Author: Prashant Yadu
April 10th, 2023
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Recently, Twitter announced that it is going to let its users be more expressive than before. Twitter increased its character limit from 140 characters to 280 characters. Alas! Not a well-received decision, however, that is some other article some other day. We all know the attention spans of buyers in this generation are low and to communicate with them, you need brevity. Unlike what many may think, brevity and comprehensiveness are not mutually exclusive.
Facebook In-stream Video Ads –Why?
As real estate agents, you interact with many users, in-person and digitally (through your Facebook page/Linkedin Page and your website). While your competitors pitch your prospective buyer multiple ideas, cutting through the clutter using a concise and timely video message, will set you apart from others.
But Facebook Video View Ads Have Been There for Years!
Yes, true you can show your video ads and maximize its outreach by opting for Video Views as the Campaign objective. You can also choose from the following objectives; however, Facebook will not optimize for Video Views in case of these objectives:
However, what we are talking about here is the new Facebook placement available for shorter video ads. You can use a 5-15 second video to be eligible for the placement of the in-stream video. These are also known as mid-roll videos and shown to people who are watching videos on Facebook.
Just like with every other ad format on Facebook, these In-stream video ads are audience specific. What this means is that two different people watching a video may see different mid-roll ads depending on their interests and behaviors.
Technical Nitty-Gritty of In-stream Videos Implementation
If you do not have anyone in your office or on your team who has experience with Video ads, try hiring a Facebook Ads Specialist. If you have run ads on Facebook previously, understand that in-stream ads are available as Placement with Reach, Post Engagement, Video Views, and Brand Awareness campaign objectives. Here is a screenshot of how you can select Placements at the Ad Set Level under Placements>Edit Placements
For the specific purposes of this article, I suggest creating an In-stream only video ad. You can run a 5-15 second In-stream video on Facebook. On Facebook’s Audience Network (Websites and Apps that show ads from Facebook) you can show a 5-30 seconds ad. On the Audience Network, the ad can run as a pre-roll ad too, along with a mid-roll ad. “Video views” is the only objective available on the Facebook’s Audience network for In-stream only video ads.
What If I want to Opt Our Certain Placements?
Yes, if you do not want your ads to show on individual pages or categories of pages, you can achieve that in two ways:
Combining the Power of Retargeting with In-stream Videos
Facebook lets you target users by demographics, interests, and behaviors. A beautiful feature of Facebook ads is that you can define who your Audience is before you narrow them down by Age, Gender, Locations, and languages. You can create your audience in multiple ways, and the most powerful and efficient ways include uploading a file of your contacts and retargeting users who visited your website (Facebook Pixel based retargeting).
When you combine retargeting with in-stream ads, you are effectively reaching out to people who already know you. This way, you can create your video to be Middle of the Funnel (MoFU) content driven to differentiate yourself from others in the market. If you choose your advertising objective as Reach, you can be assured to reach all (or a very significant %) of your audiences and show them the MoFU content. This is the same audience which has already spent time on your website and most probably looked at your listings and blog.
As real estate agents and brokers, you should utilize Facebook Ads to their full potential. If you have invested in designing and marketing a website, it makes, even more, sense to capitalize on it and use retargeting as a medium to attract visitors on world’s most used social network.
Ashish Roy is the Co-Founder of Cibirix and has a shining record of 15+ years in search and social marketing.
Since founding Cibirix, Ashish has leveraged his marketing degree to lead the agency in crafting meaningful digital marketing experiences for clients. His results-driven approach is a unique mix of analytical thinking, crisp visual aesthetics and a desire to simplify frontends while developing robust architecture. With a passion for design, technology, & marketing, He leads each aspect of the agency’s business and oversees its talented team of digital professionals.
