How to Create Video Ads for Social Media

Social media was simple when it first appeared in the early 2000s. Your profile was a bulletin board for keeping up with friends, and your most important task was picking the right background music for your Myspace page.

Today, social media sites have become search engines, providing opportunities for businesses to advertise to new and existing customers. With the advent of video-focused platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels, social media is now a video-first environment perfect for promoting small businesses.

But, video ads aren’t like shooting a SnapChat for your friends and family. They’re pay-to-play, meaning your business needs to invest time, money, and other resources to create effective social media ads. In this post, we’ll explain everything you need to know about creating video ads for social media, including how to choose a platform, how to set a budget, and tips for creating content on each social media channel.

Video Ads vs. Social Media Videos

Before we start, it’s important to clarify that we are talking about paid social media ads. While these tips can improve most video marketing campaigns, this post is designed to help you create ads you pay to promote online.

If you’re new to these ads and want to learn more about them, check out our guide here.

1. Choose the social media platform.

The first step is deciding which social media platform to use. While each site has its advantages, video relies on placement and distribution, so your success depends heavily on the platform that you choose.

For example, branding is an integral part of YouTube. However, research shows that heavily-branded ads on Instagram and TikTok aren’t as effective.

We’ll review the best practices for each social media platform, but before we do that, let’s discuss how to choose platforms for advertising.

You should choose your ad platform based on the following:

• Where your audience is active. For example, younger audiences (ages 16-24) are more active on TikTok and Instagram, while sites like Facebook and YouTube reach broader age ranges.
• Your goals. You can have several goals for video ads, and the platform you choose may depend on your goal. Here are some example goals and platforms that you might use with them:

• Content type. The type of content you create will influence where it’s shared. For instance, an educational, how-to-style video that’s 1-2 minutes long will work better on YouTube and Facebook. TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are best for under-60-second videos, focusing on humor, trends, or quick value.
• Where your competitors are advertising. Examine where your competitors are advertising and check which platforms are becoming popular in your industry.

2. Determine your budget and goals.

Next, you should determine your budget and write down your goals. For example, is your goal brand awareness (measured by impressions) or conversions (measured by click-throughs)?

Here are some ideas for goals and how you can measure them:

• Brand Awareness: Brand awareness is measured by impressions, or how many people see your ad. Using platforms like YouTube, TikTok, or Facebook, you can create a series of engaging, story-driven ads that showcase your brand’s values.
• Engagement: Engagement is measured by likes, shares, comments, and interactions with the video. Post a video encouraging viewers to answer a question, participate in a challenge, or share their opinions, especially on interactive platforms like Instagram Reels or TikTok.
• Lead Generation: Leads, or potential customers, are measured by click-throughs (how many people click on your ad). Facebook and LinkedIn videos have lead forms that collect information like emails and phone numbers. You can add this data to your CRM and communicate with new customers.
• Website Traffic: Your video can drive traffic back to your website if you include a link and a call-to-action button. These ads are fairly common on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
• Conversions/Sales: Create an ad that showcases one of your products or services, then include a link to a relevant landing page on your website. Or, produce a high-energy teaser video on platforms like Instagram and YouTube, showcasing key features of your product and building anticipation before launch.

You also need to decide how much you want to spend. The average budget for a social media ad varies per platform.

Often, billing for ads is done on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis, meaning you spend money every time someone clicks on your video. However, you can also choose to pay in other ways:

• Cost-per-thousand (CPM): You pay for every 1,000 impressions.
• Cost per lead (CPL): You pay for every lead generated.
• Cost per acquisition (CPA): You pay when a specific action is performed, such as click, purchase, app downloads, etc.

Your budget will depend on your campaign. From my experience, a brand awareness campaign generally costs anywhere from $500 to $2,000. Engagement campaigns cost about $300 to $1,500. Lead generation averages about $1-$10 per lead, so a good testing budget is $1,000. A budget of $1,000-$3,000 is recommended for conversion campaigns.

3. Decide your concept.

At this point, you should know what type of ad you want to create – or at least determine whether it will be a short-form video or long-form content.

Now, it’s time to decide your concept. Keep in mind:

1. You need a hook in the first three seconds of your video. The average watch time on Facebook is 10 seconds (and even faster on TikTok), so capturing the viewer’s attention quickly is important. A hook could be an interesting shot of your product, bold text overlays, or a question that disrupts the viewer’s scrolling.

1. You also need a call to action (CTA). Your CTA motivates the viewer to do something, like make a purchase or comment on the video. It should explicitly say what you want them to do. For example, at the end of the video, you can say, “Check out our products by clicking the link.”

There are also several different types of videos that you can create. Let’s review some of the most popular:

How It Works

This video showcases your product and explains how it works from problem to solution. They can be short- or long-form and should share a first-person point of view of your product. Or, you can show off your product in action. For example, Beis, a luggage company, shows how to use one of its bags in this video:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BÉIS (@beis)

Traditional Commercials

Traditional commercials are long-form videos posted on YouTube or Facebook. They usually feature product announcements, sales, or testimonials from happy customers. In the example below, Thryv’s social media team posted this testimonial highlighting the impact of our products and services.

