How to Create Highly Watchable Video Advertisements

Over the last several years, we have seen a rise in video as one of the most engaging content formats on social media. Video gives companies the ability to quickly introduce their brand or products with the help of attention-grabbing visuals and a narrative. As consumers have greater access to brands and a decreasing attention span, competing for that attention is no easy task. Digital video adverting is a great way to stand out from the crowd. Companies have been adopting digital video advertising and  increasing their digital video budgets by 25% year-over-year.  Lean into digital video adverting and learn how to make a highly watchable video ad.

Let’s start at the beginning and define digital video advertising. Depending on who you ask, you might get different answers to what constitutes as digital video advertising. Those heavily invested in display ads might say that digital video advertising is any digital ad that contains a video and in-banner or in-text ads. While others might say any ad that falls within a video stream can be considered a video advertisement. Wherever you land, our tips will help you create a video that will tell your story, set you apart from the competition, and drive your audience to action. Video advertising campaigns evolve with ad formats, as social media platforms are increasingly prioritizing video over static images. It is not enough to simply have a video; you must nail your video communication.

You may be thinking you can shoot your video on the fly. However, you’ll want to invest some time, money, and planning to create a compelling video for your digital advertising campaign. Take the time to prepare the story you want to tell and how you will distill your key message down to visual elements. Will your video include music to tell the story? Will you have snippets of text on the screen? If you opt for text on the screen, you need to ensure you allow for visual room in your shots. The last thing you want is your text competing with your imagery, which is why planning is so important.

You have roughly 3 seconds to capture your viewer’s attention. Leverage the 3-second rule and give your viewer captivating imagery right away. Think of this as a promise to your viewer that the rest of the video will be well worth the watch. One video that does a great job of showcasing their product in the first 3 seconds is Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. A small business from Columbus, Ohio, uses its time to show consumers the freshness and personalization of its ice cream sandwiches.

Nearly 60% of all videos are viewed on mobile phones.  Keeping this in mind, vertical videos have to be prioritized over horizontal videos. Almost all apps, mainly social media apps, are viewed and engaged with vertically. If your ad is horizontal, you are losing out on a great deal of real estate. Additionally, the quality of your ad could be impacted if not correctly optimized for the platform. Be sure to check the specs for each platform you plan to use for your video campaign.

A golden rule of storytelling is that you should show your audience and not tell them. Audiences respond better to strong visuals that convey the information rather than being outright told what they are viewing. Challenge yourself to think about how you can best showcase your product while telling a visual story. Take, for example, UAG’s MacBook Drop Test video campaign, which beautifully highlights the function of their product in a visually stunning and memorable way.

No one likes it when a video ad starts blaring at them, which often leads to videos being watched without sound. In fact,  85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound.  Additionally, your audience could be hard of hearing or deaf. If you don’t add closed captioning to your videos, you may be hindering specific viewer’s experience of your video and brand. Making your video accessible for all viewers will make your videos better in the long run. Adding subtitles to your video isn’t as difficult as you might think. Facebook and YouTube provide auto-captioning options, whereas Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, and Snapchat require the captions to be encoded in the video before being uploaded. There are several free tools online to help you caption your videos like  Hootsuite ,  Clideo , and  Subly.

In recent years, there has been a push towards short video ads. At one point, it was thought that 6-second ads were the most successful for video marketing. Unfortunately, this only takes into account one metric, which is completion rates. A short video may be ultimately hurting your conversion rate and brand loyalty. Six-seconds is a prohibitively short amount of time to convey your story, call-to-action, and have recognizable brand elements. Don’t focus your energy on making a short video ad; instead, create versions of your ad at different lengths. These various lengths can be used for multiple platforms. Divide the video into smaller sections that are followed by branded landing pages with clear calls-to-actions.

Take the guesswork out of your targeting with programmatic video advertising. With programmatic advertising targeting tactics are used to segment audiences and deliver your ads to the right people at the right time. Using real-time data, Integrate is able to help you optimize your budget to target your audience based on their interest and behavior rather than pre-segmented groups. Let’s talk about how our team can target your audience with website and search retargeting, along with keyword and category contextual targeting for a highly localized campaign with a high ROI.

Your video campaign should have a clear call to action. Layer your call to action by including it in your video, in your copy, and as a clickable button if the platform allows.  Adespresso A/B tested four prompts , along with no CTA button at all, on Facebook. The results were compelling and prove that a clickable CTA button can boost lead generation:

Videos are how consumers enjoy news and entertainment. It is also how consumers discover new brands. When produced, edited, and used effectively, digital video advertising can create a connection with the viewer and influence their purchasing decisions. Kick-off your digital video advertising campaign with some help from Integrate Agency. Our team of experts know how to use a mix of innovative strategies, precise targeting, and unparalleled creativity to reach and influence your audience. Schedule your consultation today!