Adopt a mobile-first creative approach for your brand’s video ads

Mobile devices are changing the way people consume content—so much so that these new behaviors are influencing what makes an ad effective.

Matching consumer behaviour on mobile positively impacts campaign results. In fact, we found that mobile-first creative has a 27% higher likelihood of driving brand lift compared to video ads that are not optimised for mobile viewing.¹

To leverage this trend and reach people with relevant messages, brands must go beyond just repurposing a TV spot on mobile and think about how to use mobile devices and its characteristics to their advantage. To capture attention, it’s not only critical to adopt a mobile-first strategy for videos but also to be creative in designing a seamless mobile experience.

To create thumb-stopping content, you need to ensure your assets are viewer-friendly. We have found that the consumption of content in the mobile feed is frequent, fast and often sound-free. Anticipating how users will engage with your videos and creating that ideal viewing experience for them, will increase the opportunity for your brand to reach them with relevant messages.

In fact, 79% of novice vertical video consumers agreed that the format is more engaging, and said they would choose the vertical format in most cases². Building mobile-first creative does not only cater to this behaviour but also drives better results.

As vertical video formats take up more space on a mobile screen, the extra space means more attention and more real estate for your brand’s message. Considering that 56% of a brand’s sales lift from digital advertising can be attributed to the quality of the creative³, marketers need to ensure their video ads are as effective as they can be. Here are some tools from Facebook that will help you to create great mobile-first assets:

Advertisers can leverage our Video Creation Kit, which enables you to turn existing image and text assets into mobile-optimised videos. Take advantage of easy-to-use video templates - each designed to serve a different goal, be it promoting a new product or telling your brand’s story.

Leverage Facebook’s video cropping tool to adjust the framing in your videos to achieve a greater effect. Use recommended aspect ratios, such as 1:1 for video ads, 4:5 for the feed, 16:9 for in-stream and 9:16 for Stories. Cropping your video will help your ads fit seamlessly into the ways in which people are consuming content in different environments.

Facebook’s new simple video creation tools will help you quickly create templated videos from Page assets such as photos and company logos. It’s an effective and easy way to create eye-catching video ads that look great on mobile, without major investment, in-house skills or additional assets. Simply select the animate option when boosting a post and a video will automatically be created for you. From there, you can use the video as created or customise it to suit your business needs.

Charge your creative process and save valuable time with Facebook Creative Hub, which is a one-stop destination for learning about, mocking up, previewing and testing Facebook and Instagram ads. See how other creatives are pushing boundaries in our inspiration gallery and learn how to build effective thumb-stopping ads across our range of formats.

Stories templates automatically transform your image into an ad for stories on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger. This means you can reach your audience on stories without investing too much time and effort into designing a new ad. Stories templates use a vertical aspect ratio, so your ad can fill the entire mobile screen and be more engaging. It also adds movement to help grab even more attention.

These new tools are part of our ongoing effort to support businesses of all sizes and empower marketers to create effective ad campaigns built for the ways people are consuming content. Try our new video creation tools today.

Stories on Instagram and Facebook capture the attention of millions of people every day. Although there is no single formula for creativity, we have put together some creative considerations to help marketers understand what makes Stories great.

Take a look at this case study and discover how AirPay in Thailand used video ads in Instagram Stories to drive app installs among millennials, reaching a previously untapped demographic and increasing app installs by 17%.

Make sure you are following a unique creative strategy that highlights your brand in an engaging and effective way.

• Keep attention with speed: People consume Stories much faster than other formats. Create ads that use speed as a creative element to keep the attention of your audience.
• Enhance stories with sound: We find that the majority of stories with voiceover or music drive better results compared to ads without any sound. Use audio to enhance your message.
• Experiment with stickers: Stickers can be a great way to draw attention to your product and make your ad feel natural. However, stickers can also draw attention away from the product and feel inconsistent. Use them carefully.
• Experiment with text overlays: When using text overlays in stories, consider what works best with your creative. Use text to emphasise key messages, but keep your focus on one point.

Make sure you are following a unique creative strategy that highlights your brand in an engaging and effective way.

• Begin with your brand: We find that the best performing ads display their key messages at the beginning of an ad -- so place your logos or brand elements at the start of the creative.
• Consider your objective: Your ad will perform better if you design your creative around your objective. If you use a brand objective, focus your ad on people. If you use a conversion objective, focus on products.
• Experiment with your CTA: Your call-to-action (CTA) drives viewers to take actions based on your ad. Emphasize the action that you want your audience to take, such as "Swipe Up" or "Shop Here."

Make sure you are following a unique creative strategy that highlights your brand in an engaging and effective way.

• Use scenes in the story: Ads that have short, concise scenes perform better than long, slow scenes. Use fast-paced narratives that are quick to get to the point and easier for viewers to consume.
• Experiment with mixed formats: Campaigns with multiple ad sets tend to perform better. Try using mixed format assets, such as static images and motion videos, in your story.

Learn how about how to create playful and interactive Instagram Stories with our step-by-step guide.