Facebook Video – Red Zmudzien

A new update to Video Ads on Facebook could be a boon for advertisers. The more and more content, ads, options that get pushed out there the less and less time and attention your stuff will get. Opportunity is constantly shrinking so it’s up to the advertiser to find new and different ways to engage the customer. We’re day trading in attention here so the key is to find out what will grab a user and what will keep them the longest because that’s going to give you the best opportunity to drive a conversion and make a sale.

This new update to Facebook Video will essentially allow users to watch a video and click through to view your website without waiting until the video ends or having to leave Facebook at all. It opens up a split screen option so users can view your website while still watching the video in their browser, uninterrupted.

I’m predicting this will have a huge positive effect on the percentage of videos viewed. People don’t have to interrupt what their doing or wait any extra time to learn more, they can watch the entire video all while multi-tasking on the brand’s website to find what they need quickly. Keep in mind this is only for clicking on a video link ad on iOS. Facebook is also saying that “In early testing, advertisers have seen a significant decrease in cost per click and cost per conversion.” So initial results are looking good at least.

The same experience goes for Mobile App Install Ads, rather than waiting for the video to end and/or sending a user to a separate experience, they will be able to watch the video in split screen while (on iPhone only) opening up the App Store to download the app, all while still watching the video simultaneously. Efficiency at its finest.

Full release from Facebook below:

Updates to Video Link Ads and Mobile App Install Ads

We recently launched a new experience for video link ads in the website click and website conversion objectives that creates a more engaging experience for people when completing lower-funnel objectives. When people click on a video link ad on iOS, they can now browse your business’ website while watching the video from the ad, uninterrupted. People no longer have to stop a video mid-way or wait for the video to end to visit your website. In early testing, advertisers have seen a significant decrease in cost per click and cost per conversion.

Additionally, we have made improvements to the video experience for mobile app ads. In the past, when people tapped on your video mobile app install ad, the video would play in full screen. To improve the experience both for people and our advertisers, we have updated this design. Now on iPhone only, when people tap on your mobile app ad with video creative, they will be taken to the Apple App Store with your video creative still playing in a split screen.

Facebook rolls out new ad types all the time that allow advertisers to target users in unique ways or to reach different goals. Combining these various strategies into a few campaigns going through the longer sales funnel is one of the best ways to take advantage of all these ad types. This is what I like to call Attacking the Top of the Sales Funnel.

Figure out who your key demo is for this campaign; who are you trying to hit? Is it men of a certain age in a certain radius? Moms with an interest in soccer? Whatever it is, set your targeting and run a Facebook video campaign.

The beauty of Facebook video is you can sort out the users that are actually interested in your product based on who actually watched certain percentages of the video. Make sure to check off “Create audiences from people who view this video” under the designated Call To Action Button.

Doing this will allow Facebook to build a Custom Audience of users who have viewed your video. If your video gets 10,000 impressions, but only 5,000 users actually watch the video, then why would you want to waste ad spend on the 5,000 people that scrolled right past your content? Exactly, follow up with users who have already expressed an interest and given you their attention.

Now it’s time to attack the top of the sales funnel. Using this Custom Audience you have created a perfect retargeting list to hit Facebook users with a follow up message or offer. This is particularly effective if the video is more of a brand awareness play and then retargeting users in the Custom Audience with a Carousel Ad with specific products/features.

Finally, based on the results of your Carousel Ad determine which product or feature is getting the best engagement and most clicks from users? Then jump one level further down the funnel and closer to a conversion by serving up a specific offer or special to those users – based directly off which Carousel slide performed the best.

Courtesy of Facebook for Business

This is a great tactic to increase efficiency of your ad spend. Rather than throwing videos, promo posts, website clicks ads etc. all out randomly and seeing what sticks, this allows you to methodically whittle down your audience size while also increasing the user attention, interest and the likelihood of ultimately making a purchase.