Social Media Advertising Guide

How do you make Social Media Ads?

We consume so much media each day across all the platforms and websites we visit. Trailers, display banners, articles and gameplay videos are everywhere. But as an Indie Developer how do you structure and plan your trailers and content for Social Media Platforms specifically?

Whether its Paid or Organic there are some important things to keep in mind as you tailor your approach.

What should I put in a trailer?

Deciding what you want to show is a difficult starting place too - the best thing you can identify from your games content is “Trailer Moments”. Flashy, action-packed or gameplay representative moments that really showcase the core of your game in an instance.

Backing this up with great audio or voice over, clear selling points and CTAs is a great base to build up from, and if you have core audiences identified, think about what each of those groups would want to see showcased in the trailer, and remember there is no harm in A/B Testing in Advertising!

How to advertise on Facebook:

Advertising games on Facebook, or Advertising on Meta can be straightforward. It has a clear interface and connects with your existing pages, and even has some tips around which assets to use in each placement.

But it's not clear on its autoplay and audio featured, with placements auto playing the video, but with audio off.

When you want to run ads on Facebook, or run ads across Meta, our best tips are:

Create assets in 1x1, 16x9 and 9x16 resolution formats.
Utilise captions across your assets.
Attach a call to action to "play with sound" or "better with sound".
Manually adjust the placements, don't use auto-placements.

Instagram advertising advice:

Running ads on Instagram Feeds, Instagram Reels and Instagram Story Ads is all done through the same interface as Facebook Ads and Meta Ads, but comes with some adjustments to the best practice on creatives. If you want to run optimal ads on Instagram, here is our top tips:

Create assets in 1x1 and 9x16 formatting.
Include link buttons and CTA over stories.
Check the previews of each ad to make sure they work effectively.
For reels, use effective and tailored audio that is captivating and inspires curiosity.

Making TikTok Ads:

Advertising on TikTok is the new upcoming and fun toy of the marketing platforms, and is all about the creatives you use. Spark ads are the platforms "organic boost" option and enable you to get more and more views on your current organic creatives.

The platform is a little different to the norm, but delivers with it a few creative ways to optimize your content:

Use the 9x16 format, and even edit and create assets within the platform.
Use buttons and interactive elements to add countdowns, sales, links and more to your assets.
Beware the Safe Zones where content will be covered by buttons.
Focus on great sound, snappy video and interesting content that isn't too long for your viewers to consume.

Advertising with Reddit:

Reddit has taken great steps to level-up its advertising platform in recent months, making Reddit a great place to advertise your game. The people and platform of Reddit are certainly unique compared to other placements though, so there are certain risks involved with advertising and “selling” on Reddit.

Within your creative it's better to take a more organic approach to the asset. Take your time, showcase the creative and unique aspects of the game and come at it not as a business, but as a developer and individual wanting to share your passion with the world.

Use 16x9 and 1x1 formats.
Include Captions or Subtitles.
Approach copy and formatting in an organic and down to earth way.
Don’t enable comments on the ad and asset (unless you want to take the copypasta risk).

Still want to know more?

With these tips and tricks in place, it should give you some good direction on how to approach marketing on each of the specific platforms. It's always good to keep in mind though that across all the platforms, clear trailers and a creative approach to the videos you make will help you stand out.

If you're curious about how else you can be levelling up your approach to Marketing Creatives, reach out to us today and we can chat about how we might be able to help.

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