Advertising with Facebook video ads is a new and powerful way to market your business or brand.  It seems that mobile video is gaining loyal followers that increase by the day and, undoubtedly, you want in, especially now we know for sure that every single part of a video view drives value. N o wonder the social media giant Mark Zuckerberg has quadrupled Facebook’s video views in just 12 months!

If you are a marketers that wants a share of this pie but don’t know where to start, here’s a guide to create highly effective video ad campaigns.

  1. Set your Goals

Determine what you want to achieve.  Drive conversions?  Increase brand awareness? Prioritise your objectives, choose the metrics you want to track, and plan accordingly.  The most common Key Performance Indicators or KPIs are:

  • Conversion KPIs – This includes CTR, clicks, and revenue generated.
  • Engagement KPIs – How much of your video each viewer watched (audience retention), how relevant was it to your target audience, and engagement.
  • Audience Reach KPIs – Brand awareness, how many of your target audience the video has reached (In-target audience percent), and how many viewers watched your video.
  1. Determine your Target Audience

Who do you want to attract with your video campaign?  People that like your FB page? Women over their 30s?  Sports enthusiasts between 35-45?  Your video ad’s audience should be number targeted. Yes, you will get less views than with a wider audience, but your CTR will most likely reward you.  You are targeting only the relevant people, which is a big deal for the success of the campaign.

Depending on the target audience of choice, you can choose by gender, interests, location, age, work, life events and so many more.  Just go to the “Audience Insights” page (you can find it in the FB Ads Manager) and explore your options and come across interesting data, such as the target audience with the highest LTV and/or CTR.

  1. Decide on how to create the video

You need to determine your topic, the takeaway message, and the CTA, before you write the script.  If you are doing a voice-over, write up what you want to say and how.  Will you include graphics?  Will they have text?  Is your message short and concise (keep your ad short)?  Does it flow naturally?

Then create the video.  Will you use a studio set up or just go with a good smartphone and a mic?  Think about that too.

  1. Set up your campaign

If you are familiar with setting up normal FB ads, you’ll find setting up a video ad campaign pretty simple.  Else, use the Power Editor or Ad Manager for a quick tour.

Start by clicking on “Video Views” (you will get a lower cost per view than “Video Views”) > Choose your audience > Set your budget/pricing > Upload the video (choose the thumbnail very carefully) > Add the text copy and CTA > Select mobile, web or both (where your ad will be served).

  1. Track your KPIs

You can use Facebook Conversion Pixels and see how your video campaign has affected your target audience.  Do they leave?  Come back?  Check the conversions column of your ad analytics.  Or you could use a UPL with UTM codes to see how many people have visited your website after viewing the video.

For engagement KPIs, go into the Ads Manager > Campaigns > Ad.

For audience reach, go to Campaign Report > Relevance Score and you will see whether your target audience liked your video.  Note that if the video performs poorly, Facebook will limit the video reach.

When the campaign is over, you can evaluate how it went and what results it brought to you.  Did your KPIs hit your objectives?  Did people bounce quickly?  Did they convert on the text?  Did they engage with the video?  How many shares, likes and comments did you get?  Did you reach the number of people you planned or was the Relevance Score too low?

There is always room for improvement so don’t be surprised if you find flaws in your video ad campaign after it’s complete!  Just take into consideration what didn’t work for you the first time and use that insight on your future ads!

Best of luck!