Unlock the Full Potential of Meta Video Ads on Facebook and Instagram

Apply these insights when launching video campaigns in Meta Ads to maximize impact across Performance and Brandformance metrics

Placement Overview for Video Ads in Meta

Meta offers a robust inventory capable of delivering a meaningful share of traffic within your Performance Marketing mix or making a statistically significant impact on brand metrics through a stand-alone Awareness or Consideration campaign. Key video placements include:

• In-feed – your videos appear in Facebook and Instagram feeds as native posts, visually similar to static image or GIF posts.
• In-Stories – video placements within Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger Stories.
• Reels – video placements within Instagram Reels.

Additional placements include:

• In-stream video – where your ad is shown as a multi-roll (pre-roll or post-roll) within other video content.
• In-banner or Rewarded Video within Audience Network – additional placements in standard or full-screen banner formats across partner websites in the Meta Audience Network, or as rewarded video ads within partner mobile apps.

It operates similarly to Out-stream video

Advantages of Meta Video Ads for Performance Campaigns:

• Action Optimization – your video can be shown to users based on predicted likelihood to take action. In other words, the ad delivery is not uniform but focused on users who closely resemble your current buyers or potential customers.
• Precision Targeting – Meta possesses one of the most extensive user data sets, including profile information, transactional data from third-party websites, and interaction data both within its own platforms and across external resources.
• Relatively Brand-Safe Placement – by using only the primary placements, you stay within the safe environments of Facebook and Instagram, minimizing the risk of your ads appearing alongside sensitive content related to news, politics, or adult material. Although ads may still appear adjacent to publisher posts or stories that can sometimes be sensitive, Meta’s policies regarding shocking or adult content are very strict, and such content is limited.

Key Benefits of Meta Video in Awareness and Tactical Digital Campaigns

• Optimization for Video View Depth – despite the possibility that users may skip your video, you are less likely to present an incomplete brand story because, with proper campaign settings, you can target users predicted to watch the full video or at least 15 seconds of it.
• Higher Share of Fully Engaged Views – unlike other programmatic out-stream video placements, such as in-banner videos on third-party thematic sites, your ads on Meta are more noticeable to users because their attention is guaranteed to be focused on the part of the screen where your video is shown. On websites, banners are typically placed on the left or right while users focus on the center of the page; with Meta’s feed posts and stories, users’ gaze is directed precisely where your brand appears.
• Full-Screen or Significant Screen Share in Feed – unlike thematic websites where users see multiple content units, including ads, simultaneously, Meta ads at peak exposure occupy either the full screen (in Stories or Reels) or more than 50% of the mobile screen (in the Feed).
• Higher Share of Impressions with Sound – unlike other out-stream formats, ads in Stories and Reels are more frequently served with sound enabled, which simplifies delivering your message through voiceovers or allows you to more effectively use music to enhance emotions.

Selecting Effective Video Duration for Meta Video Advertising

Brand Awareness Campaign

What You Gain by Using Short Content for Brand Awareness Campaigns:

• Low Cost per 1,000 Ad Impressions – by optimizing video delivery for reach, you avoid overpaying for video completions and can reach more users at a higher frequency.
• Retention of Key Brand Elements Even in Short Videos – even a short video allows you to showcase your brand logo and product. Place this information in the first seconds to maximize the number of impressions that include these elements.
• Higher Share of Full Attention – a short video, which can be better described as an animated banner, attracts more attention due to dynamic visuals and sound compared to static placements.
• Significant Contribution to Ad Recall – with the right audience, message, and campaign goal settings, your Ad Recall can translate into a measurable increase in brand awareness, brand recognition, and spontaneous brand or product recall.
• No Cheap 100% Video Views – video ads optimized for reach typically achieve a video completion rate (VTR) below 30%, but if the product and brand are shown from the first second and the key message is delivered within 5–6 seconds, you still accomplish your goal without relying on a large number of inexpensive full views.
• Ability to Build Remarketing Audiences – you can collect audiences who watched 3 seconds or 100% of your video for future remarketing and communication sequencing.

Consideration Video:

• When your goal is not just to build initial brand awareness but to increase key brand perception metrics based on specific attributes (quality, naturalness, relevance, innovation, effectiveness), simply showing the brand or product packaging is usually not enough. You need to tell a story that emotionally engages the user. In this case, you typically need to use a longer video length—20 to 30, or even 40 seconds. It’s important to remember that Meta’s inventory allows skipping, so your story must fit within a short timeframe.
• Use a 20-second video version and make every second count. Continue displaying the company logo from the first second and show the product packaging within the first 5 to 10 seconds.
• Optimize for video views up to the 15th second. You will pay a premium per 1,000 impressions and reach fewer users within your budget, but in this case, just showing the ad is not enough. It’s crucial to increase the share of impressions with video completions. With optimization for video views, your cost per 100% view will be lower, and the quality of engagement, ad memorability, and contribution to brand metrics will be higher.
• What you gain by using videos up to 20 seconds optimized for video views:
• A higher cost per thousand impressions (CPM). You will reach fewer users compared to reach-optimized campaigns;
• A higher conversion rate to video completions and a significant share of users who watch the video to the end;
• With proper creative setup, all video impressions will include views of your logo and the product or service packaging;
• A meaningful contribution to Ad Recall and a measurable impact on brand metrics after the campaign;
• The ability to build a retargeting audience of users who watched 3 seconds or 100% of your video, enabling you to create future communication sequences with these users.

Performance Video

Possible use cases:

• Product review video. You can create a longer video (up to 60 or 90 seconds) providing a detailed review of your product. Not all users will watch the video fully, but more interested users will watch deeper. Since video views occur more frequently than purchases, Meta receives more signals of product interest and, in some cases, can more quickly identify an audience that not only watches the video but also buys your product (interest in the review closely correlates with purchase conversion);
• Video filter for lead generation. A common challenge in lead gen campaigns on Meta is low lead quality or low readiness to buy. If you know which lead quality criteria limit your sales growth, you can incorporate this into your creative to filter out irrelevant users at the ad viewing stage. For example, if you sell beauty products wholesale but many of your leads are end consumers not ready for large purchases, you can create a video where the first scene is a standup by a speaker addressing a business audience. This will trigger an ad optimization chain: B2C users will skip past the first scene, while Meta will start focusing impressions on those who continue watching, attracting more relevant traffic. This way, your lead quality by the “ready for wholesale purchase” criterion will improve.

Explore more: