Good news, eager video advertisers — Facebook has begun expanding its video ad feature. The social network behemoth began testing the Premium Video Ad format back in December. This week, the network began rolling it out to a select group of advertisers, with the promise that they will slowly be rolled out to more users over time, and under careful monitoring.
Just like Facebook’s native video feature, the 15-second videos featured as a Premium Video Ad will autoplay as users scroll past. They will remain in-line with the user’s newsfeed and stay silent, until a users taps on the video, it will expand to full view with its accompanying sound. In a blog post announcing the rollout, the Facebook team also noted that they will be working closely with Ace Metrix to “help us review and assess how engaging the creative is for each ad — before it appears on Facebook. Ace Metrix will allow us to objectively measure the creative quality of the video in the Facebook environment, and highlight performance indicators for advertisers such as watchability, meaningfulness and emotional resonance.”
Although it will probably be some time before the rest of us Facebook advertisers can test out the Premium Video Ads feature, as you begin brainstorming the kind of video content you’d share, keep these tips in mind.
Focus on compelling content
If it’s not compelling, what’s the point in putting dollars behind it to push it? You need content that resonates, interests or otherwise engages your target audience. If your planned content fails to do any of those things, you should probably reconsider using it.
Consider how the colors and images in your video will appear within the newsfeed
Some photos look better in the mix of the Facebook newsfeed than others, and the same will apply for Facebook. Dimly lit videos probably won’t translate well to the constrictions of the newsfeed, or the constrictions of mobile viewing. But brightly-lit, colorful videos — like the images that tend to perform well on Facebook’s acquisition Instagram — will most likely perform and stand out well.
Embrace the silence
If you’re not acquainted with the art of silent film, now’s the time to do so. Why? Because you’ll be relying on your imagery and text to capture users’ attention as they’re scrolling by. They won’t be able to hear your video until they actually tap and expand it, make sure that your imagery is compelling. You might even want to consider using intertitles.
Need further guidance? Check out our social media marketing guides for extra help.
