If you’re going to launch vertical video ads on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, or any other popular platform, now is the best time to do so because digital video content is booming. There are two reasons why we’re witnessing this boom.

First of all, the number of mobile devices is growing rapidly. According to one report on Statista, there were more than 4 billion unique mobile internet users worldwide as of July 2020. That’s more than half of the world’s population.

The second reason is the increase in global internet speeds. In August 2020, a research team from University College London worked with Xtera and KDDI Research to reach a data transmission rate of 178 terabits a second, which is enough to download the whole Netflix library in less than a second.

Put another way, people have gotten used to watching a lot of mobile video content these days. The question is, what part does vertical video play in all this?

The Rise of Vertical Video Content on Major Platforms  

In the beginning of the 2010s, companies didn’t take vertical video marketing seriously. People mocked vertical videos (mostly uploaded to YouTube) so much that the vertical video syndrome meme appeared in 2012.

In 2013, two mobile apps changed the status quo: Instagram added a 15-second video feature and Snapchat invented Stories.

In her 2015 Internet Trends Report, Mary Meeker, an American venture capitalist, said global vertical viewing time had increased from 5% in 2010 to 29% in 2015. That same year, YouTube revamped its app with vertical video and the number of vertical uploads grew 50%.

In 2016, companies got an opportunity to run Snapchat vertical video ads with the release of the Snap Ads flagship ad format. Back then, 7 in 10 people defaulted to horizontal viewing when watching videos on their phones according to research by Google and Ipsos.

In 2017, Facebook unveiled vertical video in News Feed on mobile. Facebook vertical video ads were tested against horizontal and square video ads by ten brand advertisers in Europe, North America, and Latin America. Seven brands demonstrated an increase in brand lift and ad recall.

In 2018, Google presented YouTube vertical video ads for TrueView and Universal App campaigns and YouTube started playing vertical video on desktop without black bars.

How to Wisely Run Vertical Video Ads on Facebook and Its Apps

According to a YuMe survey published on DigitalNewsDaily:

• 78% of first-time viewers like vertical videos
• 65% of people surveyed claim brands using the vertical video format are more innovative
• 79% of first-time viewers claim vertical videos are more engaging and they would choose this format in most cases
• 84% of first-time viewers and 85% of experienced viewers say vertical videos fit social media best.

And when it comes to using social media, Facebook and its products rule the day. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger are among the top six social media platforms worldwide.

Interestingly, over 98% of people use Facebook via some kind of mobile phone, and only around 2% log in to the world’s most popular social media network via a laptop or desktop computer according to a DataReportal survey.

If you want to create the best vertical video ads for the Facebook family of apps, here are a few useful recommendations.

Know Vertical Video Ad Specifications

To begin with, Facebook recommends two aspect ratios for creating your mobile-first vertical ads on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and the Audience Network:

• Vertical: 4:5
• Fullscreen vertical: 16:9

To learn more about design specifications, supported marketing objectives, and other crucial details for creating vertical video content across the Facebook family of apps without mistakes, read our guide to Facebook video ad specs.

Spark Interest with Storytelling

If you’re going to make vertical video ads on Facebook and its services, Stories is the first format you should try.

According to TechCrunch, Facebook Stories, Messenger Stories, and Instagram Stories have a combined one billion daily active users.

However, the major advantage of this ad format isn’t the huge number of people who consume, create, and share Stories but rather the endless number of creative storytelling possibilities you can use to promote your business.

Test Vertical Ads in Live Streaming

According to Facebook IQ, more than 800 million people watch live streams of different genres including sports and music. If your business is related to a sphere in which live streaming is popular, you can test the In-Stream placement along with other placements in Facebook Ads Manager to show your vertical ads in partners’ live streams.

Promote Your Business with IGTV

IGTV is a mobile app and, at the same time, an advertising tool where creators and brands can upload original vertical video content that’s typically longer than videos in the standard Instagram app.

Thanks to IGTV, the percentage of long-form video content on Instagram increased from 29% in 2016 to 54% in 2018. What does this mean to your business?

Along with creating vertical videos for your Instagram profile, you can expand your community by collaborating with multiple IGTV creators and making appealing vertical videos for your IGTV channel.

Additionally, Facebook has already started testing 15-second Instagram vertical video ads for IGTV that appear after users click on IGTV video. This new ad format will let creators monetize their content and help businesses expand their advertising opportunities.

Scale Vertical Video Ad Production with Artificial Intelligence

The popularity of mobile video is growing by leaps and bounds. It’s anticipated that around 78% of global mobile traffic will be video by 2021.

If you want to succeed with mobile video ads, you should keep in mind that video ads work best when produced at scale. However, producing video at scale is a challenge.

To overcome it, use Softcube artificial intelligence to make a large number of spectacular vertical video ads within the shortest possible time and for the budget of image ads.

Here’s an example of a vertical video ad made by Softcube:

Like it? Don’t hesitate to upload your own footage and play with it. Good luck with your vertical video ads!