The 4 Rules to Successful Video Campaigns

The future is video—at least, that’s what the industry is saying; the trends point toward spending on video ads in the high billions in the coming year. Before you launch your first video ad campaign, keep the following in mind to ensure you’re set up for success. 

1. Less is Always More

It’s well established that consumers have short attention spans, zipping through everything from music to TV shows to ads within seconds. On average, Facebook users spend only 1.7 seconds on mobile content and 2.5 seconds on desktop. 

With this in mind, make sure you don’t overstay your welcome with long, meandering videos. Facebook recommends keeping videos between 5-15 seconds since they have a higher conversion rate. Make them fun, make them colorful, but most importantly, make them short.

2. Test to Be the Best

Unsure of how videos will perform for your brand? Get your feet wet by testing video against other ad types and seeing what resonates best with your audience. 

Another element to consider is the time and budget your video ads require to produce vs. other ad types. By finding the balance between cost and return on different types of ads, you’ll be able to determine the right mix of creative for your campaign. 

One of our customers, PADI, A/B tested display and video to help inform future campaign optimizations. The results speak for themselves: video ads delivered a 6x and 2.8x higher click-through rate (CTR) for prospecting and retargeting, respectively. 

3. Know What You’re Measuring For

Whether it’s brand awareness, engagement, or response, having a clear set of goals from the outset will enable you to easily measure the impact of your efforts. A few things to consider include type(s) of attribution models, data, success metrics, and the most appropriate and accurate technology. 

For example, if your goal is to improve brand awareness, you should be optimizing for clicks, impressions, view-through rates (VTR), and average engagement. Make sure to do your due diligence and think holistically before launching your video ad campaigns.

4. Get More Bang For Your Buck

Marketers who used video see a whopping 81% increase in sales and a 54% boost in brand awareness.

Hawaii Shark Encounters, an experience-based company centered around ocean education, used video to lower their cost per thousand impressions (CPM) and cost per acquisition (CPA) by 69% and 66.8%, respectively, and produce a consistent ROI of 3.4x. The proof is in the pudding.

Invest in Video 

The bottom line is that video is key to a successful future in marketing. That means it’s worth your time and budget to invest in the right creative, strategy, execution, and reporting. 

Learn how to build a strategy, prep for production, and even more on how to report on video ad success. 

Find out how AdRoll simplifies your life while growing your revenue. We provide the platform, performance, and services to meet your marketing goals while streamlining your marketing operation.

Last updated on December 20th, 2022.