Introduction
Twitter video ads provide a powerful way for brands to engage audiences and drive results. Compared to static image ads, Twitter video ads generate much higher recall, emotional impact, and conversions.
This comprehensive guide will explore best practices for creating effective Twitter video ad campaigns, from ideation to execution and measurement. Follow these tips and strategies to get the most value from using video ads on Twitter.
Table of Contents
Benefits of Twitter Video Ads
Here are some of the significant advantages Twitter video ads offer compared to other formats:
Stronger Brand Impact
Video’s motion, sound, and visuals make brands more memorable and dynamic versus static ads.
Higher Engagement
Video ads see significantly higher click-through rates, comments, likes and retweets.
Increased Completion Rates
Users are much more likely to watch a short video ad than click images or read text ads.
Flexible Options
Twitter provides a variety of video ad types, from square videos to landscape videos and live broadcasts.
Mobile Optimization
Twitter’s video ads are designed for thumb-stopping impact on mobile feeds.
Powerful Storytelling
Videos allow brands to tell stories that resonate and humanize rather than sell.
Wider Reach
Video ads can be retargeted across Twitter, gaining exponential visibility from retweets.
Brand Safety
Videos are displayed in brand-safe Twitter timelines instead of beside unknown content.
Strong Analytics
Robust metrics show video completion rates, engagements, conversions and more.
Videos’ unique combination of motion, sound and emotion make them incredibly impactful ad units.
Also read: Understanding Twitter Advertising Platform
Best Practices for Twitter Video Ads
Follow these best practices when developing Twitter video ads:
Keep it Short
Videos should be06-15 seconds long. Quickly grab attention and convey your message.
Hook Viewers Fast
Exciting opening shots, sounds and text pull viewers in immediately. Get to the point fast.
Optimize for Sound Off
Ensure the video makes sense and has a visual impact even without sound. Many view Twitter videos silently.
Highlight Benefits
Communicate key user benefits clearly through video content and overlay text.
Show Don’t Tell
Let the video demonstrate your product, service or brand vs. talking to viewers.
Use Square Format
Twitter’s square native format takes up more feed real estate on mobile.
Align to Brand Style
Videos should feel cohesive with the overall brand personality and visual identity.
Leverage Data
Use Twitter analytics to determine top-performing video creative approaches.
Test Ad Variations
Experiment with videos, copy, and editing styles to see what resonates best.
Retarget Engaged Users
Remarket to audiences who already viewed or engaged with your video content.
Purposefully optimized video ads will drive higher brand impact and performance on Twitter.
Creative Best Practices for Twitter Video Ads
Approaching the video creative itself thoughtfully is key. Keep these tips in mind:
Dynamic First 3 Seconds
Open with bold visuals and sounds that command attention immediately when the video starts.
Clear Central Focus
Keep the video’s focus on the product, service or critical message.
Appealing Visuals
Use interesting scenery, textures, colours and cinematography tailored to your audience.
Authentic Feeling
Videos should feel real and natural, using real people if appropriate rather than overly scripted and staged.
Evocative Music
The right background music sets the tone and elicits emotions that support the brand message.
Simple Text Overlays
Use a few short sentences of clear, readable text overlaid on the screen to communicate your CTA.
Action and Energy
Inject a sense of dynamism and motion using visual techniques to hold the viewer’s attention.
Branding Consistency
Maintain consistent brand colours, fonts and some graphical elements across videos.
Microstory Arcs
Even short video ads should have a beginning, middle and end to tell a coherent story.
Thoughtful, creative execution is necessary to produce engaging video ads suited to Twitter’s platform.
Types of Twitter Video Ad Formats
Twitter provides flexibility with several video ad formats to choose from:
Square Videos
- More screen real estate on mobile feeds.
- Up to 60 seconds long.
- Twitter’s preferred format.
Landscape Videos
- Horizontal video ads like YouTube.
- Better for more extended storytelling.
- Up to 30 seconds long.
Promoted Video Tweets
- Organic video tweets boosted as ads.
- Gain added reach from retweets.
- Up to 2:20 minutes long.
Live Broadcasts
- Live streaming video content.
- Embed live broadcasts into tweets.
- Share events as they happen.
Select the video ad unit that aligns best with your brand goals and audience. Square videos tend to see the highest performance.
