Mobile Video Ad Creative: 3 Optimization Reminders

We’ve all got a list of creative best practices in our pockets. But with the fast-moving landscape of advertising, how can we keep up with the trends and changes? Meta recently published a foresight study outlining new ways to stand out in an environment that’s now heavily mobile-first. I’ll dig into a few of those (with some bonus tips from our accounts) to help you tune up your mobile video in 2024!

3 Best Practices for Mobile Video Ads

1. Mobile First > Adapted to Mobile

Adapting your videos to fit a mobile setting is fine, but that approach misses some benefits of creating video specifically for mobile. The latter kind of videos should be shot to accommodate a user’s rapid, short-attention-span interaction using techniques like early brand introduction (within the first 1-5 seconds) and sound-off optimization – including captions that grab attention without covering too much of the video. 

Bonus tip: introducing the brand (logo and/or tagline) at the same time as attention-grabbing hooks can give some extra juice to brand awareness and build strong associations with viewers.

2. Test your hooks

Speaking of hooks that grab attention, you can and should test a few to see which impact engagement. A few ideas: pose a question, present a relatable problem your service solves, use trendy sounds and/or concepts, use motion that stands out in the user feed, and keep creatives short, fast, and lean to avoid overloading users with information.

3. Be authentic

These days, successful content embraces a less polished, more genuine feeling. Find a balance between following brand guidelines and going beyond a traditional corporate tone to bring out humanization and relatability between the advertiser and user. (Note: this will be especially important as slick, AI-produced creative starts to proliferate.)

Bonus tip: work with influencers to expand brand awareness with a relatable face – and note that I said relatable, not famous, since the most important element of a good influencer is genuine alignment of interests and branding with the product or service you’re offering. When you work with influencers, be sure to provide a detailed brief of the creative’s structure and any key points they need to hit, include topics they should stay away from, and explain how much latitude they have to ad lib.

Nail these three strategies, and you’ll be well on your way to successful mobile video campaigns in 2024! If you have any questions on your mobile strategies, drop us a line - we’re always happy to chat.