Using videos in your Facebook marketing strategy can be a highly effective method to reach your intended viewers with engaging content. It’s no secret that want more video content these days.

However, many marketers hesitate to take the plunge because video marketing can seem daunting for newcomers. This article offers guidance on suitable video types for ads, campaign setup, and maximizing engagement from viewers who’ve already encountered your video ads.

Effective Video Marketing Tactics for Your Business on Facebook

Before launching into Facebook video marketing, it’s vital to ensure your videos are a good fit for ad campaigns. Many assume this implies flawless, high-budget, professional-grade productions, but that’s far from reality.

I’m also not referring to the specific video specifications, which you can find here.

While best practices exist for video creation, budget shouldn’t be a barrier. Let’s delve into key considerations for developing and selecting video creatives for your Facebook marketing endeavors.

1. Select the Ideal Video Content Type

It’s important to remember that videos don’t have to fit rigidly into one category. Numerous types can yield positive outcomes on Facebook. Here are a few examples.

User-Generated Content

Why shoulder the burden of video creation when your happy customers can do it for you?

User-generated videos are a favorite of mine due to their numerous advantages and minimal drawbacks:

• Coming directly from actual customers, they exude authenticity.
• Delighted customers often eagerly showcase brands they appreciate, making these videos easy to obtain with a simple request, given you maintain customer satisfaction.
• They provide social proof to potential customers by showcasing real users.
• Enthusiastic customers frequently share these videos on their own pages, providing free marketing for your brand! For inspiring examples of incorporating user-generated content (UGC) into your Facebook ads, explore this post.

Product Demonstrations

This one’s straightforward: Videos excel at showcasing your products. This doesn’t necessitate an infomercial approach (unless it suits your audience), but it should instill confidence in potential buyers. Hesitation to purchase online often stems from the inability to physically examine the product and assess its quality.

A well-executed product showcase video can directly address these concerns.

A Glimpse Behind the Scenes

We’re inherently curious about what goes on behind closed doors. The rise of “making-of” content for movies speaks volumes—we crave insights into the creation of things we enjoy. This holds true for products and services as well. Utilize video to offer a behind-the-scenes peek into your process.

Tutorials

While tutorials often cater to audiences further along the sales funnel, they can be invaluable for certain businesses. If you’ve developed a novel product or service that’s relatively unknown, a tutorial can be a game-changer.

Demonstrate how your solution works and its potential to impact lives. Sometimes, visual demonstration surpasses verbal explanation, and video reigns supreme in this domain. Creating high-quality videos from home is achievable with these helpful tips.

2. Optimize Video Format for Mobile Consumption

We inhabit a multi-device world, likely having interacted with at least two different devices today alone.

Consider these two crucial statistics:

• 65% of video views on Facebook originate from mobile devices.
• Smartphone users predominantly hold their phones vertically (portrait orientation) 94% of the time.

Simple math suggests that approximately 61% of Facebook video views occur in portrait mode, with mobile usage consistently on the rise.

The superior visual appeal of the right image over the left is evident.

My recommendation is to create videos in both portrait and landscape formats whenever feasible. Utilize Facebook’s placement customization feature to deliver the appropriate orientation based on the user’s device.

Capitalize on the available space to provide your audience with an immersive full-screen experience on their preferred device.

3. Capture Attention Instantly

In the relentless battle for customer attention, where endless Facebook scrolling competes with countless off-platform distractions, the first hurdle is halting that scroll.

The initial 4-6 seconds of your video are paramount. Your opening, or hook, must be captivating enough to make viewers hit pause.

Numerous approaches can achieve this; here are a few ideas:

• Pose a thought-provoking question.
• Address a common pain point.
• Present something unexpected.
• Inject humor.

While it doesn’t need to be revolutionary, breaking through the Facebook News Feed monotony with an attention-grabbing element is crucial for video campaign success.

4. Incorporate a Clear Call to Action

Ultimately, it’s all about marketing. Calls to action are non-negotiable across all ad formats.

For Facebook video ads, include the call to action in both the accompanying text, as illustrated above, and within the video itself whenever possible.

