Banners or videos? The duel for the most effective advertising on Facebook

If it still holds that content is king — and we are convinced it does — we also have to look at the form of the content we promote. Content can take several forms; one of the most fundamental differences on social media is the difference between using static images and the videos so popular today. Let us look at which form is more effective and whether such a thing can be claimed at all.

The overall winner

If we look at the statistics, it is clear that video ads perform better than many other ad formats including images. Video advertising helps increase website traffic, convey a clearer picture of a product or service and generate new prospective customers.

How do platforms such as Google and Instagram fare?

Video ads are coming to the fore in Google more and more. It depends, though, on the industry, the campaign goals and the audience. Display ads still remain one of the most frequently used formats, though, because they have a better click-through rate.

Videos perform better than images on Instagram. Specifically, video ads on Instagram generate three times more user engagement. Similarly, organic video posts record roughly 40% more comments and likes than organic images.

Why do videos perform better?

The key factor to emerge from the research is video's ability to catch a user's attention more effectively than static images. Thanks to the combination of movement, sound and storytelling, videos have a greater chance of catching a user's attention on Facebook.

Besides being able to catch attention, videos also tend to hold the viewer's attention longer. That ultimately raises the chance they will click your ad.

Whether a user watches a video partly or in full, valuable information about their level of interest is gained. Marketers can use this data to segment users and then give them more personalised content, which raises the likelihood of a conversion.

It is essential to bear in mind, though, that an ad's effectiveness depends largely on the quality and relevance of its content. A poorly made video will not beat a well-made image just because it is a video. Engagement and the clicks that follow depend largely on how interesting, compelling and relevant the content is to the viewer.

The difference in preparation

Although videos perform much better overall, it cannot always be claimed unambiguously that it is good to choose this type of advertising at the expense of images or banners. One of the main reasons is the cost of preparation. Compared with videos, preparing suitable online banners is far shorter and simpler, which saves on their preparation. With short-term campaigns it does not pay to invest energy, time and money into something that images can replace, albeit with lower effectiveness (within a lower budget the effect may even be the same).

Of course preparation time is relative here too. A short and not very high-quality video can be created in genuinely good time, but a poor-quality ad is often counterproductive. If we do go for videos, they should be truly quality videos, in content as well as production. That takes several hours of preparation, often with a larger team of people. If we are preparing a long-term brand video, a remarketing video or a performance video that will run for a longer time, it is certainly worth investing in the preparation.

It is all about testing

Even though the general data speaks clearly, it does not mean images cannot be more effective in your particular business. Testing ad formats and content is the foundation of all online marketing. If you have the chance and it has potential, test and test again. Try various ad content in the form of images and videos and you will see for yourself what works better for you.

Sometimes a far cheaper image is enough to present your product. That is above all with a well-known product where there is no need to explain what it is about and what its advantages are. If we are creating a remarketing campaign to promote a product or want to draw attention to a discount on a product for loyal customers, it is certainly worth using cheaper banners, which will simply meet the goals just as videos would.

What are the options for sharing content?

Paid advertising on social media is the foundation of performance marketing, but it is not the only place where you need to consider whether an image or a video is suitable. Another option is, for instance, posting content on your company page on Facebook. The results will be similar, but because content on pages is long-lived and we do not pay directly for the shared content, it is certainly worth trying as many variants as possible. Compared with the ads themselves you are targeting users who already know your company, so the message itself has an entirely different character.

If you have already prepared a video for a marketing campaign on social media, it does not mean it suits your Facebook page too, even though posting a video on a page is free. The video was probably created to reach a new audience, so for members of your group this video is irrelevant and may do more harm than good.

We can think about placing ads in users' stories the same way. This relatively new form of advertising has great potential, but again it depends on the message, depending on whether it is a sponsored (that is, paid) ad or content from your page. So weigh up whether it is worth investing more effort and money in the statistically better ad, that is video, or less effort in the proportionally worse static ad, which with the right message can still meet its goal. If you are unsure  about creating videos or banners, you can turn to one of the many content agencies specialising in creating professional marketing content.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz9olldxvnI

In summary

Although videos work better overall, it all depends on your kind of business and the budget you have. For cheaper campaigns banners are more worthwhile — preparing complicated, beautiful banners takes too much out of the budget, whereas for larger campaigns videos will probably be better. Because of the marketing power of testing, in this case too it is worth trying to prepare banners as well and comparing the approaches. Often it is enough to run the test once and find out how your business works, and next time you will know where you stand and what to invest in.