Solved: Optimizing video ads and reels creative strategy

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! Happy to give you some of my initial thoughts and guidance on this. Your question about optimising video creative on Facebook is a big one, and tbh, it's where most people get it wrong and end up burning a lot of cash for very little in return. It's not just about making a flashy video; it's about making a video that *works* as part of a proper advertising system.

The short answer is that you need to stop thinking about the video in isolation and start thinking about the entire journey, from who sees it, to what it says, to what happens after they click. It’s a complete process, not just a single creative asset. Let's break it down properly.

The Goal Is The Only Thing That Matters...

First things first, let's tackle your question about goals. "What goals do you measure it against? Conversion? Campaign?". The answer is simple and brutal: you measure it against the *only* goal that actually matters to the business, which should be reflected in your campaign objective. If you want sales, your campaign objective must be 'Sales' or 'Conversions'. If you want leads, it's 'Leads'. That's it.

Here's an uncomfortable truth that trips up so many advertisers. When you set your campaign objective on Meta to something like "Reach" or "Brand Awareness," you're giving the algorithm a very specific, and very dangerous, command. You're telling it: "Find me the largest number of people for the lowest possible price." The algorithm, being the ruthlessly efficient machine it is, does exactly what you asked. It goes out and finds all the users inside your targeting who are least likely to click, least likely to engage, and absolutely, positively least likely to ever buy anything. Why? Because those users aren't in demand by other advertisers who want sales. Their attention is cheap. You are literally paying Facebook to find you the worst possible audience for your product.

I see this all the time. People run video view campaigns, get thousands of cheap views, and wonder why their sales haven't budged. Those views are a vanity metric. They don't pay the bills. The best kind of brand awareness for any business is a new customer. Awareness is a *byproduct* of making sales to the right people, not a prerequisite for it.

So, to be crystal clear: if your business needs sales or leads to survive, you MUST set your campaign objective to 'Sales' or 'Leads' and optimise for that conversion event. The performance of your video creative is then judged solely on its ability to contribute to that one, single goal. A video with 10,000 views and 1 sale is a failure. A video with 200 views and 5 sales is a massive success. It's really that simple. We're not in the business of getting views; we're in the business of getting customers.

For video specifically, you can also look at view-through conversions. This is a good way to measure the longer-term impact. Someone might see your video today, not click, but then come back to your site tomorrow and buy. The video still did its job. But again, this is all tied to the ultimate conversion, not the view itself.

We'll need to look at the whole funnel...

Okay, so we've established the goal is the conversion. Now, how do you diagnose *why* a video isn't converting? This is your "performance indicators" question. You have to look at the entire funnel and see where people are dropping off. It's like being a detective. The metrics tell you where the crime happened.

Let's walk through the journey a potential customer takes:

Step 1: The Scroll (The Ad Itself)

This is where the user first sees your video in their feed. The key metric here is your Click-Through Rate (CTR). A low CTR (and consequently a high Cost Per Click, or CPC) is the first major red flag. It's telling you one thing: people are seeing your ad and scrolling right past it. They're not interested enough to even stop.

-> The Problem: Usually, this comes down to the first 3 seconds of your video and your thumbnail. The "hook" is weak. It doesn't grab their attention, doesn't call out their problem, or doesn't create any curiosity. Your thumbnail might also be bland, dark, or confusing. It looks like every other ad and doesn't stand out.

-> The Action: You need to relentlessly test your hooks. Create 3-5 different versions of the first 3 seconds of your video. Test different opening lines, different visuals, different text overlays. Test different thumbnails – a bright, high-contrast image of a person's face, a shocking result, a curious question. You need to find what stops the scroll. This is non-negotiable. If you can't get people to stop, nothing else you do matters.

Step 2: The Click to the Landing Page

Let's say your CTR is decent. People are stopping and clicking. Great. But are they actually getting to your website and doing anything? You need to compare your Outbound Clicks to your Landing Page Views. If there's a big drop-off here, it might point to a slow-loading website. If your site takes more than a couple of seconds to load, people will just leave. It's an easy fix that a lot of people overlook.

