Hey there, performance marketing enthusiasts! Mirna Peric, Lead Media Buyer at Inceptly, here.
If you’re reading this, you probably already know that video ads have become a dominant force in the world of digital advertising. Video ads consistently outperform static image ads in terms of engagement and conversion rates. So it’s no wonder they account for more than one-third of total social network ad spending.
And today, I’m going to share with you some of the strategies our team has been testing over the last 3-4 months—and seeing great results!
So, without further ado, let’s dive right in…
Are You Overlooking Aspect Ratios in Your Campaigns? 🤔
With more than 50-60% of paid traffic coming from mobile devices in 2023, your best bet for engaging YouTube viewers on mobile devices is to run campaigns with creatives in horizontal, square, and vertical formats.
The Benefits Speak for Themselves
Implementing a multi-aspect ratio strategy for video ads brings several benefits that can significantly impact campaign performance. Here’s what we’ve seen first-hand:
📈 Increased Conversions
Campaigns that incorporate all three aspect ratios of the same ad achieve 10-20% more conversions.
By diversifying the creative assets, advertisers can reach a wider audience and improve overall campaign performance.
🤳 Wider Creative Asset Variety
Embracing different aspect ratios provides advertisers with a more diverse range of creatives.
This variety allows for greater flexibility in getting the brand message across and capturing the viewer’s attention.
📱Optimized Mobile Experience
With the majority of users accessing various platforms on mobile devices, it’s crucial to optimize video ads for the portrait mode.
Vertical videos, in particular, provide a larger canvas to deliver product messages and offers, resulting in improved conversion rates.
🤑 Improved In-Feed Results
Google recommends using both horizontal and square videos for in-feed placements, making a multi-aspect ratio strategy a must for ensuring that your in-feed ads truly deliver.
While we’re on the subject, you might ask why do you want to run in-feed ads in the first place? Let me tell you:
- Increased engagement: In-feed ads are designed to mimic the look and feel of the content surrounding them, making them more likely to capture users’ attention and encourage interaction.
- Cheaper traffic: a no-brainer for anyone trying to get the most out of their advertising budget.
- Lower ad fatigue: Since in-feed ads match the form and function of the platform they appear on, this leads to a more natural and less intrusive advertising experience. In addition to higher user engagement, this promotes lower ad fatigue.
Hopefully, by this point, you can see that not producing creatives in a variety of aspect ratios will be detrimental to your campaigns.
Now, let’s move on to the nitty-gritty of it all.
Multi-Aspect Ratio Campaigns: Which Path to Choose?
While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to implementing a multi-aspect ratio strategy, here are some ways you can go about it.
Option 1️⃣: Multiple Creatives, Same Ad Group
One approach that we found particularly effective is to upload the same ad or ad with the same messaging in all three aspect ratios (horizontal, vertical, and square) and run them as part of one campaign (or, more specifically, the same ad group).
This allows for comprehensive coverage across different platforms and placements, ensuring maximum reach and engagement, not to mention the best possible in-feed exposure.
Option 2️⃣: Let Google Handle It for You
Google recently introduced a Video Enhancement tool (currently only available in beta). Its purpose is to automate the process of adapting video ads to different aspect ratios using AI. By enabling this tool, advertisers can upload a single ad creative to their campaign and let Google handle the editing process, including cropping and adding call-to-action elements.
The benefits of using this tool are obvious: not only are you saving yourself time, but also money and resources you would otherwise spend on producing creatives yourself. Moreover, Google states that if you have Video Enhancement enabled, their systems will only run the newly generated vertical and square ads if those ads are likely to improve your campaign performance.
That all sounds amazing, but there’s a catch! Enabling Video Enhancement takes away the media buyer’s ability to view specific performance insights per each creative/aspect ratio, as all the data is bundled under the original ad you upload to the tool. Essentially, by using this tool, you are giving up your agency to optimize campaign performance.
So if you prefer to have full control over your campaigns, we recommend creating ads in the different aspect ratios on your end and uploading them to your ad group yourself.
TL;DR
In our experience, optimizing video ads for multiple aspect ratios can increase conversion rates by 10-20% or more. Whether you choose to manually upload ads in different aspect ratios or utilize Google’s Video Enhancement tool, optimizing for aspect ratio is a proven way to boost conversions and get the most out of your ad spend. We’ve seen the conversion rate lift first-hand when testing campaigns featuring creatives with different aspect ratios versus a single aspect ratio.
Don’t leave this quick win on the table. Incorporate aspect ratio optimization into your next video campaign and watch those conversion rates climb!
So, take the leap and unlock the full potential of your video ads with a multi-aspect ratio strategy. Your brand will thank you for it!
But wait, there’s more! 🎬
If you want to know how we manage to produce dozens of ad creative variations and seamlessly adjust video ads to various formats without compromising quality or message clarity, Marin Loncar, our Video Editing Whizz, will reveal his tips and trade tricks on our blog next.
So stay tuned to learn how to craft impeccable video ads tailored for every screen size and orientation.
Stay curious, and see you soon!
Mirna
Mirna Peric, Lead Media Buyer
Mirna is a top-notch Media Buyer with years of experience and millions of dollars in revenue-generating ad spend to prove it. Her insatiable curiosity combined with a strategic mindset help her stay ahead of the game when it comes to scaling our clients' offers.
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