain points of your potential customers that your competitors have not yet addressed.

This could be anything from industry-specific problems to something that a particular client of yours had experienced. Also, add in client testimonials that outline your problem-solving ability and speak about how you did that for your client.

‍Quick Tips

• Create high-quality videos to make your business stand out.
• Prove your potential customers that you can solve their problems.
• Mention use cases to help them better understand and value your offer.
• Provide Client testimonials to create trust.

8. Use Instagram to its full potential

Facebook lets you show your ads in the Instagram feed and this is something you cannot miss out on. Instagram is the second-largest social media platform after Facebook and an absolute visual treat. So, if you plan to run video ad campaigns then you simply cannot miss out on this platform.

You can promote your video ads in-stream, on Instagram feeds, or in Instagram stories. However, you need to choose the right format to connect with your audiences.

9. Retarget video viewers and create lookalikes

You can qualify who is interested in your product or service by retargeting people who viewed 50%, 75%, 90% of your video ads. These people have shown a clear interest in your brand and are much more prone to convert.

You can both retarget them or create lookalike audiences based on their characteristics in order to acquire new customers that are likely to engage with your brand. On the whole, Facebook’s detailed targeting options indeed make it great for retargeting journeys, and video ads are an integral part of these journeys.

6 tips for creating successful Facebook video ads

Now that you know all the benefits of Facebook video ads, we'll give you some tips that will help you use them to your benefit.

1. Create short and crisp content

As we already mentioned, our attention span keeps decreasing.

Hence, you want to create videos that are shorter than 1 minute, and the ideal length is probably 5-15 seconds.

2. Grab attention in the first few seconds

When people scroll through their feed and encounter your video, they’ll watch about 3-5 seconds while scrolling. Therefore, you want to make these first seconds count and grab their attention with something unique. That’s why you also need to mention your brand within the first few seconds of your video.

3. Don’t neglect viewers that consume content with the sound off

Many people would view your video while they're on public transport or in a restaurant. In these situations, they probably won’t like everyone to know what they’re doing, and if they have no headphones, they’ll just view your video without sound.

So, make sure your videos convey the desired message with the sound off as well. In addition, consider adding subtitles to your videos to make sure no information is lost when viewing them soundlessly.

4. Scatter your CTA throughout the video clip

If you want to guide your viewers towards the desired action, you should repeat your message a few times in each video. You can use a tagline calling your audience to “Sign Up Now!” or “Buy Now!”. Don’t overdo it though, as you wouldn’t like to annoy people and get negative reactions to your ads.

5. Think mobile-first

As most people will view your video on their mobile device, you want to make sure you have a mobile-friendly design. This means that you want to use large fonts and clear images that can be easily understood on a small screen as well. You also want to start your video with some thumb-stopping images that will make your audience stop scrolling and watch your ad.

6. Tell an interesting story

If you want people to stick around for the whole video and create an emotional connection with your business, you have to make it interesting enough for them. Get them curious and tell them a compelling story. Use a hook right at the beginning and make it personal.

Examples of inspiring Facebook video ads from 2020

Monday.com

This ad grabs your attention right away by telling a compelling story.

Moreover, it provides the most important information and mentions the brand name within the first 5 seconds: The team is using Monday.com to manage their projects online.

In addition, it shows use cases to prove how useful the product is, especially now when everyone is working from home. It’s also shorter than 1 minute and has captions for those who watch it without sound.

Taft

This is an amazing example of including customer testimonials to create trust. This ad is full of customers who don’t only buy Taft shoes, but have a whole collection of those!

It’s different and authentic because these are home-made videos prepared by Taft’s customers. Camouflaging the ad as an “ordinary” video that could have been created by any of your Facebook friends makes it less plausible that you skip it. Taft also made sure to create an ad that lasts less than 1 minute and didn’t forget the captions.

Nike

This list will not be complete without one of the most successful and the most talked-about ads of the year. This ad creates such a unique experience from the very first moment, that you can’t ignore it.

The perfect merging of two videos into a single continuous motion grabs attention and differentiates Nike from all of its competitors. Note how Nike’s logo appears right from the start (on the athlete’s shirt).

This video was kept within the recommended length of 1 minute and contains captions, of course. Moreover, this video is very attractive, even without sound or captions.

There are so many more elements in this ad, of course, but we’ll do with those for now.

Looking for unlimited video designs?

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Key takeaways

Facebook video ads have multiple benefits that make them essential for your next campaigns. Take this opportunity Facebook provides you with to grab more attention and drive more conversions.

Connect with your audience emotionally, demonstrate your expertise, and provide them with the information that will make them convert. We’ve also provided you with useful tips to create video ads that convert, so you can now leverage this tool to its full potential.

Good luck!

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*Contributed to this article: Pooja H.