What are Facebook In-Stream Video Ads & How to Use Them?

On Facebook, in-stream video ads play during videos (mid-roll) from familiar publishers and digital-first creators that specifically tailor their content to ... [10/26Webinar]HowtoDriveMoreLeadsfromYourLandingPages RegisterNow Platform Platform InstapageOverview Integrations Security Products LandingPages Personalization Experimentation AdMap® Collaboration PageSpeed Solutions ByChannel ForSearchAds ForSocialAds ForDisplayAds ByUseCase ForLeadGen ForEcommerce Customers Plans Resources ResourcesLibrary LandingPageExamples WhatisaLandingPage? Blog Login GETSTARTED Platform InstapageOverview Integrations Security Products LandingPages Personalization Experimentation AdMap® Collaboration PageSpeed ByChannel ForSearchAds ForSocialAds ForDisplayAds ByUseCase ForLeadGen ForEcommerce Customers Plans ResourcesLibrary LandingPageExamples WhatisaLandingPage? Blog Login GETSTARTED In2017,digitaladvertisershadagoldenadvertisingopportunity:Facebookin-streamvideoads.Thesocialmediaplatformunderstoodthatsincepeoplearewatchinglonger-formvideosonmobile,theyshouldmatchthisbehavior.Thismeantprovidingadvertiserswiththeoptiontoplacevideoadsdirectlywithinliveandon-demandvideosonmobiledevices. Onlinevideoadshaveneverbeenthesamewhenyouconsider70%ofthesevideosareviewedtocompletionanddeliveranaverageon-targetrateof89%.Couplethoseimpressivestatswiththefactthatmostin-streamvideoadsareplayedwithsound,andit’seasytoseewhydigitaladvertiserstakeadvantageofthisadtype. WhatisFacebookin-streamvideo? AsdefinedbyFacebook,thisadplacementallowsadvertiserstodeliver5-15second,non-skippable,mid-rollvideoadstopeoplewhoarealreadywatchingFacebookvideosonamobiledevice.Astheseadsdon’tappearuntilatleast60secondsintothemainvideocontent,peopleareactivelyengagedin“lean-back”watchingmode,andtheadisjustlikeacommercialbreakfortheactualvideo. SimilartoanyotherFacebookadcampaign,advertiserscanselectivelychoosetheirtargetaudiencesforin-streamvideoads.Sincetheseadsareaudience-based,viewersofthesamevideomayseedifferentads,dependingontheirinterests. Todemonstrate,hereisaFacebookin-streamvideoadexamplefromABCNews4thatappearedaboutoneminuteintoaGoodHousekeepingvideo: In-streamvideoadplacements Digitaladvertisershavetwooptionstoplacetheirin-streamvideoads:FacebookandtheAudienceNetwork. OnFacebook,in-streamvideoadsplayduringvideos(mid-roll)fromfamiliarpublishersanddigital-firstcreatorsthatspecificallytailortheircontenttoFacebookaudiences.Here,theadsonlyappearonmobiledevices,andonlyafter60secondsofthemainvideocontent. VideoadsonFacebook’sAudienceNetworkareslightlydifferentthantypicalFacebookin-streamvideoads.Theymayappearbeforeorduringvideocontent(pre-rollormid-roll)onhundredsofpublishersitesandapps,andtheycanbe10-30secondslong.WithAudienceNetwork,in-streamvideoadsareavailableonbothmobileanddesktop. Advertiserscanselecttheirplacementchoicesinthe“Placements”sectionofadsetcreation: Whileselectivelychoosingyourownorelectingautomaticplacementsarebothoptions,Facebookrecommendsthelatterformostadvertisersbecausethisallowstheplatformtofindthemostoptimizedplacementsforyourvideoadsbasedonrelevance,objective,andbudget. Thedifferencebetweenin-streamandFacebookvideos Beforeinstreamvideoads,marketerscouldrunnewsfeedvideoads,orSponsoredads,likethisonefromSunBasket: Theprimarydifferencebetweennewsfeedvideoadsandin-streamvideoadsisthatnewsfeedvideoadsarestandaloneadsthatappearinusers’newsfeeds,ratherthanwithinanothervideo. Anotherdifference,seenbelow,isthevideolengthadscanrun—newsfeedfor240minutes,andin-streamforonly5-15seconds.Inaddition,in-streamadsrequiresound,whilenewsfeedadsdonot. Objectivesforeachadplacementvary,too.ForFacebookfeedads,allobjectivesareavailable.Forin-streamads,though,onlyfourspecificobjectivesareavailable: