Ep. 250: How to Catch a Facebook Lead in 15 Seconds

Creating Facebook Ads Video: 4 Tips for Beginners

Who should listen: This episode is for anyone looking for best practices and tips for creating scroll-stopping, lead-generating Facebook video ads.

Key idea: Create every aspect of your video ad assuming that it will be viewed on a mobile phone.

Action item: Create a Facebook video ad that provides the best answer to one of your clients’ or prospects’ top FAQs.

Facebook is still a place to share photos and catch up with friends, but it’s also among the premier social platforms for advertising. In the first three months of 2021, Facebook brought in $25.4 billion in advertising revenue. That’s a lot of consumers clicking a lot of ads.

For marketers, it’s important to note that most consumers are viewing those ads on their mobile phones.

As we discuss in this week’s Silver Dollar episode, 94% of Facebook users opt to use their mobile phones to view the app. (After recording, we found one source reporting that it’s 98.3%!)

The other interesting statistic, and one that really led us to record this episode, is that video is by far the preferred format. Facebook ads with video average 59% more engagement than other types of ads. But get this—85% of Facebook ad videos are viewed with the sound off!

Given that Facebook ads with video have a higher engagement rates and that users are viewing video ads on their mobile phones with the sound muted, we decided to offer four tips for how to create high-performing Facebook video ads that specifically take these facts into consideration.

By the way, if you are looking for how to create video ads, Facebook offers instructions and YouTube has dozens of videos. We also provide a webinar you can watch for free to learn not only how to create an ad but also the types of content you should be using in your ads.

Tip 1. Select the correct video format

When you create a Facebook ad video, it’s a good practice to put yourself in the shoes of your viewer or, more specifically, the shoes of your ideal client.

Since we know that nearly everyone is using their mobile phones to view Facebook, it’s best to shoot your video using the square video (or 1:1) option you’ll find on most mobile phones. Square videos get 35% more views. A square video fits a mobile screen better than a landscape image, and, because it will take up most of the viewing area on the screen, it’ll help to eliminate other onscreen distractions.

You also want to keep the video short—16 to 20 seconds. It’s even better if you can create a video that is only 15 seconds in length because it makes it easier to repurpose your ad on Instagram, which has a maximum allowance of 15 seconds for video.

During the episode, we talk more about mobile-first video ads and how to use Stories to capture leads, so listen for those tips too.

Tip 2. Hook them in quickly

When you’re on Facebook later today, be aware of your video watching behavior. How long does it take for you to decide to scroll past or watch? And do you watch the entire thing, or do you move on?

We’ve talked before about how important a subject line is to an email—if the subject line doesn’t immediately hook a reader in, then it doesn’t matter how good your email is. It’ll never get read.

The same immediacy applies to your Facebook video ad.

The first three seconds of a Facebook video ad are responsible for 47% of the campaign’s total value. That means one-fifth of a video’s length determines nearly half of its entire value, so those three seconds have got to make an impression.

One way to grab your audience is to include a text overlay at the beginning. What words will your audience read and what action will they simultaneously watch that will make them want to stay?

We also suggest using props with the caveat that their meaning, purpose, and intent should be crystal clear to the viewer. In short, you shouldn’t need to explain your prop. One of our ads features Luke using a prop and a text overlay at the beginning. You can see it here.

And if viewers don’t watch the entire video ad the first time around, you can always retarget them. We talk more in the episode about retargeting viewers based on how much of the video they watched.

Tip 3. Have a clear CTA

There may be no greater waste of marketing dollars than to put up a Facebook ad video that doesn’t include a call-to-action (CTA). You may have succeeded in catching and keeping your viewers’ attention the whole way through, but it doesn’t help your business if you don’t tell them what you want them to do.

Back in the day, we tested several CTAs of our own. We tested:

  • No CTA versus Sign Up
  • No CTA versus Learn More
  • No CTA versus Download

This is what we found:

  • Sign Up got 30% more leads than no CTA.
  • Learn More got 80% more leads than no CTA.
  • Download got 147% more leads than no CTA.

You probably have some of your own ideas for why one CTA worked better than another, but we share our thoughts too. One reason we suppose that Download got the most leads is because it presumes receiving an item of value. Couple that idea with the word free, and you’ve got a CTA that’s practically irresistible.

Test your own CTAs. Facebook has a limited number of options for CTAs, but consider what you’re offering and the level of action you’re asking someone to commit to, and then make your choice.

You also want to pick the best place to insert your CTA into your video. We’ve got some suggestions about that as well.

Tip 4. Use captions

You’ll recall that 85% of Facebook ad videos are watched on mute. The majority of users are relying exclusively on the visual elements of your ad to understand your message—despite research that shows 76% of ads need sound to be understood.

The way to combat this communication gap is to use captions. Facebook can either create captions for you, or you can use their editor to do it yourself. Since the former may not always be correct, you may want to plan to use your own.

It’s definitely worth taking the extra step to include captions.

Instagram discovered that when they removed captions from their Facebook videos, the response to the CTA fell by 26%.

Give Facebook ad videos a try

Creating a Facebook ad is an easy process. Making a Facebook ad video is just as easy. Keep these four tips in mind, and try making your own video ad. If you are looking for inspiration or want to see what works, visit the Facebook Ads Library.

Use the Facebook Ads Library to view ads currently being run on the platform. You can look up your competitors’ ads to see what they’re doing. Pay attention to how long the ad has been running. The longer-running ads are likely to be the more successful ones.

Connect/Resources

Webinar: The 3 Facebook Ads That Every Agent Needs

Video ad example: Hey, Real Estate Agents

Website: Facebook Ad Library

Episode 189: Maximize Your Facebook Advertising with Grant Wise

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