Written by I know, video ads ARE scary. There are lots of things to think about; scripts, cameras, lighting, and software. It can be overwhelming.
Then you start researching how to create a video yourself. Have you noticed that there are so many different apps or software to create videos? Which one do you try? Do you buy the app to remove the watermark? The options are endless.
It’s a good thing CutBoard has Aaron. He’s like the little brother I never had. Oh, wait … I forgot I have two of them. Moving on.
Most businesses don’t have an extra brother, let alone a skilled cameraman and editor. Sure glad we do!
But the most important question is, where do you start?
Check out our tips, tricks, and treats to help you create video ads that work.
P.S. IF YOU ONLY WATCH ONE VIDEO TODAY, SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG TO SEE A VIDEO OF AARON GETTING BEAT UP BY HIS SISTER, IT’S GREAT!
Table of Contents
1. Grab attention early … keep it video ads short.
Since 2015, we finally eclipsed the goldfish of who has the shortest attention span. A goldfish can hold on for 9 seconds, we are around 8 seconds now.
What does our short attention span mean? It means that your ad shouldn’t be any longer than 15 seconds. Plus, if you can chop it down to 6 seconds you’ve officially hit Facebook’s gold mine.
2. Brand it … Fast.
Okay, now you have a 6-second video. How do you brand it? You might have guessed it, quickly. Within the first 3-seconds to be exact. Consumers are 23% more likely to remember your brand if it happens before 3 seconds.
3. To be, or not to be … Your Title Matters.
It isn’t time to be Shakespeare … of course, your copy should be relevant, but make sure you are turning heads or eyes with your titles.
Here are some of the titles of video posts that received the most views:
- Things To Know
- To Know About
- 5 Things To
- What You Need
- Game of Thrones
- Need To Know
- You didn’t Know
- You Need to Know
- Didn’t Know About
- In the World
What the @#$!, Game of Thrones? … I’ve guess got to figure out a way to leverage that in our business now. Time to watch it again … tell me, how many times is too many, six?
4. Can you hear me now?
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
Sound can easily make something ordinary into extraordinary, but on Facebook, you can’t rely on it. 85% of video views on Facebook are with no sound.
What can you do about not having sound on Facebook?
- Add captions
- Graphic overlays
- Subtitles
- Only use audio that isn’t essential to your message
5. Spectacles? No, not eyeglasses … Specs, like formats, sizes, compression.
Now it shouldn’t be surprising, how your ad looks is very important. Follow these guidelines when building your ad.
- H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan, and stereo AAC audio compression at 128kbps or higher.
- A ratio of 9:16 (Portrait) and 16:9 (Landscape).
- 1080p resolution (or the highest resolution available).
- File size cannot exceed 4 GB.
Most importantly if you can’t do a 9:16 video (Portrait like the way you hold your phone) then settle for a 1:1 square video. Landscape is great for a movie theater, but not so great for running a video ad on someone’s phone.
Now I get to ponder, how can a pixel not be square … again. It always gets me … I’ll have to have Aaron reexplain.
6. Go, Native … Facebook doesn’t play nice with YouTube.
You can’t imagine McDonald’s playing nice with Burger King, or Jack in the Box. In the same way, Facebook isn’t friends with YouTube or Vimeo. It wants you to upload your videos directly on its site.
You will eat that Big Mac and enjoy it!
According to studies, native Facebook video posts received 168% more interactions on average than the same videos hosted on YouTube and shared on Facebook.
In reality, it’s probably just Facebook, hiding your Whopper somewhere.
7. Testing … and more Testing! Have we tested you on that yet?
Most of our business revolves around helping companies develop great content that works.
For some side fun, we like to help families digitize their old home videos. Think VHS tapes, 8mm camcorders … etc. To advertise for this part of our business we use Facebook.
Don’t tell anyone … testing is our biggest secret. Always be testing! Because trusting your gut can go horribly and terribly wrong. I’m here to let you in on how we tested different ads (and why we believe testing, is the most important item on this list).
For our film transfer service, we started by testing two images. The first was a picture of multiple media types and another of a glowing testimonial. The winner was …
The picture of multiple media types.
- Media image was $0.61 per click
- Testimonial image was $1.22 per click
The second level test was the winner of the picture of multiple media types and a carousel ad of individual shots of the media types. The winner was …
The picture of multiple media types … again.
- Media image was $0.81 per click
- Carousel style ad was $1.38 per click
The third level test was the double winner of the image of multiple media types vs a 15-second video clip of me playing with my baby cousin from 1994. The winner was …
Video of me in a ridiculous hammer pants and a D.A.R.E. t-shirt.
- Video of me was $0.28 per click
- Media image was $0.62 per click
We won’t be stopping our testing anytime soon. Up next in the queue is testing “Tanya in hammer pants” vs. “Aaron getting beat up by his big sister.”
Want to see some of our online video samples? Check out our work.
Ready to get started? Let’s schedule a meeting!