The Social Media Guide to Vertical Video

AdParlor Blog Post: The Social Media Guide to Vertical Video

Guideline to Creating Engaging Video Experiences on Social

Since the launch of Snapchat, vertical video has exploded on to the Social Media scene. As users engage with friends, family and influencers on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, they’re craving a more immersive and full-screen experience to consume content at all times.

Brands have tapped into vertical video to deliver a unique ad experience for consumers. This has also reshaped the way that advertisers create content across a variety of publishers, including alternative creative, copy and text overlays.

Here is a quick guideline for how to incorporate vertical video in your social media campaigns.


Vertical Video: Create engaging experiences with ads for Instagram Stories

A Synopsis of Vertical Video on Instagram

More than 250 million people are using Instagram Stories to document experiences and immerse themselves in the experiences of others. With the ability to run ads between stories, you can now:

  • Achieve greater scale from the organic story content you’re already posting
  • Tap into an immersive, full-screen experience
  • Extend the reach of the content you’re already creating for Snapchat

Instagram Stories Topline Specs

  • Campaign Objectives: Reach, Video Views, conversions, App Installs or Traffic
  • Format: MP4/MOV, JPG/PNG
  • Dimensions: 1080x1920px
  • Text: None
  • Video Length: 2s-15s
  • Max File Size: 4GB
  • More Specs: Click Here

Top Benefits

  • Reach: Instagram Stories have higher reach potential with integration into Facebook
  • Targeting: Use Facebook’s targeting to reach and retarget users who view Instagram Stories within other ad-units
  • Optimization: Focus on the goal that is right for you – whether it be driving sales (conversion objective), consideration (including Canvas in Stories) and Video Views (for Engagement)

See how AdParlor was showcased at Cannes Lions for their Instagram Stories Campaign here


Vertical Video: Create immersive experiences with Snap Ads

A Synopsis of Vertical Video on Snapchat:

  • Every day, millions of people are using Snapchat to share bits of their lives, while receiving the similar snippets from their friends, favorite brands, and other people they follow.
  • Between 2015 and 2016, Snapchat video views grew 350%, and the platform became the most used social media app among US consumers ages 12-24.

Snap Ad topline specs

  • Campaign Objectives: Brand Awareness, Traffic to Website, Installs of App, Viewing Content
  • Format: MP4/MOV
  • Text: Headline and Brand Logo Overlay
  • Dimensions: 1080x1920px
  • Video Length: 3s-10s
  • Max File Size: 32MB
  • More Specs: Click Here

Top Benefits

  • Reach: Snap ads capture a larger population of the millennial audience than any other platform
  • Targeting: Can use PlaceIQ targeting to reach users by foot traffic activity
  • Expanded Vertical Experience: In addition to vertical video, create sponsored geo-filters

Vertical video: The Vertical Video experience on Facebook

A Synopsis of Vertical Video on Facebook

Facebook has the ability to create a vertical-video experience directly on mobile and desktop as well. Vertical video on Facebook utilizes the following ad units to drive conversions, consideration and awareness/education:

  • Video Link ad units
  • Video ad units
  • Canvas ad units
  • Collection ad units

Facebook video topline specs

  • Campaign Objectives: traffic (mobile app and web), video view, brand awareness, web conversion
  • Format: MP4/MOV
  • Text: post copy – 90 characters. headline – 25 characters, description – 30 characters
  • Dimensions: 1080x1920px
  • Video Length: 2s-10m
  • Targeting: interest, behavioral, custom audience, social retargeting & lookalike audiences
  • More Specs: Click Here

Top Benefits

  • Reach: utilize Facebook’s targeting to reach over 2.0 billion people worldwide with vertical video
  • Ad Units: most options for variety of creative units (canvas, collections, video link ad, video ad)
  • Optimization: Focus on the goal that is right for you on Facebook as well – whether it be driving sales (collection & video link ads driving conversions), consideration (canvas ads driving traffic) and Video Views (for Engagement)

Use AdParlor’s Creative Services Team to Take Vertical Video to the Next Level

AdParlor believes that media and creative should work in tangent with each other at all times. With our creative services team, organize, measure and report on creative data to uncover not only which ad is working, but why. By bringing together creative measurement and in-house design, AdParlor helps social marketers deliver the right message at the right time for vertical video.

  • Data-driven results continually learning and optimizing our designs using data and A/B testing to improve results
  • Quick turn-around: understands the importance of ‘real-time marketing’ in social advertising and delivers creative accordingly
  • Sensitive to brand guidelines: ability to emulate a brands voice and style, staying true to current marketing objectives
  • Horizontal to Vertical Video Transformation: transform your current video content and make it relevant to the vertical video experience
  • Transform Static Imagery into Video: transform current image content into micro-videos

AdParlor's Creative Capabilities: Conceptualization, Copywriting, Graphic Design, and Video Editing

Have more you want to discuss? Reach out to us here and we’ll reply with even more ideas on how to apply this strategy for your paid social media campaign.

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