Driving Brand Loyalty with Facebook In-stream Video Ads

Consumer spending patterns have been turned upside down by the pandemic and accelerated an already ravenous appetite for video content. In the US, consumers pay for four different streaming video subscriptions on average and spend 100 minutes per day watching online videos. The demand for video content is here to stay and should be part of every marketer's advertising strategy.

Video consumption drives more engagement than any other type of content

In this new marketing landscape, brands rely on digital and social media advertising to keep their business thriving. For consumers, more time at home means more time glued to their screens, resulting in increased video consumption.

Posting and commenting across social media platforms facilitates the desire to be heard, but video acts as the most powerful medium to connect with others. Video allows consumers to see, hear, and feel the content on a far deeper emotional level than written content. Recording is a form of entertainment consumers can’t get enough of, driving more views and engagement.

Video: the most effective brand building

As new platforms push audience fragmentation, video is the most effective content at building brands. Video’s ability to cultivate brand awareness while reinforcing an emotional connection is one of the most promising formats to drive long-term brand loyalty, engagement, and repeat purchases.

Today's consumers want a greater sense of belonging and an authentic connection with brands. Engaging with consumers across their end-to-end journey with a consistent voice, look, and feel while delivering a captivating brand story through compelling creative is key.  

Take GoPro for example, who utilized user videos to promote their product. In the beginning, GoPro recruited athletes to perform complex tricks filming using a GoPro camera. These athletes became brand ambassadors by sharing their videos on social media channels. Gradually, consumers started submitting videos voluntarily and GoPro distributed recorded content. This user-centered strategy has amplified the brand mission of “enabling the world to capture and share its passions” and gives consumers a greater sense of connection with the brand. This is a great demonstration of why brands need to be crafting a story through their advertising. Sharing relevant and personable content helps your audience identify with your product and create meaningful connections.

Deliver your video to an already captivated audience with in-stream ads

Once you have created authentic video content, you need to choose the best way to broadcast it to the world. Social media is an important extension of your brand and its fluid nature makes it the perfect place for storytelling. Social channels are the most personal platform for building relationships, collecting feedback, and getting to know your audience.

With over 2.9 billion active users, Facebook is the place to showcase alluring experiences, increase your customer satisfaction, and build brand loyalty. Facebook offers multiple options for delivering video advertising and the most recent and popular option is in-stream video.

With in-stream video, ads show up in the ‘watch' section of the platform and can also appear in Facebook live streams from a select group of approved gaming, entertainment, and sports partners.

With in-stream video showing before, during, or at the end of content, you're reaching consumers who are already engaged - guaranteeing a high view and retainability rate.

These ads appear on desktop and mobile devices, and only play after 60 seconds of the main video, so it's important to capture your consumer's attention within the first few seconds.

Design your creative to drive engagement

In-stream video placement play ads that are 15 seconds or less.  You have 7 seconds to capture the attention of your viewer.

A good formula to follow for successful conversions is to captivate (gain attention), relate (empathize with their needs), and associate (seeing your brand as a solution.) To hook your audience, think about it like a first date: you can’t be too aggressive or you won’t get through the first course, but you can’t be too boring or you won’t get a callback. Creating intrigue drives a desire to learn more about yourself (aka your product or brand.)

Follow these creative and strategy tips to create a successful video ad:

1. Be memorable. Introduce yourself in a unique and memorable way. Display key messaging right away, and keep it brief
2. Give the impulsive buyer a chance to take action. Add a call to action in the first 15 seconds and use strong, commanding, and descriptive language so viewers know what they need to do
3. Video ads that are longer than 15 seconds will show the first 15 seconds before giving viewers the option to tap "Continue Watching" to see the remainder of the video
4. Use a short and easy URL. If you're driving traffic to a site, make sure it’s easy to remember so users can find you
5. Define your content and business goals for your in-stream campaign. These goals will not only inform your content, but also inform how you measure the success of your videos
6. Optimize for and measure video views. Remember you can measure video views at 25%, 50%, and 100% completion.  Alternatively, you could also optimize for ad reach or ad impressions, which is likely cheaper CPM-wise, but does not take into account whether the audience actually views the videos
7. Optimize by measuring clicks and landing page views
8. Split tests can help you understand which creative types perform best for your selected audience
9. Optimize budget for conversions and focus video optimization for views

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