It is a tremendous new advertising opportunity – but agencies are going to have to think a little differently if they want to get results from using video advertising on Facebook.
That’s the message the social network itself has been pushing out to agencies in the last few months, and agencies appear to be getting the message: when silent, auto-playing video ads scroll by with no audio, the kind of ads made for TV may not fit.
“In some ways, you are playing with a limited toolbox,” concedes Sean Bryan, the joint chief creative officer of McCann NY. “Most people have the sound off, so you don’t get the benefit of music, of a bold first line of voiceover or an interesting read from an actor.”
But Bryan, like some others, is starting to see the workaround. “You have to get your point across visually,” he advises. “It really helps to have something compelling, content-wise, to show. If you’re just pushing out an ad that’s on mute, it’s not really going to land. But if you’re talking about something that’s interesting and having people pass it along … that will break through.”
Bryan has been in the McCann family for 12 years, after a stint at DDB. Under his joint leadership with Tom Murphy, McCann NY was named to Advertising Age’s Creative A-List in 2013 and also honored as Agency of the Year by the Art Director’s Club.
Bryan reckons Facebook video is “a tremendous help” and an “incredibly powerful” to spread messages for brands. He shares some of his agency’s best campaigns through his own Facebook profile.