Blog Post

Facebook’s In-Stream Videos are Here to Stay

by: Mike Opera February 27, 2018

Table of Contents

Video Marketing has evolved tremendously on Facebook; it’s no longer just clicking an ad. Now, it can have much more of an organic touch.

If you haven’t already, make sure to check out our blog post regarding Facebook’s In-Stream advertising, which walks through the intricacies of how exactly they work.

Why In-Stream Video?

One reason I dig In-Stream video ads is because users are already in the consumer mindset. If we do a good enough job of targeting our advertisements then our In-Stream ads will typically have a good reception from users.

They will have higher brand recall because it can’t be skipped.

With that being said, because In-Stream videos FORCE users to watch a certain amount of the advertisement, it can really frustrate users.

But you better do it right…

The biggest thing to keep in mind with these ads…People don’t go on Facebook to see advertisements and that’s why we believe In-Stream ads should be treated much like a funnel.

Think about it, imagine you’re watching a video on one of your favorite brand’s Facebook page.

You’re 2 minutes in and all of a sudden the video you’re watching stops for 30 seconds to force you to watch an ad… frustrating right?

…It’d be one thing if the advertisement was your favorite brand, but what if you never heard of the brand? This isn’t the best experience.

That’s why we must follow the Cold/Warm/Hot Principals. IE: Any user that is cold or new to the brand should see more of a non-salesy video that would hook the user.

Using Power Digital for example, if we served a very salesy “Work with Power Digital” Video Instream ad to CMO’s that are interested in SEO, this could frustrate the user.

However, we’ve found that serving In-Stream ads from an educational or value-adding perspective is a great foot in the door with new potential customers.

And we’ve also found that if the first video does a good enough job adding value, we have a much better chance at getting those users to be receptive to seeing a “salesy” or promotional advertisement down the line.

Advantages & Disadvantages of In-Stream Video

So really quickly, let’s chat about the advantages of In-Stream video for Facebook ads.

The two biggest differentiators of In-Stream ads and normal video ads as a placement is the consumption pattern & expectations.

When users watch videos on their favorite Facebook pages, they do not expect to watch an ad. When users openly click a “sponsored” video, they expect to watch an advertisement.

When users are watching a standard Facebook video ad, they have more control. They can skip ahead, rewind, etc.

When users are watching a Facebook In-Stream ad, they are looking to resume the video they are currently watching.They cannot skip past the advertisement.

So why can In-Stream videos be good for your brand? Brand Recall. Users are forced to watch the In-Stream ad. Hence, they are forced to watch your message.

So why can In-Stream ads be bad for your brand? Frustration. Negative Perception during Brand Recall.

Facebook Watch: Changing the Way Video is Consumed on Facebook

Do you know the newest place Facebook’s In-Stream ads are being placed? The Facebook “Watch” feed that is located in the Facebook app.

This relatively new feature allows users to “discover” videos in a video only news feed. This is where your favorite pages will get additional reach on their videos.

From a user experience perspective, it’s great because you can kill time by “discovering” new videos and then simply add them to your watch list.

If users really start to adopt this feature – more and more In-Stream ads will be served.

Wrapping Up

All and all, Facebook In-Stream ads have a real interesting future within the Digital Landscape.

In my opinion, Facebook In-Stream ads are way more powerful than YouTube’s because you can retarget based off % viewed of video on Facebook, whereas on YouTube, you cannot.

What have you seen thus far? Tell us below!