10 Tips to Create Instagram Video Ads
As the subject matter experts over at runrex.com will tell you, if you want to get the most out of Instagram nowadays when it comes to marketing, then you need to go beyond photos and try out Instagram video ads. This is because videos drive the highest engagements on Instagram, achieving over 21% more interactions than images, with video ads generating 7.5 times more clicks than display ads as per discussions on the same over at guttulus.com. However, you need to be more strategic with your Instagram video ads as just publishing any video won’t get you sales automatically. To help you get the best out of your video ads, this article will look to list 10 tips for creating Instagram video ads.
Keep your ads concise
A very important tip when creating Instagram video ads, according to the folks over at runrex.com, is to make sure that your ads are short, sweet, and simple. Don’t make the mistake of creating longs videos and using complicated wording in the captions, a mistake many people make. While the platform itself lets you create video ads that are up to 120 seconds long, the recommended length of Instagram video ads, as is discussed over at guttulus.com, is about 6 seconds. Remember, as the length of the video goes up, the watch time goes down so keep it short and sweet. Also, make sure that your captions are simple as people don’t go to Instagram to look at ads, they go there to look at the photos and videos of the people they follow. This means that, if your captions are too complicated, they will not be sticking around to watch your ads, that’s for sure.
Make the first few seconds count
On top of keeping things succinct, another important tip when it comes to Instagram video ads is to make the first few seconds, as far as your video ads are concerned, count. Remember, people have a lot of content to go through on Instagram and will, therefore, scroll quickly through their feeds. This is why, according to the gurus over at runrex.com, the first few seconds are crucial, as they should be compelling enough to make users stop and watch the video. Don’t try to be arty with slow openers; slow-burners don’t work here. Make sure you incorporate movement, incorporating something that is bright and catches the attention of users for the best results.
Make sure your Instagram video format looks good on a smartphone
As is discussed over at guttulus.com, the fact that Instagram began as a mobile app means that many of its features are only available on smartphones, which is why an important tip when creating Instagram video ads is to make sure that your video format looks good on a smartphone. This means going for vertical (1080×1920) or square (1080×1080) dimensions, and not horizontal ones. Remember, Instagram users prefer not to turn their phones to get a Fullscreen video experience, which is why you should focus on vertical or square videos; preferably vertical if you can.
Make use of subtitles
Yet another important tip when creating Instagram video ads is to use subtitles, something the gurus over at runrex.com agree with. Subtitles are important because as many as 83% of people watch videos on mute, with this number going up to a staggering 92% on mobile. Others, though they may be watching with the sound on, may be unable to follow if English isn’t their first language, while others may be deaf or hard of hearing. Others simply mute their devices when watching video content in public places, like say on the bus or metro. An easy way to go around all these is to add subtitles, which have been known to be extremely effective as it ensures a staggering 91% of viewers watch your videos to completion, compared to 66% when it comes to those watching videos without subtitles. Don’t neglect audio, however, and make sure it is of high quality.
Be a problem solver
According to the experts over at guttulus.com, the best Instagram video ads identify a problem and show how a particular product or service solves it. When creating Instagram video ads, an important tip is to, therefore, identify a problem your potential customers have, and show how your products or service helps solve it. This creates an emotional bond with your audience and ensures that they are intrigued right of the gate with what you have to offer.
Make sure you optimize your Instagram video settings
Instagram has got guidelines for video resolution, video file size, video settings, and video format which you must follow if you want them to rate your video ad as high quality and, therefore, have it displayed more often to users. As is covered in detail over at runrex.com, make sure your Instagram video ads are as high resolution as possible, while also avoiding any pillar boxing on the screen. The preferred file type is MP4 or MOV, although nearly all mainstream video types should be okay. Other recommended features are H.264 compression, fixed frame rate, square pixels, progressive scan, and stereo AAC audio compression at 128kbps or higher.
Create attractive thumbnails
While it is true that when most people come across your ad, they will see it play automatically, some won’t as there is a feature that enables Instagram users to disable auto video play when on mobile data, as discussed over at guttulus.com. Therefore, if you want to get these people to watch your Instagram video ads, you need to create an attractive thumbnail. A tip to help with this is to think about your target audience’s pain point and then adding its solution to it as overlay text. On top of that, you can add other overlay elements that can help make your thumbnail stand out even more in the feed. Just make sure you follow the rules by limiting the amount to text on your video ads to less than 20% and also ensure that you have a conversion scent, which means keeping your font palette and writing style similar to the rest of the ad and the landing page.
Focus on one goal
Another very important tip when creating Instagram video ads is to focus on a central theme, topic, and goal for each ad. As is covered in detail over at runrex.com, this could be product education, ‘buy now’ options, or brand awareness. Just ensure that you don’t incorporate all of these goals into one ad, as this will only serve to bombard your audience, leading to them scrolling past your ad. Also, if your video ad contains too many selling points or products, then it begins to look like a pitch, which will also put off your audience.
Make sure your Instagram video ad doesn’t look like an ad
According to the subject matter experts over at guttulus.com, Instagram video ads should naturally blend into Instagram feeds and not be too self-promotional if they are to be effective. You should, therefore, try and ensure that your video ads blend organically into feeds and don’t immediately resemble ads. People, intrinsically, don’t like ads, which means that if your video ads are overly self-promotional, and don’t bring value to the viewer, then they will be immediately dismissed.
Optimize your landing page for mobile
Most people access Instagram through their smartphones, as already mentioned earlier on, and as such, if the call-to-action on your Instagram video ad leads to a landing page, you should make sure that your pages are optimized for mobile. As is discussed over at runrex.com, you should make sure that your viewers can take any desired actions from their mobile devices, as if you make this difficult in any way, you will immediately lose them.
Remember, if you are looking for more information on this and other related topics, then the highly-rated runrex.com and guttulus.com have you covered.