Facebook rolls out mobile-first video creation tools for advertisers

Facebook has rolled out a set of tools to help advertisers create video ads that are optimized for mobile environments. Marketers can use the tools to add motion to existing images and videos or create video ads from assets such as logos or photographs, the company announced in a blog post on Wednesday.

Facebook first mentioned plans for the tools in July; its Creative Shop team unveiled a framework called Create to Convert to add lightweight motion to still images earlier this month.

In its blog post, Facebook said it has “found that mobile-first creative has a 27 percent higher likelihood of driving brand lift and 23 percent higher likelihood of driving message association compared to video ads that are not optimized for mobile.”

The tools include:

• Video Creation Kit, which turns existing images and text into mobile-optimized videos framed in 1:1 for feeds or 9:16 for stories on Facebook and Instagram. Four templates can be found under Publishing Tools on a brand’s Facebook page. The templates are made to: promote a product (6 seconds); sell multiple products (6 seconds); show product benefits (15 seconds) or drive product discovery (15 seconds).
• Video Cropping Tool, which crops videos to Facebook’s recommended aspect ratios of 1:1 and 4:5 for feed, 16:9 for in-stream and 9:16 for stories.
• Animate Option that automatically creates a video from still images like a static ad or company assets like a logo or photographs. Users can choose the Animate option when boosting a post. They can then use the video as created or customize it as seen below.

About The Author

Robin Kurzer

Robin Kurzer started her career as a daily newspaper reporter in Milford, Connecticut. She then made her mark on the advertising and marketing world in Chicago at agencies such as Tribal DDB and Razorfish, creating award-winning work for many major brands. For the past seven years, she’s worked as a freelance writer and communications professional across a variety of business sectors.