Differencesinthedataforeachvideoadplacementalsoexist.Forexample,viewershipratesaren’tashighonnewsfeedvideoads.Thetwographsbelowdemonstratehowlongpeoplewatchbothtypesofvideoadvertisementsbeforetheirattentionstartstodrift: Fromthatcomparison,itmakessensethatin-feedvideoadshaveasharperdropinwatchtimesbecauseFacebookusersaretypicallymid-scrollandonthego,soit’shardertocapturetheirattentionforanextendedperiod. Conversely,in-streamnon-skippableadsareinsertedintovideosthatusershavechosentowatch,likethisGeorgeTakeivideowitha14-secondNokiaHealthmid-rollvideoad.Iftheuserwantedtofinishwatchingthechosenvideo,heorshemustviewthevideoadinitsentirety,hencelongerwatchtimes: Sincethepersonhasalreadychosentowatchthevideo,itlikelymeansthatthey’reinawatchingmoodandthesoundison.Granted,totalwatchtimetendstodecreaseasvideoadlengthincreases,howeverin-streamadsstillhavelongerwatchtimesoverall. WhyshouldIuseFacebookadsin-streamvideo? Ifyourgoalistoincreasevisibility,brandawareness,reach,orengagement,youshouldbeusingin-streamvideoplacement.That’sbecauseintheFacebookAdsManagerandPowerEditor,thisadtypeisavailableforeachofthosespecificobjectives:VideoViews,BrandAwareness,Reach,andPostEngagement. Morevisibility OveronebillionpeopleseeanadthroughFacebook’sAudienceNetworkeverymonth,soyouhaveaccesstoaglobalaudiencewithanaverageof16%morepeoplethanFacebookorInstagramalone. Rememberthosetwographsweshowedearlier?Hereisamorecompletepicturetostrengthentheargumentforin-streamvideoads(non-skippables): Thesegraphsindicatethatnon-skippablevideoadsoutperformalloftheothervideoadvertisingoptionsatholdingviewers’attention.Tosomedigitaladvertisers,thiscouldsuggestre-allocatingmoneyspentonnewsfeedvideoads,skippablevideoads,Storyfeedvideoads,andliveTVads—andredirectthatmoneytowardnon-skippableads. Brandawareness Audience-basedtargetingmakesiteasytodeliverrelevantadstotherightaudience,whichiswhythisadtypeisgreatforboostingbrandawareness. Facebook’s“suggestedvideos”alsohelpgrowbrandawareness.Whenusersarewatchingavideooftheirchoice,suggestedvideoswillautomaticallykeepplayingafterward.Thisallowsmoreopportunitiesforinstreamvideoadstogetinfrontofusers. Increasedreach Typically,whenconsumerscomplainaboutadvertisements,they’rereallyjustcomplainingaboutbadads—thedisruptive,irrelevant,andpoorlyexecutedones. Goodads—areadsthatarenative,relevant,andoptimized.Theyhavethepotentialtoincreasereach.Inotherwords,creative,entertaining,andusefuladsgetsubstantialsharesandmoreprospecteyeballs. Boostedengagement Someadvertisersfeelthatin-streamvideohaslimitedoptions,mainlybecausemanyplatformsdon’tofferthem.Theflipsidetothis,though,isthatlesscompetitionfromotheradvertisersmeansmoreadengagementforyou. Also,sincein-streamvideoadsaretiedtoreputablepublishercontent,theyprovideadvertisersanopportunitytocreatecomplementarycampaignstofurtherincreaserelevanceandboostuserengagement. It’simportanttonotethatadvertisersaren’tforcedtochoosebetweentheseandin-feedvideoadsonFacebook.Youcanoptforoneorbothplacements,dependingonyourgoalsandtargetaudiences.Themorevideoformatsyoudeliver,themorerobustandeffectiveyourcampaigns. Chooseselectivelywithyourin-streamvideoFacebookads Ifyou’reconcernedaboutassociatingyourbrandwithcertainsensitivetopics.Facebookallowsyoutointentionallyexcludeyourin-streamvideoadsfromappearinginspecificcontentcategories.Theseinclude“DebatableSocialIssues,”“Mature”or“TragedyandConflict.” Youcanevenblockyouradsfromappearingoncertainwebsitesandapps,orwithcertainpublishers.JustbesuretoblockallavailabledomainsandURLsofthatpublisher.Also,keepinmindthatthenumberofblocksallowedinoneyearislimitedto10,000domainsorURLs. Ifyouchoosetoexcludeyouradsfromsensitivecategories,itmayalsolimityourcampaign’sdeliveryandreach,soit’simportanttoweightheprosandconsofdoingso. FacebookLive&in-streamvideoads