Instagram is a platform that has approximately 1 billion monthly active users. With these numbers, this social media channel is excellent for advertisers.
It has a highly engaged audience and running ads on it can help drive awareness. The platform has multiple features, composing of photo ads, carousel ads, video ads, and IG stories ads.
According to Voy Media, an Instagram marketing agency in NYC, “Instagram gives you limitless possibilities to showcase your brand personality through compelling visual content, and improving your engagement with your audience.”
While we are talking about engagement, do you know that video content is highly engaging?
If so, how can you create highly effective video ads for your brand? Well, to get the most out of your video marketing strategy, we’ll walk you through the eight useful tips to create effective video ads for your brand.
1. Define the key objective of your video
Just like every digital marketing strategy, the video that you need to make must have a key objective.
Whatever that objective may be, come up with innovative ways on how your video should be utilized to heighten that objective.
On the occasion that your ideas do get cluttered, create two separate short videos that focus and explore a different objective.
2. Keep your videos short and sweet
The platform lets you upload up to 60 seconds of video in a single post. Moreover, you can post up to 10 videos via the gallery function.
So, as much as possible, focus on keeping your videos short and sweet by concentrating on a single message.
The most successful videos usually run anywhere between 15 to 60 seconds. But still, you need to craft a single, compelling message that’s obvious no matter how long the video will run.
For example, you can create a video that highlights beautiful angles, shots, and other video segments that clearly shows how the item is used.
Moreover, you can make another one that features various colors your product comes in ‒ this is to be released after the first video is published. That way, you’ll be gaining traction in your posts.
So, don’t create a long-form video content that easily confuses your audience. Instead, go for easily digestible chunks that stick to your viewers’ minds.
3. Carefully choose a soundtrack of your video
You’re probably aware that a majority of videos automatically play without the sound on.
However, a new feature is now added on the platform giving the user the option to turn on the sounds of the videos on their feed. Therefore, the sound will be there for the next videos that will show up on their feed unless they put it off again.
While the sound of your video isn’t the end all and be all of your video content on Instagram, it plays a crucial factor in brand storytelling. After all, there’s an element in it that encourages the user to keep watching.
So, choose the right music that keeps up with the pacing and fits your brand personality. That way, you’re delivering a rich media experience that leaves an excellent impression to users.
4. Design your video to evoke emotion
Think about the last video that you’ve shared on your social media feed.
Is it funny, touching, or inspiring? Did it move your audience?
Your video content should be tailored to evoke an essential emotion on your viewers. The goal here is to create a meaningful impact and increase the chances of your content to be shared with others.
After you’ve understood your video’s objective, think of a particular emotion that you want to be associated with this marketing message. Then, research for techniques and other visual languages that will allow you to convey this emotion easily.
For instance, your brand is working towards playful emotions, specifically towards teens and young adults. You can incorporate playful themes like confetti and balloons on your content.
5. Make sure video ads blend into feeds organically
Instagram has approximately 8 billion business profiles on the platform. As a result, a lot of brands and businesses are struggling to stand out from the rest of the pack and be followed.
Discovery is a crucial part to Instagram branding, and can easily be turned into ads. So now that videos are on the rise, it’s vital that you blend your ad content into feeds for a more natural feel.
Ideally, your brand’s feed should be filled with compelling content that will make people stop and take a second look. Maybe, they want to know the location, or who is capturing it.
When you associate your brand with your content stream, you’re able to form a brand association with your viewers. Moreover, it helps peak curiosity, helping you attract new followers in the long run.
6. Add clear call-to-actions
Another top tip, whenever you’re using video content, is to ensure that you have a clear call-to-action (CTA).
What specific actions do you want viewers to take after watching your video?
The CTA doesn’t have to be placed on the video itself. However, once you get your audience’s attention, then it’s up to you to give them the next logical step.
Maybe you want to grow your Instagram following. If that’s the case, put a caption telling users to follow your page if they’re going to stay tuned for more updates for the next couple of weeks.
Or maybe you’re keen on wanting your audience to share your content. If so, then remind them to “tag a friend” in the comments.
Remember, you need to be creative with the language that you include in the caption, directly related to the product or service that you’re promoting.
You can also incorporate words like, “tag a friend who needs to see this,” or “tag someone you know who needs this in their life right now.”
7. Create perfect loopable videos
What makes videos succeed on Instagram isn’t merely on the quality of the visuals. The key to keeping people watching (and rewatching) your videos are creating a perfectly streamlined video loop.
Even GIFs are successful in that context. Why? Because it follows the same basic principle ‒ it loops perfectly.
Videos that smoothly transition from the beginning to the end are excellent for social.
You want to know why? It’s because users are rewatching it even without realizing it. You might even be guilty of committing this.
The longer viewers watch your content, the more your message will stick to them.
8. Schedule your video posts at the right times
What are the best times of the day to publish your content? Simple ‒ it’s on those peak times where most of your followers are online.
According to Hubspot, Mondays and Thursdays are the best days of the week to post on the platform. You can post at any given the time of day as long as it’s not between 3:00-4:00 pm.
For some brands, posts work well during the early morning commute, usually between 9:00 to 10:00 am.
However, if you’re posting videos, it’s best that you schedule between the hours of 9:00 pm to 8:00 am at any given day of the week.
Over to You
So there you have it. By employing these tips at the right time, you can boost your Instagram video marketing campaign. So, go ahead, try these tips and see what works best for you.