Written by: Johnny Sandqvist
Not every trend turns out to be a good idea worth pursuing. I’m looking at you, 90s TV series spin-offs.
Obviously, being careful about what trends to follow can be applied across industries and disciplines, but it’s especially true for marketing. For a long time, marketers recommended you set up automatic Direct Messages to everyone who followed you on Twitter.
A little personal hello sounds like a nice idea, right? But when you start getting an automatic, obviously not personalized “thanks for following me!” message from half of the new Twitter accounts you follow, it’s not fun, it’s not endearing, and it’s not effective.
It’s annoying.
Thankfully, though, there are trends worth pursuing, and one of those is utilizing video on Facebook. Facebook is the world’s largest social media network with about 1.8 billion members, and you can tap into its big data for some highly targeted ads to find the (near) perfect audience.
The good news is that Facebook video ads are still relatively fresh, so now is the time to get in on making it a part of your marketing strategy in the coming year.
Why You Should Consider Video on Facebook
We’ve used video ads on Facebook for many of our clients this past year and they’ve been successful.
One of our clients saw their weekly video views jump more than 500%, on average, once we started promoting the video on Facebook instead of just publishing to their blog and posting links to it on social media.
Because of that success, I assumed that Facebook video was used in abundance, possibly even over-used, However, a recent “state of marketing” report I read made it clear that Facebook marketing has a long way to go, and it’s only going up.
Now is a great time for advisors to build their Facebook marketing strategy, using video as a key building block.
In a survey of marketers across a wide range of industries, 30% said they want to implement Facebook video into their strategy for the upcoming year . It was the largest vote-getter for the next marketing channel markets across all industries want to add.
You want to be producing video for good reason. According to a recent study, shoppers who watched a video were 181 times more likely to purchase the product than those who didn’t.
Admittedly, I can’t say how well that figure translates to the typical investor looking for a financial advisor, but I do know that an advisor with an interesting video is rarer than a World Series win by the Chicago Cubs, so I think it’s safe to say that engaging video will give you a boost when trying to win the attention of prospects.
Two Ways to Create Facebook Video Ads
When we prep Facebook video ads for advisors, we’re typically looking at one of two methods.
In the first, you can directly upload a video into a newsfeed post and then boost (pay to promote) that post. If what you’re after is more engagement – like a handful more clicks than you might otherwise get – Boost Post can be a good option.
More often, though, we set up an ad with the objective of Video Views. A Video Views ad gets your video placed in the newsfeed of more like-minded users who are more likely to be receptive to your message.
How to Get Started
The first thing you’ll need to do, of course, is have a video to upload. You can read our post about gear you need to shoot a video , or you can have a company (like Mineral) handle the filming and editing, or even create an animated video for you. Animated videos are typically more expensive than usual videos, so make sure you have a really good idea if you’re going to go this route.
The Secret to Making an Engaging Video
An engaging video ad is not going to be a three-minute-long shot of you talking to the camera about all the ways you can help investors. There may be a time and place for that type of video, but it’s not as an ad.
The best ads tell a story, and I don’t mean the story of your company and how you got to where you are. The story is one that focuses on your client and their experience . As a fiduciary, you’re focused on your client first anyway, so this idea should be natural.
When you tell a story in an ad, you’re relating first to what your client wants, and painting a picture of how you help them, but they’re at the center of the idea.
Here’s a terrific long-form example you may have seen recently on TV. Apple released a holiday ad about Frankenstein’s monster looking for validation and human connection.
When I first saw the ad, my initial reaction halfway through was skepticism because of Frankenstein monster’s conceit, but it ends up working well with surprising emotional impact.
Notice how the iPhone plays only a secondary role in the ad. Its purpose in the story is to support the goal of the story’s hero (Frankenstein’s monster, a.k.a. the customer).
How to Set Up Your First Video Ad
So, after you’ve made your engaging video, log into your personal Facebook and create an Ads Manager account. You can go right to the source for more information about the initial setup .
Once you’re ready to go, let’s walk through creating one Facebook Videos Views ad.
Choose Your Audience Wisely
The first thing you’ll do is choose an audience, and right away Facebook’s advertising platform shows its strength. You can choose an audience like your followers, and you can upload your own list. But where Facebook shines is in its lookalike audience selection.
Simply put, a lookalike audience gets your message in front of more people, based on what Facebook knows they like . Facebook will generate an entirely new set of people that they are reasonably sure will be receptive to it, because their data tells them they’re like the ones you already are trying to reach. It’s pretty neat.
Once you’ve got the perfectly tailored audience nailed down, you’ll set ad placement and budget. Ad placement lets you set it and forget it with recommended settings, or choose among Facebook, Instagram, and Facebook’s Audience Network.
Budget is a variable that can’t be set the same each time for every different client. While I’d love to give you a magic number, it depends on your objective and audience size, among other factors.
After the initial setup of who should see your ad, you’ll finally get to the fun part and create it. Facebook has various options but most often, you’ll end up loading a single video format. You can add some text and preview how the ad will look in each channel it’s placed (this is terrific).
One nice feature that you’ll want to take advantage of is adding video subtitles, so even if someone has the sound off as they’re scrolling through Facebook, they can still experience what your video is trying to say.
Don’t Forget to Track Your Conversions
And the last part of a Video Views ad I’ll cover is tracking conversions. You can choose to use your Facebook pixel to track all conversions from your ad.
The term “Facebook pixel” is probably some kind of alien hieroglyphics language, so I’ll break it down easy: it’s a small snippet of code that lets you track activity on your website and see who from Facebook is engaging your ad. You can learn more about it here .
And yes, you absolutely want to set it up on your website if you are using Facebook ads, because without great analytics, your marketing is only half-baked.
Ready for Take-Off
And then, you’re ready to launch. All in all, creating a Video Views ad on Facebook is simple in and of itself. The largest part of the work is put in before you ever log into Facebook.
A successful video ad starts with the content you produce (the video itself) and the strategy and preparation you put in beforehand to make sure you choose the right audience.
If you’re ready to give it a go, there’s no need to wait for next year. Get started today.