SincelaunchinginApril2016,FacebookLivehasallowedbusinessesanduserstoincreasevisibilityandengagefollowersinreal-time.NowthesocialnetworkistakingitsLiveplatformastepfurtherwithFacebookLivein-streamvideoads. AsofFebruary2018,Liveadsarestillinbetatesting,butoncecomplete,theystillwon’tbeavailabletoalladvertisers.Onlypagesorprofileswithatleast2,000followerswillbeeligibleforLiveads,andeventhen,theyshouldhaverecentlivevideoswithatleast300concurrentviewers. Howtheprocessworks WhenauserstartsaLivevideo—andthatvideoreaches4minutesandhasatleast300peoplewatching—theLivevideocreatorcansimplytapabuttonthatsays,“Youcantakeanadbreaknow:” Facebookthenautomaticallystartstheadbreak,whichrunsforamaximumof20seconds.IftheLivevideocontinuesforfivemoreminutes,thecreatorcantakeanotheradbreak.Theadprocesscontinuesthiswayeveryfiveminutes. Bestpracticesandadspecs Tomakein-streamvideoadsperformthebestforyourbrand,considerthefollowingadspecificationsandtips. Length Specs:OnFacebook,yourin-streamvideolengthmustbebetween5and15seconds.OnAudienceNetwork,itcanbe10-120secondswhenchoosingautomaticplacements.And5-30secondswhenchoosingjustthein-streamvideoplacement. Bestpractices:Althoughmorenative,in-streamvideoadsstilldisruptcontentthatauserwantstoconsume.So,it’swisetorespecttheirtimeandkeepyouradsshort,interesting,andpowerful. Aspectratio Specs:WithFacebook,theaspectratiosarevertical(upto9:16),square(1:1),andlandscape(16:9).WithAudienceNetwork,square(1:1)orlandscape(16:9). Bestpractices:ForoptimaldeliveryviaAudienceNetwork,uselandscapei. Sound Specs:Soundisamustforalladplacements(FacebookorAudienceNetwork). Bestpractices:Eachin-streamvideoadonFacebookshouldalsoincludecaptions. Objective Specs:N/A,butobjectivesfortheAudienceNetworkincludereach,brandawareness,engagement,videoviews,andconversions. Bestpractices:Sincein-streamvideoadsonFacebookarenotclickable,conversionsandpost-clicklandingpagetrafficarenotapplicable.Althoughtooptimizethepost-clicklandingpage,linkingtoapost-clicklandingpagefromanadviaAudienceNetworkishighlyrecommended. Note:Thenew,comprehensiveInstapagedigitaladvertisingspecsguidecontainseverythinginoneplace—dimensions,fileformats,examples,andmore—tocreatecompellingadvertisementsacrossallplatformsanddevices. Facebookin-streamvideoadscanimproveyourcampaigns Onlinevideohasproventobemorecompellingthantext.So,digitaladvertiserslikeyoushouldbelookingforadditionalwaystoincreaseadengagement,brandawareness,andreach.Facebook’sinstreamvideoadsempoweryoutoaccomplishallthree. Adsareonecomponent;optimizingtheuserexperienceisquiteanother,though.Youneedmessagematchingandaplatformcapableofprovidinganend-to-endsolutionsothatgeneratesmaximumROI.TheInstapagepost-clickoptimizationplatformisequippedwithadesigner-friendlybuilder,teamcollaboration,Instablocks™,advancedanalytics,andmoretomakesureyouoptimizeeverypost-clicklandingpageforyourprospects. GetVisualExamplesofAllMajorAdFormatsonGoogle,Facebook,LinkedIn,andMore. Reviewadspecs,learnbestpractices&seeexamples.Allinoneplace. IWANTTHEGUIDE SubscribetotheInstapageBlog Getthelatesttrends,tactics,andthoughtleadershipforadvertisingconversionandpost-clickautomation. Youwillonlyreceivequalitycontent. by StephanieMialki StephanieMialkiisaContentWriterforInstapage.SheisagraduateofSt.BonaventureUniversitywithaBachelor’sdegreeinJournalismandMassCommunication. Readytoturnmoreadclicksintoconversions? Trytheworld'smostadvancedlandingpageplatformtoday.Scheduleaproductdemotolearnmore. GET STARTED SubscribetotheInstapageBlog Getthelatesttrends,tactics,andthoughtleadershipforadvertisingconversionandpost-clickautomation. Youwillonlyreceivequalitycontent. SUBSCRIBEME Weusecookiestogiveyouthebestexperienceonourwebsite,deliverourservices,personalizecontent,andtoanalyzetraffic.Bycontinuingtouseourwebsiteyouagreetoallowouruseofcookies.ToknowmorepleaserefertoourCookiePolicy. Gotit close