Step 3: The Landing Page (The Offer)

This is the most common place for things to fall apart. You're getting good CTR, people are landing on your page... but nobody is converting. You have a high number of Landing Page Views but a tiny number of 'Add to Carts', 'Initiate Checkouts', or 'Lead' submissions.

-> The Problem: This is almost always one of two things. Either A) your targeting is wrong, or B) your landing page and offer are weak. If your targeting is wrong, you're sending people who are interested in the *video* but not the *product*. For example, you run a funny video that gets lots of clicks, but it attracts people who just like funny videos, not people who have the problem your product solves. The other, more common issue, is the landing page itself. It might be confusing, untrustworthy, or the offer just isn't compelling enough. Maybe your copy is weak, your product photos are poor, or your pricing is off. Maybe you're asking for too much information on a lead form. For a B2B service, the cardinal sin is having "Request a Demo" as your main call to action. It's arrogant. It presumes the prospect has time to be sold to. It's high friction, low value.

-> The Action: First, review your audience targeting. Are you really reaching your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)? We'll get into that more in a bit. Second, be brutally honest about your landing page. Does it continue the "scent" of the ad? Does it immediately reinforce the promise made in the video? Is the call-to-action clear and compelling? For a service, instead of "Request a Demo", you need to offer real value upfront. A free audit, a free tool, a short video module that solves a small piece of their problem for free. For ecommerce, you need killer product descriptions, professional photos, social proof like reviews and testimonials, and maybe a limited-time offer to create urgency. This stage is absolutly critical, and it has nothing to do with the video itself, but it determines whether the video ad will be profitable or not.

By analysing the funnel this way, you move from "my video isn't working" to "my video's hook is weak" or "my landing page isn't converting the traffic my video is sending." It gives you a specific problem to solve.

I'd say you need a proper creative testing system...

Optimising isn't just about fixing what's broken; it's about systematically finding out what works best. You need a framework for testing your video creative. Just throwing one video out there and hoping for the best is a recipe for failure.

A big part of our job is building and managing these testing structures for clients. The most important factor is running proper split tests. You need to isolate variables. If you change the video, the headline, the text, and the audience all at once, you have no idea what caused the change in performance. You need to test one thing at a time within a controlled environment (like an A/B test feature or by having different ad creatives within the same ad set).

Here’s a breakdown of what we'd typically test for a video creative:

1. The Angle or "Big Idea": Before you even think about filming, you need to think about the core message. What's the psychological trigger you're trying to hit? We often use established copywriting formulas as the basis for our video concepts.
-> Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS): This is perfect for service businesses. You don't sell the service; you sell the relief from the problem. A video could start with, "Are your cash flow projections just a wild guess?" (Problem). "Are you lying awake at night, one bad month away from a payroll crisis?" (Agitate). "Get an expert financial strategy that turns uncertainty into predictable growth, for a fraction of a full-time hire." (Solve).
-> Before-After-Bridge (BAB): Brilliant for SaaS or any transformational product. You show the painful 'Before' state, the aspirational 'After' state, and position your product as the bridge. A video could show a stressed manager drowning in spreadsheets ('Before'). Then, a shot of them calmly looking at a clean, insightful dashboard ('After'). The voiceover says, "Our platform is the bridge that gets you there in minutes" ('Bridge').

2. The Hook (First 3 Seconds): As mentioned, this is huge. For every 'Angle' you test, you should test 3-5 different hooks. A question, a shocking statistic, a bold claim, a weird visual. Your only job is to break their scrolling pattern.

3. The Format: Don't just make one type of video. Test different formats against each other.
-> User-Generated Content (UGC): This is massive right now, especially for software and ecommerce. We've had several SaaS clients see fantastic results with UGC videos. They look native to the platform, they feel authentic and trustworthy, and they cut through the noise of slick, corporate ads. It's someone who looks like a real customer, talking to the camera on their phone, explaining how the product solved their problem. It's incredibly powerful.
-> "Talking Head": This can be you or someone from your team, speaking directly to the camera. It builds authority and a personal connection.
-> Animated Explainer: Good for complex products where you need to simplify a concept visually.
-> Cinematic/Brand Video: Higher production value. Can work for luxury goods or establishing a premium feel, but often performs worse for direct response than lo-fi options like UGC.

