In this article, we're unpacking our own winning strategies that guide our audience through every stage of the funnel—from raising awareness to nurturing interest, sparking desire, and ultimately driving action.
With our helpful templates and tips, you'll be well on your way to maximizing your social media video ads and achieving success.
Why use videos for your social media ads?
Did you know that high-quality ads can lead to improved and more cost-effective distribution by social media algorithms?
But "quality" doesn't solely refer to flawless visuals; it's about creating content that's genuinely useful and resonates with your audience.
When your content sparks engagement, the algorithms take note and often reward you with increased visibility.
So, why is video the best format for creating high-quality social media ads?
Well, it’s simple. Here are 4 reasons.
1. Consumers want video
In fact, 91% of consumers want to see more online video content from brands because they are more likely to pay attention to it.
Whether you’re on Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, or Instagram, video has become a huge part of the social media experience, and this isn’t by chance.
2. Marketers see a greater ROI from video
In addition to what consumers want, marketers are seeing better results than ever by using video in their strategy.
In 2023, 92% of video marketers said video gave them a good ROI. In addition they noted that the medium is highly favored because of its potential to explain everything in a format users prefer.
Sophia Eriksson, Performance Marketing Manager at Storykit, says:
“Video impacts ROI and sales positively since they're engaging and more likely to be shared compared to other social media posts. They generate leads effectively while also being outstanding when it comes to telling your stories.”
3. Video makes complicated messages simple
Videos use storytelling to make complicated topics easy to understand, in a way that lists of facts can't.
For example, Berit Sund at ACTA Medical found that video was a great tool for turning complex health and science information into engaging stories that her audience actually consumes.
She says:
“Video is a fantastic tool to help enhance science or whichever story you want to create. It helps me to shape the health story or scientific story, so it is more impactful.”
Read how ACTA Medical has been able to achieve a 418% increase in engagement and inform and captivate their audience like never before using video here.
4. Videos are eye-catching
Ads are everywhere on social media, so making yours stand out is key. Just adding some motion can make them more noticeable and engaging.
As a matter of fact, prospects are 27 times more likely to click through online video ads than standard banners.
Why do you need to run ads for every stage of the funnel?
Consider the diverse stages your potential customers might be in. Some might be ready to buy your product or book a demo right now.
However, not everyone is at that point. There are those who have never heard of your brand and are curious about who you are. Others might be evaluating what you offer and comparing you to other options.
An effective ad strategy addresses all these varying needs, guiding your audience through the funnel on social media by acknowledging and addressing their specific concerns and questions at each stage.
This means bombarding your viewers with "buy now" or "book a meeting" isn’t the best way to go.
Sofia says:
“It’s important to recognize that not everyone in your audience is ready to buy right away (95-5 rule). Therefore, it's crucial to be present in all stages of the funnel, to nurture, educate and inspire so that when they are ready to buy, your brand is top of mind.”
Further reading: 4 top LinkedIn video ad examples and why they work
6 types of social media video ads you can be make for each stage of the funnel
Awareness stage
For your top funnel video ads you want to focus on reach, brand awareness, and educating your audience. In this stage, you can put out videos about your brand and your story so that your target audience starts to recognize you.
Sofia says:
“Longer storytelling videos are better when we want to create an emotion or educate our audience, while also keeping them in the social channel.”
Types of video ads you can make:
1. Content ads: Craft trailers, listicles, or highlights of valuable content such as reports, blog posts, surveys, articles, podcasts, or interviews. These ads aim to introduce your brand's message and drive traffic to your content platforms.
2. Thought leadership ads: Utilize text quotes, sound bites, or lists to educate and inform your audience about original ideas. These ads position your brand as a leader by aligning with the solutions your company or organization offers.
3. Brand-building content: Incorporate storytelling elements that reflect your brand's values, mission, and community impact. This content should resonate emotionally with your audience, making your brand memorable and fostering a strong, positive association in the minds of potential customers.
Consideration stage
In the middle of the funnel, you want to focus on educating your audience about your niche and driving traffic to your site. In this phase, you can use videos to promote your blog posts, reports, or case studies.
Sofia says:
“Shorter videos showing the ebook/whitepaper with some bullet points about the content is great.”
Types of video ads you can make:
4. Social proof ads: Leverage testimonials, reviews, and case study results to build trust. Use text quotes, short interviews, or simple ratings to showcase real-world applications and satisfaction with your offerings.
5. Product awareness ads: Highlight the key benefits of your product or service using images, screen recordings, or video clips. Include expert or customer quotes that outline benefits, address pain points, and offer solutions, helping potential customers evaluate your product.
Decision stage
And now, the moment you've been waiting for: conversion ads! The type of conversion you're aiming for will depend on your specific objective, which could be anything from signing up for a newsletter to booking a demo or RSVPing for a webinar, and even submitting job applications.
Sofia says:
“Overall, for generating actions like conversions or traffic, shorter videos work best with full focus on the CTA and the most important thing in the beginning (around 10-15 seconds). Shorter videos could also work as cliffhangers to "read more" if sending them to a landing page. In terms of content, social proof and testimonials are great for this. Longer videos tend to take focus from what we want them to do.”
Types of video ads you can make:
6. Action-driving ads: Create compelling, short videos that stand out and directly prompt viewers to take action, such as signing up, requesting a demo, making a purchase, or downloading content. These ads are focused on converting interest into tangible engagement or sales.
By categorizing these video ad types according to the funnel stages, you can more effectively guide your audience from initial awareness through consideration to the final decision, addressing their needs and concerns at each step.
How to set up your full-funnel video ads strategy: Step-by-step
Next, we'll guide you through setting up a comprehensive video ads strategy across your chosen social media platforms, covering every stage of the funnel.
Step 1: Choose the audience you want to target
To get started choose the audience that you want to target. This is important since it will determine the type of content you choose to promote.
Hopefully, you have a few that you have already identified, but if you need help, check out Meta’s guide to building a target audience and LinkedIn’s guide to set up a target audience.
Step 2: Create video ads for every stage of the funnel
Now it's time to get creative. Drawing inspiration from the examples highlighted earlier, you can craft a video ad tailored for each funnel stage. With Storykit, you can do this by simply copying and pasting your text, and watch as Storykit transforms it into a video.
→ Try it out now on our homepage.
For additional inspiration, explore the video templates we showcase further down in this article.
Step 3: Create your campaigns
Once your videos are prepared, it's time to launch your campaigns. Begin by establishing a distinct campaign for each funnel stage, targeting the same audience throughout. Below is a step-by-step guide for each stage, including checklists.
Keep in mind: The setup process for all campaigns is similar, with the main difference being the initial objective.
Campaign 1: Top funnel videos
- Objective: Reach and Brand Awareness
- Audience: Utilize the audience you identified initially.
- Ad Setup:
- To enhance performance and facilitate A/B testing, create multiple ads within your campaign. Consider these approaches:
- Use the same video with different text for each ad.
- Use the same text but slightly alter the video for each ad.
- To enhance performance and facilitate A/B testing, create multiple ads within your campaign. Consider these approaches:
- Duration: Run your campaign for a minimum of 7-10 days.
Campaign 2: Middle funnel videos
- Objective: Traffic
- Audience: Utilize the same audience identified at the start.
- Ad Setup:
- Implement multiple ads for effective A/B testing, such as:
- Using the same video with varied text for each ad.
- Maintaining the same text but modifying the video slightly for each ad.
- Implement multiple ads for effective A/B testing, such as:
- Duration: Maintain a campaign run of at least 7-10 days.
- Continuity: Avoid setting a campaign end date unless it's for a specific, time-sensitive promotion. Aim to run and update the campaigns continuously.
Campaign 3: Bottom funnel videos
- Objective: Conversions
- Audience: Target the initially identified audience.
- Ad Setup:
- For optimization and A/B testing, diversify your ads. Options include:
- Repurposing the same video with distinct text variations.
- Keeping text consistent while altering the video slightly for each ad.
- For optimization and A/B testing, diversify your ads. Options include:
- Duration: Ensure the campaign runs for a minimum span of 7-10 days.
- Note: Avoid setting a campaign end date unless it's for a specific, time-sensitive promotion. Aim to run and update the campaigns continuously.
Step 4: Measure the success
Running ads without evaluating their performance is easy to do, but how do you determine whether they're effective? Given that each campaign has a unique objective, the key is to understand what indicators to monitor for each campaign.
→ Download now: Paid video ad tracking doc
Campaign 1: Top funnel videos
In brand awareness campaigns, the primary objective is to get your brand in front of as many people as possible. While metrics are important, don't get too hung up on them in this stage.
If you have to monitor something, focus on monitoring your cost per thousand impressions (CPM) and using it as a benchmark for future campaigns to determine which types of videos and content resonate best with your target audience. Additionally, pay attention to the view-through rate, which indicates how many viewers watched at least 25% of the content and can give you an idea of how engaging your ad is.
Campaign 2: Middle funnel videos
When running traffic campaigns, it's useful to track your click-through rate (CTR) to measure how many people are taking your desired action. At Storykit, we generally consider a CTR of around 0.8% to be good, and a CTR of around 1% to be very good.
Additionally, monitoring your cost per click (CPC) can help you gauge the cost-effectiveness of your campaigns and provide a benchmark for future comparisons
Campaign 3: Bottom funnel videos
At the bottom of the funnel, the ultimate goal is to drive conversions. Sofia uses a specific approach to determine the success of a campaign at this stage:
"For the bottom of the funnel, I wait for 10,000 impressions before deciding whether I should switch. How many conversions you get for those 10,000 determines the cost per lead (CPL)."
Just like the above campaigns you should start comparing the CPL of different campaigns you run and determine what works best for you.
Step 5: Do it all over again
After your week's test is over, switch out your existing video ads with new ones and compare the results with the previous week.
Remember you don’t need to set up a new campaign from scratch. These campaigns should always be on so it’s easier and more optimal just to edit your existing one.
This experimentation will help you identify what resonates with your target audience and will allow you to fine-tune your approach.
However, it is important to keep in mind that there is no single ad or creative that will guarantee success. Instead, focus on continuously creating and pushing out content, while keeping your audience's needs in mind.
By doing so, you'll be able to deliver valuable content that will not only help your audience but also drive conversions for your business.
Further reading: LinkedIn video ads Q&A with Sofia Eriksson
Video templates you can use for every stage of the funnel
Here are some video templates to help inspire your video creation.
Top-funnel video ad templates
Here are three templates you can use to create top-of-the-funnel video ads:
1. The ‘Big Question - Small Format’ Template
Use this template to communicate your mission, vision, goals, and brand values in a manner that captivates your audience by delivering an honest and comprehensive discussion of the subject.
Use this template to communicate your history in chronological order. Delve into the organization's beginnings and highlight them from a specific angle or perspective.
Use this template to feature a variety of services, products, or insights. Begin by addressing a problem or need your audience has, and then transition to present multiple solutions that effectively address it, capturing their attention.
2. Middle-funnel video ad templates
In the middle of the funnel, you want to focus on educating your audience about your niche and driving traffic to your site. In this phase, you can use videos to promote your blog posts, reports, or case studies.
Sofia says:
“Shorter videos showing the ebook/whitepaper with some bullet points about the content is great.”
Here are three templates you can use in the middle of the funnel video ads:
1. The ‘Facts & Figures’ Template
Use this template to present numbers and facts drawn from reports or any source of pride from your organization.
Use this template to quickly generate more content from your existing material. Use it as a trailer to drive traffic to the original piece or as a standalone content to boost in-feed engagement. It's an ideal format for creating more content efficiently.
3. The ‘Takeaway Carousel’ Template
Use this template to present results in a balanced, viewer-friendly way. Focus on one aspect, like positive elements or a specific market, for greater impact. This format allows you to delve into detail without overwhelming the viewer with a list of key points.
3. Bottom funnel video ad templates
Here are three templates you can use for your bottom-of-funnel conversion ads.
1. The ‘Simple Testimonial’ Template
Use this template to present short testimonials that resonate with potential customers, building trust and legitimacy for your offering. A quick video testimonial can be easily produced and testimonials can be collected through mail or forms, and is a great way to get leads to book a demo or request more information.
2. The 'Save The Date with Promise' Template
Use this template to generate interest in your events and webinars and get interested participants to sign up in advance. This format is very "light", meaning you can create it as soon as you have the speaker's or agenda item's initial confirmation.
Use this template to find the right person for job openings. Encourage people in your network to share and encourage the right candidates to apply.
Why should you choose Storykit to create social media video ads?
It's not uncommon for marketers to feel stuck when their ad campaigns aren't producing the desired results. Effective social media advertising requires experimentation, flexibility, patience, and the ability to adapt to what works best.
Storykit has loads of features that make it quick, easy, and most importantly, cost-efficient to test and alternate ads. You can quickly clone videos and swap images, videos, colors, animations, formats, ad copy, and even translate to local languages. That way you have a bunch of different ads to test or rotate, created in a matter of minutes and at no additional cost.
So, whether you're a small business owner or a marketing professional, Storykit can help you achieve your advertising goals and drive meaningful results.
