Social Media Ad: Tips for Writing, Shooting, and Editing

In this article, I’ll be sharing my tips on creating your very own social media video ad, from the perspective of a video editor.

When it comes to creating video ads, I’m usually the executor, not the writer. I’m able to think as a marketer, so my clients can bounce ideas with me when they reach out to me with their goals and ideas for their creatives (video ads). But my main role will always be a video editor (and motion designer).

Often there is no video footage amongst their assets. Instead we either supplement with moving design assets and photos (motion design) and/or supplement with stock footage.

Their goal is still the same: To market and sell their product or service.

In a previous article, I go more in-depth about the differences between businesses and creators when editing video content for social media platforms. In this article we’re gonna think like a small business, meaning that we’ll specify goals and plan the short around them, but we’re also quick on our feet and not afraid to test out the latest TikTok trends

As previously mentioned, I’m usually the video editor, not the writer. But here’s a structure that many successful ads consist of:

Grab attention

Address a problem

Provide a solution

Call to action

There are many variations to this, and often there’s a part where the advertiser tries to establish credibility with humble bragging, or social proof with testimonials from previous clients.

Let’s write a tongue-in-cheek video ad  script about something I use daily: 

Durable Dog Poop Bags.

Grab attention

As you can tell I didn’t stay up all night writing this script, but the idea is to start with something simple, and then expand as needed from there. Another point I want to make is that with almost everything in this script can be visualized without any video footage, by using photos and design assets for motion design. This has been the case for several videos that I’ve edited for my clients. Once you’re aware of this technique you’ll start to notice video ads without any video footage everywhere.

The first important step is to determine what platform you’re gonna advertise on.  There’s no use planning the best 1-minute ad if you’re gonna post it on Instagram Stories. 

Now we need to create a shortlist (listing up the different scenes we need to shoot or create). Don’t think too much, just write it down fast to get started, and go back to iterate if needed. The next step is to create a storyboard (sketches of the scenes). Draw it quick and dirty; it doesn’t matter if it looks amateur since it’s just a plan to follow.

I also recommend creating a mood board (inspirational images for the visual style and feel). Go on Pinterest and Instagram, and look for aesthetics that you think will fit the vibe of the video ad, as well as your brand. It can also help you find inspiration and help you when creating your shot list and storyboard.

Videography is a very wide and complicated field that I’m not gonna get into. Instead, I’m gonna keep things simple:

Keep the camera steady

Don’t move too much

Borrow some of the compositions from the mood board (steal like an artist).

Another alternative (as mentioned earlier) is to involve a professional video editor and motion designer early on, to help plan for gathering the right design assets and images to create the video ad in After Effects, instead of shooting video footage.

If you followed your shot list and storyboard, your job now will be to select the best takes (versions) of the different scenes. I recommend that you lay out everything chronologically (according to the script) and start selecting what works best for the final edit.

Once the final footage (or images and design assets) has been selected it’s time to put it all together in the editing room.

I typically start out with a rough cut, ignoring flow, music, and any effects. If we don’t have what we need for the core of the video, we can go back to do any reshoots that are needed. 

When we have the rough cut ready, now we can start polishing things to make it look and feel right. 

One thing that often gets overlooked when editing a video is the overall flow.

Every professional editor out there knows what a good flow both looks and feels like. It’s hard to explain, it’s more like an intuition that you get with some years of experience. Video editors are the guardians of the overall story and message. This is why you will see some movies have insanely cool deleted scenes that never made it into the final cut. It may work well by itself, but if it disrupts the flow, it gets left out. This is also relevant for short social media ads. Just because something feels and looks cool, doesn’t mean it fits into the overall flow, and therefore should be left out.

Remember to keep technical requirements for platforms in mind, both when editing and exporting (both social media platforms and websites like Amazon). They all have guides with all of the specifics that you can find using your favorite search engine.

When A/B testing your ads, don’t be afraid to go back to the editing room to experiment with small adjustments like font size, background colors, the order of footage, the overall pacing, etc.

In this article, I’ve provided general tips on writing, shooting, editing, and optimizing your social media video ad. Despite this isn’t an in-depth guide, I encourage you to get your hands dirty and create your own ad. Don’t worry about the overall quality; focus on getting some hands-on experience and reflecting on your new knowledge. This way you know if this is something you wanna embark on yourself, or if you want some assistance from a professional video editor like me (humble brag intended).