This can be achieved through a verbal call to action, on-screen text, or a combination of both. Embrace creativity, experiment to discover what resonates, but never omit this crucial element.

5. Captions Are Non-Negotiable

Here’s another eye-opening statistic: A mere 15% of Facebook users watch videos with sound. The majority watch silently, making captions essential for conveying your message.

While a compelling opening is crucial, ensure it includes on-screen text, enabling silent viewers to grasp the context and potentially enticing them to enable sound.

6. Finding the Ideal Video Length

Attention spans are dwindling—that’s a given. This doesn’t necessitate ultra-short videos, but conciseness is key.

Facebook permits video lengths ranging from 1 second to a whopping 240 minutes. Strive for a duration that effectively conveys your message while maintaining conciseness.

Videos lasting 15-60 seconds generally perform best, offering easily digestible content. However, you can still deliver a powerful message within this timeframe when addressing the right audience.

7. Craft Videos for Every Stage of the Funnel

If you’re familiar with marketing literature, you’ve encountered “the funnel”—the journey a customer takes from initial brand exposure to purchase.

Each stage demands tailored messaging to guide potential customers through their decision-making process.

At the top of the funnel, high-level videos serve as an introduction to your target audience.

As you descend, more specific content is required. How do you stand out from competitors? Why should they choose you?

At the bottom of the funnel, highly targeted messaging and a stronger call to action are essential to convert leads into customers.

Ideally, create video content for each stage, mirroring your approach with single image or carousel ads. Remember that individuals are at different points in their journey, necessitating tailored messaging. For inspiration on content types suited for each stage, refer to this post on funnel-based video ad ideas.

8. Aligning Your Campaign Objective with Your Facebook Video Marketing

Facebook offers a plethora of campaign objectives.

For video marketing, opting for the “video views” objective might seem intuitive, but it’s not the only option, and it might not align with your campaign goals.

To simplify your decision, consult this table outlining campaign objectives that support video and their respective focuses:

While all these objectives accommodate video ads, their varying optimization targets necessitate choosing the one best suited to your desired outcome.

Leveraging Video View Audiences

Facebook’s ability to create audiences based on video engagement is invaluable. This allows retargeting based on specific video segments watched.

Within the Facebook Audience Manager, initiate a new video engagement audience by selecting “Video” as the audience type.

You can then specify “video view length,” indicating the desired viewing duration.

Finally, pinpoint the specific creatives for audience building by clicking “Choose videos” …

… and selecting from the dropdown menu. There’s no definitive right or wrong length for retargeting.

9. Employing the “Aha” Moment for Audience Segmentation

While this phrase might have various interpretations, in the context of Facebook video ads, it pertains to a user’s level of familiarity with your brand.

The “aha” moment signifies the point at which viewers clearly understand your brand identity and offerings—recognizing your brand name, logo, and the products or services you provide.

I recommend segmenting retargeting lists into these categories:

• Users who haven’t reached the “aha” moment
• Users who have passed the “aha” moment

This segmentation allows for tailored retargeting campaigns that provide appropriate nurturing. Continue serving introductory ads to those unfamiliar with your brand. For those past the “aha” moment, transition to more sophisticated or bottom-of-the-funnel messaging.

Pinpointing the “Aha” Moment

As previously mentioned, Facebook video engagement audiences rely on video percentage watched, requiring a bit of calculation to define “before” and “after” “aha” moment segments.

Let’s illustrate: Imagine a 56-second video where the “aha” moment occurs around the 36-second mark.

This represents approximately 64% of the video’s duration. To target effectively, create an audience segment encompassing users who’ve watched at least 75% of the video, ensuring they’ve surpassed the “aha” moment, as the 50% mark falls short.

This allows you to deploy bottom-of-the-funnel messaging to nurture these users toward the next stage in their customer journey.

Launching Your Facebook Video Marketing Campaign

Facebook video marketing needn’t be daunting, but strategic considerations are crucial for maximizing your return on investment. Hopefully, these strategies have boosted your confidence in creating impactful video campaigns, opening up a world of marketing possibilities!