Product Tutorial

A product tutorial is a video that shows a real customer using your product or service. It’s like a real-time review of your business, and it lets potential buyers know what to expect from your products and services. This ad style is popular with makeup brands because it showcases products used by actual customers. In the example below, this makeup company showcases a consumer using its products to create a complete look.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Haus Labs by Lady Gaga (@hauslabs)

4. Produce your video.

With your goals defined, your budget set, and your concept outlined, it’s time to move into the production phase of creating your video.

During this phase, your vision comes to life. Start by creating a shot list and script (remember to include a hook and CTA). A shot list is a list of scenes you’ll shoot for the video. It can be a bulleted list, or you can illustrate each scene with simple drawings, like the storyboard below.

Source

Next, you’ll need to gather and arrange your production elements, such as props, lighting, and the video’s location. Select your location carefully because it will have a huge impact on production. For example, if it’s an outdoor scene, consider the time of day and weather. For an indoor setting, ensure there’s enough space for your equipment and that the background doesn’t distract from your message.

This video has plenty of helpful tips for small business owners creating ads for the first time:

In addition to props and lighting, you need to decide who will appear in your ad. Your best bet is to feature real customers, employees, or even influencers who align with your brand. This approach adds an element of relatability and trustworthiness that resonates with your target viewer.

With all these details planned, it’s time to bring in your camera and start shooting. Not to be redundant, but ensure you have a well-thought-out shot list to guide production and avoid unnecessary retakes. Keep your vision clear while being ready to adapt as the shoot progresses to ensure your final video aligns with your campaign’s goals.

5. Publish your ad.

Once you’ve filmed your video, you can publish it on the social media platforms you chose in step one. Navigate to the platform’s business manager/advertising section. Then, answer the questions related to budget, goals, and marketing copy, including titles, descriptions, hashtags, etc. When you fill out this information, use trending hashtags and relevant keywords related to your video.

Here’s an example of what the ad manager looks like for Instagram:

We mentioned earlier that social media platforms have advantages and disadvantages. Before we wrap up, let’s review best practices for creating video ads for each social media channel.

Best Practices for Social Media Video Ads

While the tips in the first section are for all social media ads, these best practices are specific to YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and other social media sites.

General Best Practices

As a reminder, here are four things you should include with any social media advertisement.

• Include a hook or something that grabs the viewer’s attention immediately.
• Make it pop with animated text, bold fonts, bright colors, and transitions.
• Include a call-to-action or CTA.
• Use social proof – testimonials and user-generated content work best.

YouTube

Here are three things to keep in mind when creating ads for a YouTube channel:

• Attention, Branding, Connection, and Direction (ABCD) are the four principles of creating effective YouTube video ads. A study by Kantar showed that ads that follow the ABCDs as a guide yielded a 30% lift in short-term sales and a 17% lift in long-term brand contribution.
• YouTube is great for lead-generating campaigns and long-form content. Use YouTube to teach people about your business, products, and services.
• YouTube ads are usually high-quality. You need high-end visuals and audio to do well on YouTube.

Facebook

Facebook is great for engaging with existing customers, and you can use ads to reach people who may not follow your account. Here are three tips to remember when creating video ads for Facebook:

• Include captions. More than half of users watch video ads with the sound off, so make sure you have captions and subtitles for people who may not use sound.
• Videos can be short-form or long-form. Both styles perform well depending on your audience and goals.
• Most people watch Facebook ads on mobile phones in a vertical view. When you shoot your video, use square or vertical aspect ratios that match this format.

TikTok

TikTok is a video-based social media platform. These ads are usually shorter and don’t include as much branding. Here are a few tips to consider when creating video ads for this channel:

• Don’t include heavy-handed branding. TikTok’s algorithm prioritizes videos that are not overtly branded.
• Videos should be under 30 seconds. If you create a longer video, most people will not watch all of it.
• TikTok is great for brand awareness campaigns because the platform naturally shares your content with a wide audience.
• Most TikToks are filmed using vertical formats. Horizontal videos will be harder to watch on this platform.

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Instagram

Instagram is a visual platform. It’s filled with pictures and videos and is perfect for promoting a small business. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when creating video ads on Instagram:

• Don’t include heavy-handed branding. Most videos use subtle branding to promote the business.
• Videos should be under 45 seconds (you can do three Stories at 15 seconds each).
• User-generated content works well here. It’s more personable and relatable to your audience.
• Use relevant hashtags to make your video easier to find. People can search for your hashtag and discover your ad.

X (formerly Twitter)

X is great for short-form videos. It’s a text-heavy platform, so videos are a great way to disrupt scrolling. Here are some best practices to consider when creating ads on this platform:

• Shorter videos are better. X is built for people who want to consume quick snippets of information.
• Use square or landscape video formats. That will make your video easier to watch.
• X is a text-heavy platform, so it’s good to use attention-grabbing text overlays, like the example below.

Source

Produce Your Next Great Social Media Video Ad

Video ads for social media increase brand awareness and generate valuable sales for your business. And they’re easier to create than you think!

Just follow these steps to get started with social media advertising and use our tips to create effective videos for different social media platforms. In time, you’ll build a library of great video content that engages potential customers and generates revenue for your business.