4. The Call to Action (CTA): What do you explicitly tell them to do at the end of the video? Test different phrasing. "Click the link to learn more" vs. "Start your free trial now" vs. "Get your free audit today". The CTA needs to be clear, direct, and match the offer on your landing page.

This systematic approach removes the guesswork. You're not hoping for a winner; you're engineering one through data.

You probably should focus on the audience first...

This is a point I can't stress enough. The most amazing, persuasive, perfectly optimised video in the world will fail spectacularly if you show it to the wrong people. Getting the audience right is arguably more important than getting the creative right, especially in the beginning.

A lot of people just plug in a few broad interests and let it rip. This is a mistake. You need a prioritised strategy for your audiences, moving from the lowest hanging fruit to broader outreach.

Here’s how I'd prioritise audiences for a Meta ads account, which applies to your video ads:

BoFu (Bottom of Funnel) - The Hottest Audience:

These are people who already know you and have shown strong buying intent. They are your most valuable audience and should be your first priority for retargeting.
-> Audiences: People who have added a product to their cart, initiated checkout, or visited the checkout page in the last 7-30 days (but haven't purchased).
-> Video Message: Your video here should be direct. It could be a testimonial, a reminder of a special offer, or a video that overcomes a common objection (e.g., about shipping or returns). The goal is to get them over the finish line.

MoFu (Middle of Funnel) - The Warm Audience:

These people have engaged with your brand but aren't quite ready to buy. They need more nurturing.
-> Audiences: People who have visited your website, viewed a product page, or watched a significant portion (e.g., 50%) of another one of your videos in the last 30-90 days.
-> Video Message: This is a great place for videos that build trust and educate. Case studies, behind-the-scenes content, deep dives into product features and their benefits. You're trying to move them from 'aware' to 'convinced'.

ToFu (Top of Funnel) - The Cold Audience:

These are people who have never heard of you. This is the most challenging, and potentially expensive, part of the funnel. This is where your creative really has to do the heavy lifting.
-> Audiences: This is where you use Detailed Targeting (interests, behaviours) and Lookalike Audiences.
-> Video Message: Your hook needs to be razor sharp. You must grab their attention and immediately communicate your value proposition. The Problem-Agitate-Solve and Before-After-Bridge frameworks are perfect for this stage.

For your Lookalike audiences, you need to be strategic. Don't just create a lookalike of "all website visitors." Create a lookalike of your *best customers*. Upload a list of your highest LTV customers and tell Facebook to find more people like them. This is infinitely more powerful. As you gather data, you can create lookalikes of people who have purchased, then people who have initiated checkout, and so on. Always start with the audience closest to the money.

Forget generic demographic profiles like "women aged 25-45 who live in London". That tells you nothing useful. You need to define your customer by their *nightmare*. What is the specific, urgent, expensive problem they are trying to solve? Once you know that, you can find the niche podcasts they listen to, the industry newsletters they read, the influencers they follow. That intelligence is the blueprint for your interest targeting, and it's the fuel for a video ad that speaks directly to their soul because it shows you understand their pain.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

This is a lot to take in, I know. Here's a table that breaks down the main advice into an actionable plan. This is the kind of systematic approach you need to adopt.

As you can see, properly optimising video ads is a full-time job. It's not a 'set and forget' task. It involves a deep understanding of strategy, psychology, data analysis, and constant, rigorous testing. It's about building a machine, not just making a single ad.

This is where professional help can make a huge difference. An experienced eye can diagnose problems in the funnel much faster, bring a library of proven testing frameworks to the table, and manage the entire optimisation process for you, ensuring every pound you spend is working as hard as it possibly can to grow your business.

We've helped clients in many niches, from B2B software to ecommerce, slash their acquisition costs and scale their campaigns profitably – for example, for one SaaS client, we took their Cost Per Acquisition from £100 down to just £7 by implementing these exact kinds of systems. For another, we generated over 5,000 software trials at just $7 each using targeted video ads on Meta.

If you'd like to have a more specific chat about your situation, we offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation where we can take a look at what you're doing and give you some direct, actionable advice. It's often the quickest way to find the biggest opportunities for improvement.

Either way, I hope this detailed breakdown gives you a much clearer path forward.

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh