How To Create a Video Ad For Social Media

You need to create a video ad.

Why? Because the numbers prove, it's the most effective way to make more sales. Just look at these statistics on video marketing. And there's more where that came from.

Did you know that, according to Tubular Insights, 64% of consumers make a purchase after watching branded videos on social platforms?

We've seen the power of video ads ourselves. One of our clients had a 480% increase in following over 18 months!

And don't worry— it's easier than it looks.

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How To Create a Video Ad For Social Media That'll Increase Your Following

Even if you don't want to hire professionals right away to create your video ads, it's easy to DIY.

But there's a catch: Even with these steps to create a video advertisement, you'll need to know how to run ads. Meaning you need to do A/B testing, segment your audience, set goals, and know how much ad spend to invest for the best ROI.

Let's take it one baby step at a time. Follow our short guideline below to create two video ad options in just a few hours!

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Step 1: Decide Your Call-To-Action and Audience

Most blogs on creating a video ad end with this bit of advice. We believe you should start with your call-to-action (CTA) before getting to the creative stuff.

Whether you're a service provider of an e-commerce brand, here are the prominent CTAs that'll drive results:

• Email signup for a "Freebie" (eBook, webinar, workbook, etc.)

• Schedule a FREE appointment/consultation

• Read a blog or watch a video to "Learn More."

• Follow a page

The first two generate warm leads by asking for a phone number or email—the second increases your website traffic or social media following.

Before your CTA, you might want to consider who your audience is; you'll need to know this anyway to segment your ad audience before spending money on an ad.

You should be able to picture this audience member like a real person: who are they, what do they look like, and what problem do they have that you can solve?

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Step 2: Create Clips Under 5 Seconds

Watch one of our video ad examples below before moving on to this next part.

Did you watch one? It should only take you 30 seconds.

That brings us to the next point: not only should your total ad length be short and sweet, but each clip within that 30-second ad should also be under five seconds.

Let’s break down how long each clip is in our first video example:

• Clip #1 (Pink Intro Block): 3 seconds

• Clip #2 (Call Out Target Audience): 3 seconds

• Clip #3 (Solution): 5 seconds

• Clip #4 (Benefit 1): 3 seconds

• Clip #5: (Benefit 2): 5 seconds

• Clip #6 (Call To Action): 5 seconds

• Clip #7 (Pink Outro Block/Contact Info): 5 seconds

Total Ad Time: 29 seconds.

Notice how the video scenes change every 3-5 seconds. You want fast-paced video ads that keep your audience wanting to know what else they'll learn.

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Step 3: Create a Video Ad A/B Test (H3)

Where do you get videos for your video ad?

Ideally, you want to create them for your clients or yourself. The reason for this is simple: people know when you're using stock images. That's probably why "personalized videos are 35% more likely to retain viewers as compared to non-personalized videos." (HubSpot)

But if push comes to shove, you can always purchase royalty-free videos from places like Canva, or Adobe Stock.

You'll need to have basic editing and graphic skills to put this together, but that's a blog for another day.

Take a look at our last two video ad examples below. We made two versions to appeal to different audiences, but with the same message. Almost everyone (at least the professionals) uses A/B testing in their video marketing strategy. This helps us learn which ads get the most views, leads, and traction to our client's designated landing page.

Video Ad Examples

Companies who are open to the idea of creating video ads are going to get the best bang for their buck. Another benefit of this type of content is that you can use these videos repeatedly.

You can repurpose videos for:

• Organic social media posts (Pinterest, Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram, Instagram Stories, LinkedIn)

• Website pages

• Blogs (see below)

• Social media ads, and

• YouTube/YouTube ads

That's 10 ways you can use these videos in your marketing strategy— minimum.

Check out these 3 video ad examples High Tide Creative has made for our clients!

Were you inspired to create a video ad? We hoped so. Tell us your vision of your company video ad during your first consultation.