Twitter launches new ‘Unskippable’ video marketing series

Twitter has launched a new educational series named ‘Unskippable,’ consisting of eight parts focused on video marketing and creating video promotions that stand out on the Twitter feed.

The series is part of Twitter’s free education platform called ‘Flight School,’ which offers insights into key advertising best practices on Twitter. Twitter’s creative team, which helps advertisers produce thousands of top-performing ads on the platform every year, has provided the tips and advice in the series. With around 70% of Twitter’s top advertisers stopping or reducing their spending on Twitter, this may be a good time to test out Twitter ads and capitalize on new opportunities to get your promotions seen.

What you’ll learn. The series aims to provide a practical overview of all the essential elements required for creating compelling video clips. It is designed for creatives, by creatives, and doesn’t just teach the best practices but also provides insights on how to implement them creatively. Each video is approximately 2 minutes long, making it convenient to consume.

The nitty gritty. I broke down each video into its main takeaways. Here’s what they said.

Video 1: Creating Attention. This video was an introduction to the series. The host discussed what attention is and how advertisers and creators can achieve attention through video. The host says that by providing location and context in each video, brands will see longer view times, better engagement, and “excellent KPIs.”

Video 2: The Right Video Size. What video sizes work best on Twitter. The speaker claims that there is virtually no difference between 1:1 and 16:9 aspect ratios. Performance depends on how you use the space. Avoid black bar or letterbox content. The big takeaway? “Impact is gained, not given.”

Video 3: The Right Video Length. Think about the time you’re asking your audience to spend on a piece of content and how you can make that time spent as worthwhile as possible. Get your brand’s key message across and allow your audience to move on.

Video 4: The Right Video Layout. Where you place elements of your video can make a huge impact on performance. There are three different locations that represent prime locations for information to live:

• Top left
• Top right
• Bottom center

Think of an envelope, with the return address, who the mail is being sent to, and the stamp.

Video 5: Creating Engagement. “Depth” is a critical component of creating content that people want to engage with. By creating content with depth, It’s a natural trigger to the human brain that it’s something that can be engaged and interacted with. Create content with depth and you’ll move people to take action.

Video 6: Providing Utility and Clarity. By providing utility, you’re telling your audience why they should interact. It answers the question of “what value does engaging, clicking, or installing bring?” Clarity means simplifying your value prop to ensure your audience is walking away with a crystal clear message.

Video 7: Pairing Copy & Captions. The video explored three rules for making a major difference in your Tweet copy.

• Keep it brief
• Make it additive rather than disparate or redundant
• Use a hashtag (only one)

Adding captions increased the view rate by almost 30%, so add them when possible, and get creative.

Video 8: Breaking the 4th Wall. Speak directly to the audience and break down the barrier between brand and fan. Grab your audience’s attention quickly, whether through feed disruption, breaking the 4th wall, or talking directly to your audience.

By using those tactics, you can boost metrics such as:

• Watch times
• Brand awareness
• Message association

What Twitter says.

“Receiving a list of best practices is always helpful, but it can be tough to translate a list of do’s and don’ts into a high-performing video. Content can become watered down when every tip on the list is implemented in a single advertisement without proper care – losing its entertainment value and creative spark. That’s why this course was created for creatives, by creatives, and doesn’t just teach you what the best practices are, but how to use them to think about and approach your next piece of content.”

Dig deeper. You can access the videos here.

Why we care. Video has become a dominant format in the digital marketing landscape, and its significance continues to grow. Advertisers must stay informed about best practices and strategies to make their video content stand out and resonate with their target audience.