Video Ad Specifications
Twitter has specific requirements for video ads:
- Square Video Dimensions: 600×600 pixels
- Landscape Video Dimensions: 600×340 pixels
- Video File Size: Under 200MB
- Video File Format: MP4 or MOV
- Aspect Ratio: 1:1 for square, 16:9 for landscape
- Frame Rate: 24FPS or 30FPS
- Maximum Length:15 seconds (square),:30 seconds (landscape)
- Minimum Length: 3 seconds
Reviewing Twitter’s current video ad specs ensures your creative meets the requirements to be approved.
Creating Effective Video Ad Copy
To complement the video visuals, use short, impactful text:
- Hook with a compelling headline or question
- Communicate benefits clearly
- Use natural language
- Include a strong CTA
- Make any needed disclosures
- Tailor messaging to target audience
- Test different copy options
Driving video views is only the first step. The overlay copy should motivate the desired follow-on actions.
Video Ad Targeting Tips
Apply these best practices to target your video ads:
- Use interest and follower targeting to reach those likely to care about your brand, product or message.
- Layer on behaviour targeting parameters like “Website visitors” for those already engaged you.
- Target by device type if your offer or CTA lends itself better to mobile or desktop users.
- Retarget users who have viewed your other video content with similar ads.
- Try interest-based audience expansions to extend reach to more potential converters.
- Test tighter geographic targets to drive foot traffic to physical locations.
Precise targeting ensures videos reach the audiences most likely to drive conversions after watching.
How to Measure Twitter Video Ad Performance
Analyze these key metrics to gauge video ad effectiveness:
- Video Views: Views of at least two continuous seconds. The primary goal.
- View Rate: Views divided by Impressions. It helps gauge the quality of video content.
- Quartile Completion: What percentage watched 25%, 50%, 75% etc. Shows engaging content.
- Audience Retention: Seconds viewed on average. Are people watching the full video?
- Engagement Rate: Likes, Retweets, etc per impression. High ER indicates audience resonance.
- Website Clicks: Clicks from video view to site. Valuable for conversions.
- Sales Impact: Ultimately tie videos to revenue goals like lead gen or purchases.
Continuously optimize based on performance data to improve future video ad resonance and results.
Twitter Video Ad Platforms
Here are some top platforms for creating, managing and optimizing Twitter video ad campaigns:
Adobe Premiere Pro
- Robust professional video editing capabilities.
Quick
- Easy video creation designed explicitly for social ads.
AdEspresso
- Complete solution for managing Twitter video ad campaigns.
Hootsuite
- Popular social media management platform with video ad options.
Google Ads
- Provides video ad creation and distribution capabilities.
Wochit
- AI-powered custom video creation tailored for social ads.
Animoto
- Quickly generate high-quality videos from templates.
The right tools help streamline the production of effective, optimized Twitter video ads at scale.
Effective Twitter Video Ad Campaign Examples
Here are some real-world examples of brands running successful Twitter video ad campaigns:
Netflix
Netflix promotes clips and trailers from their popular shows to engage passionate viewers.
Nike
Nike’s video ads highlight inspirational athletes using their products and capture the emotions of sports.
Google uses Twitter video ads to promote their products, like Pixel phones in action.
Disney
Disney’s lighthearted, magical video ads build buzz for their movie releases by showcasing iconic characters.
Microsoft
Microsoft demonstrates their technology products in helpful “how to” video ads targeted to professionals.
Wendy’s
Wendy’s fun, humorous video ads centred on their mascot drive brand awareness.
Starbucks
Starbucks tweets video ads of steaming drinks that emphasize seasonal or speciality beverages.
These examples showcase the engaging storytelling and brand-building potential of Twitter video ads.
The Future of Twitter Video Ads
Some expected innovations that will enhance Twitter video ads include:
- Expanded canvas options beyond square and landscape
- Longer max video lengths
- Addition of immersive 360 video ads
- Tools to instantly turn organic videos into ads
- Mobile optimization for vertical full-screen video
- Connecting video ads directly to live events
- Audience lookalike modelling based on video engagement
- Integration with connected TV and OTT video ad inventory
As video consumption continues rising across platforms, Twitter will likely invest in tools and options to make video ads more central and customizable.
Conclusion
Video ads present an incredibly impactful format on Twitter. Their motion, sound and visual storytelling elicit stronger emotions and memories versus static ads. By following best practices around creative strategy, targeting, measurement and continuous optimization, brands can connect with audiences and accomplish objectives through video ads on Twitter. As Twitter expands their video advertising capabilities, it will become an even more important part of brands’ marketing strategies.
