By making video a popular communication medium on this platform, Facebook has changed how we communicate. Today, Facebook video ads are excellent strategies for brands to reach new customers, establish long-term relationships, spread awareness about their products, and increase their Returns on Investment (ROI).

To reach more people on Facebook, we must improve our engagement strategies. And undoubtedly, the best ads boost engagement. 

Today, video advertising is how brands try to market their products and facilitate brand awareness. Our Facebook video ads must stand out owing to their engaging, shareable, and easy-to-understand descriptions that showcase the product or service you are offering the viewer.

Let’s first look at some Facebook statistics:

• Facebook is the third-most-popular site after Google and YouTube.
• Facebook has over 2.90 billion active users each month.
• Interestingly, about 300 million users watch Facebook stories every day.
• With over 60% user shares, Facebook videos beat short-form TikTok videos.
• The amount of time people spend watching Facebook videos is five times more than that spent on viewing static images.
• 65% of viewers who watch Facebook videos for the first 3 seconds continue watching them for at least 10 seconds.

What are Facebook Ads?

Facebook video ads are unique ways of engaging with customers and highlighting a product’s or service’s features. One can post video ads on Facebook, Instagram, and other social platforms to reach a wider audience.

Facebook Video Ad Tips and Practices

Here are 16 tried-and-tested Facebook video ad tips to help a company prosper, increase its ROI, and boost its engagement rate:

1. Ensuring an engaging introduction

The first few seconds can make or break the efforts we exert into creating a video.

The benefit of using this particular platform for video marketing is its large audience base. When we upload engaging video content, we will eventually manage to convert these online users into real-life customers. Consequently, the first few seconds of a brand’s Facebook videos are crucial to attracting target groups.

Some ways to ensure your videos start engagingly is by asking a question within the first few seconds, creating a hypothetical situation, or delivering exciting news in the introduction.

2. Nailing the thumbnail

A visually appealing thumbnail catches viewers’ attention, enticing them to click on the video. The best bet is to find an intriguing thumbnail or a custom image that captures the brand’s essence so that the user stops scrolling through their feed and takes notice.

The Facebook video ad thumbnail is also essential when the autoplay function is turned off for videos. Uploading the wrong image can impact your ad campaign’s outcome.

3. Adding sound/audio

The goal is to capture the audience’s attention; adding sound to your Facebook video ad keeps viewers engaged while also helping deliver our message.

However, audio should not be the main component in your video because several individuals are accustomed to watching videos without sound.

4. Incorporating a caption

According to research, about 85% of Facebook users watch videos without audio.  

Most viewers only enable sound when the video description or the video in itself catches their attention. Adding a caption to your video content ensures better viewership.

5. Considering the video aspect ratio

It is crucial to ensure that our videos are published in proper aspect ratios and well-formatted. Facebook offers several formats with specific ratio requirements. Today, many people watch videos on their mobile phones; thus, choosing an aspect ratio that allows videos to appear precisely on the screen is a good idea.

6. Creating engaging videos

For many businesses, the most important aspect is ensuring that people notice their Facebook video ads. This process may be challenging in the face of the current cut-throat competition. However, one does not require professional equipment or tools to capture high-quality video ads and captivate the target audience’s attention. 

Whether your video was shot on a smartphone or DSLR camera, it does not have to resemble a fancy Hollywood production. Even simple videos suffice to attract target groups toward them — the key is to ensure that our video grabs people’s attention and conveys our message.

7. Conveying a story

People love to hear stories.

Providing a brief background of one’s journey and other such information typically engages viewers. It also helps them understand a brand’s products and services better.

Customer testimonials are another effective means to deliver one’s message to capture the audience’s attention and bring in new customers. Short but effective videos are the best bet to ensure viewers connect to the brand.

8. Including a CTA

We may have created a fantastic video, added the caption and sound, and narrated a great story; however, a call-to-action (CTA) is an indispensable element in any video ad because it provides viewers with a directive. The best bet is to direct them to follow the brand on social media sites or buy its products.

A compelling CTA at the middle or the end of the Facebook video ad can enhance the video content and increase ROI.

9. Incorporating fun content

Nobody likes a boring ad. While we do not have to be funny to create engaging content, companies can engage with viewers by revealing their lighter moments on video.

10. Optimising ad title and description

An engaging title and description help convey to viewers the content of the ad video in a nutshell. It also gives information to the algorithms of Facebook about your video. And that’s why including relevant keywords in your Facebook video ad becomes important.

Phrases like:

• “things to know”
• “what you need”
• “5 things to”

are more likely to gain more viewership than:

• “of the year”
• “of the week”
• “things to do”.

11. Considering mobile users

Another aspect to consider while creating Facebook video ads is whether mobile users, our main audiences, will be able to view the ad clearly. In January 2021, over 98% of active users across the world were accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.

Before creating a video, we must find out if the content would look more appealing on a smaller screen.

12. Engaging in Influencer marketing

It also helps to partner with popular social media influencers or bloggers with many followers. These influencers engage their audiences, promoting your products, and you can easily tap into them to increase sales.

Today, collaborating with influencers is among the top marketing strategies that several brands are opting for. This strategy helps one obtain more leads.

13. Using popular trends and audios

Specific templates and audios have been trending due to the advent of Instagram reels. We can incorporate a soundtrack or audio in our videos if it is trending and relevant to our brand and products.

The right audio, innovative idea, and proper execution make an effective Facebook video ad.

14. Testing video length & creatives

Although short videos can make for good Facebook video ads, varying our ad length can also help us determine what works best. Try uploading videos of different lengths, from animation videos to GIFs and super-produced videos, and test all three ad types with different audiences.

15. Defining goals

What is the aim – increasing website traffic, or raising awareness?

We must define our goal before launching our Facebook ad campaigns. Once we set our goal, it is easier to come up with engaging content and optimise our video.

16. Retargeting ads

Retargeting ads are the ones automatically displayed to users who have previously associated with a brand in some way, such as visiting the brand’s website or watching one of its ads. Taking the help of marketing professionals will be fruitful in setting up retargeting ads if a company is not aware of how these ads work.

Retargeting ads work when the audience devotes time to watching your video content. This means they are signalling interest in your product or brand.

17. Analysing ad results

Analysing your ad results is a crucial step you can’t ignore. The ample tools currently available make it easier to fetch results. Sotrender Ads is one such tool enabling you to check your ad results. Moreover, it gives users a comprehensive overview of how their brand is performing, thus, helping enhance their ad’s performance.

Sotrender also provides a bigger picture of how your social media is performing. Further, helping you keep track of your KPIs, including clicks, impressions, and reach. You can quickly check your monthly advertising expenditure and CPM/CPC, and what’s even more, you can compare such results with other brands in your niche.

This easy-to-use and excellent analytics tool should be in your team’s trick bag. Sotrender generates summary reports in a minute, which evidently means it is the way to go for businesses.

Concluding Note

Facebook video ads are an excellent means to elevate one’s business or brand to the next level. We can create new video ads, boost posts that already include videos, and create our videos by collating images.

Facebook’s videos have been garnering overwhelming views; shoppers are constantly looking for videos that can guide their purchase decisions.

Brands must try out some of these tips and practices to create engaging Facebook videos.