Understanding the Marketing Funnel: Getting Started with Video Ads on Social Media
Getting started with video ads for social media can be easy. All you need are the right tools, information, and mindset. In this post we're breaking down the basics of getting started with social ads, including navigating your marketing funnel, identifying your target audience, and using best practices in your videos every time.
So, what is the funnel and why is it so important?
Understanding the funnel
The ad funnel, or marketing funnel, is an evergreen advertising tool used to keep people moving through your company's customer journey. By understanding the goals you can achieve and what kind of ads to make for the customers in each position in the funnel, you can turn a small, strategic spend into a large return on investment.
Advertising with a funnel marketing strategy on social media can be easy with our simplified approach and has the potential turn your audience into customers. In a recent survey, 71% of consumers told us they’d purchased a product or service after watching a brand’s video on social media.
Whether you’re looking to get started with Facebook Ads Manager or just want to get a bit more strategic with your social spending, all you need is a high-level understanding of your funnel. For most businesses, there are three levels to the funnel–the top, middle, and bottom–each defined by a specific goal and type of customer you’re aiming to reach. Let’s dive into understanding each level of your ad funnel.
Positions and types of ads in the funnel
For most consumers, one ad won't be enough to earn their spend. That said, the goal of your video shouldn't always be to sell. People aren’t on social media with their wallets out, they’re logged on to interact with their community, browse trending content, and discover things they haven’t yet–that's you.
Awareness ads: Top of funnel (TOFU)
It takes time to build enough trust with your social media audience to earn a conversion, that's where the funnel comes in. A top-of-funnel, or TOFU, ad is a user's introduction to your brand.
Depending on the level of targeting you use, you may be able to guarantee that it’s a person's very first look at your company or offering. That's why this is called an awareness ad, you're literally making them aware that you exist and letting them know what you have to offer them down the line.
The goal of your TOFU ads should be to increase your brand awareness on social, so don’t be shocked if your sales don’t start to skyrocket. Trust the process of funneled ads and focus on one goal at a time. If your awareness ad attracts new followers or site visits, you know it’s done its job.
We’ll help you create a quick and engaging video for this stage using the first template in our ad funnel series, Ad Funnel: Awareness.
Consideration ads: Middle of funnel (MOFU)
Once your audience has seen your awareness ad, they're ready to move to the middle of the funnel, or MOFU.
This stage is your chance to sweeten the pot and convince your audience to consider doing business with you. This is a great opportunity to share a free trial, product demo, a giveaway, or a discount in exchange for a subscription. Whatever you use to lure them in, your goal should be to get them to consider you, not necessarily make a purchase.
Our MOFU template, Ads Funnel: Consideration, comes with an offer built right in. All you’ve got to do is drag and drop in your own photos and videos, tweak the text to match your offering, and you’ve got yourself a video ad ready to go.
Conversion ads: Bottom of funnel (BOFU)
By now your target audience has become aware of your brand, has considered buying from you, and is one small push away from making a purchase. As they circle the bottom of the funnel, or BOFU, give them the nudge they need to show you the money.
Continuing to target your audience that has already viewed your TOFU and MOFU ads, this is your chance to impart a sense of urgency and opportunity on them to encourage a spend right away. This can be a limited-time discount, free shipping, a bonus gift, or anything else letting them know now is the right time to buy.
Drop your own content into our Ad Funnel: Conversion template to create your BOFU ad, rounding out your customers’ funnel experience and working toward your goal of nailing the sale. Be sure to include a bold call to action and clear visuals representing your brand to stop the scroll and let your audience know exactly where to go to purchase your product.
Retention ads: Post-purchase phase
Once a customer has completed the journey through the ad funnel, they shouldn’t exit your ad strategy–they should do the opposite. Your existing customers are essentially ambassadors for your brand, and by targeting them you can directly request product reviews, testimonials, user-generated content, and, of course, encourage repeat purchases.
When creating a post-purchase ad video, the key is to remain recognizable to your audience. That means any brand colors, fonts, or images you used in your marketing funnel ads should make an appearance here to catch the eyes of your happy customers.
Understanding your audience temperature
As a business owner, you likely have some indication as to who your target audience is, but if you’re just getting started, the great thing about social media is that nearly every platform offers extremely narrow targeting.
That said, what you do need to understand about your audience within your funnel goes beyond their demographics and browsing habits. To understand who your audience is at the top, middle, and bottom of your funnel, all you need is their temperature. An audience’s temperature is the measurement of how likely they are to convert with your business. Let’s break down the temperatures as they relate to your ad funnel.
Cold audiences
Cold audiences are essentially strangers to your business. They don’t recognize your branding and have never visited your website or social profiles. They often haven’t considered your product or service as something they need, and consequently land at the very top of your funnel.
Warm audiences
A warm audience can move to the middle of your funnel for two reasons. Either they have shown a specific interest in your brand, or they have browsed for an offering similar to yours. They are prospects who know what they’re looking for and have been made aware that your business can give it to them.
Hot audiences
A hot audience is extremely interested in what you have to offer and has already considered purchasing from you. They’re circling the bottom of your funnel, have likely already shared their contact information with you, and are actively looking for more info on your offering.
Beyond the funnel
Your existing customers are off-the-thermometer-hot, but as we covered above, your interactions with them should never stop there. Turn customers into brand promoters by keeping them engaged with your brand through ads, potentially leading to their decision to follow you and share your organic content with their followers as well.
Best practices for video ads
An ad is only as good as its visual. That’s why we’ve compiled our top tips for creating thumb-stopping video ads. Even better, our templates have them built right in.
Show off your brand
To establish recognition and trust on social media, be sure to keep any elements of your brand–colors, logo, fonts, etc.–in your videos consistently. If your company has a spokesperson, show them off! Social media users are looking to connect with brands, and there’s no better way than to put a face to your brand.
Eye-catching visuals
When it comes to ads, save the best for first. Put your best foot forward with bold images and videos in the first 5 seconds of your video. Don’t have high-quality assets? We’ve got you covered with our Getty Images stock library featuring over 1 million images and video clips. Choose your favorite and try using a burst block to make sure you grab their attention.
The right ratio
Every social media platform has a preferred aspect ratio. Optimize all of your ads in seconds using our ratio tool. Save time by using the same content in your ads for Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook with a one-click toggle between square, vertical, and horizontal on every template.
Set the tone
Make sure the mood of your ad is clear–and aligns with your offering–using the right text and music to convey your message. Lucky for you, our expansive library of licensed stock music features a filter by mood, genre, tempo, and more, so you can always find a track that fits easily. Save your favorite songs for easy access the next time around.
Experiment, experiment, experiment
The real key to succeeding with your ad funnel is experimentation. There’s no secret sauce to perfect your strategy, simply because no two audiences are the same. Take the time to analyze the results of each of your ads and keep an eye on where your competitors are advertising. If you’re not seeing results on one platform, give another a try.
Not seeing results in your TOFU ads? Up your offering with a slightly larger discount. Listen to your results, they’ll never lie and will always point you in the right direction.
Get started!
Using all of these tips, you can build your own marketing funnel campaign easily. Still have questions? Drop them in the comments below, or feel free to join our private Facebook group, the Animoto Social Video Marketing Community, to connect with business owners navigating social ads, just like you.
Ready to get started? Make your first video today and share it with #madewithanimoto for a chance to be featured on our social channels!