In our present life, social media platforms have become an inseparable part of our everyday life, with powerful influence on our lifestyles, opinions, and trends. Some examples are Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
For a wide segment of society, social media has become a virtual world where they spend most of their time every day, a segment that consists of a variety of classes, ages, and attitudes.
Hence, social media platforms have formed a cornerstone for marketing forces whose effectiveness and reach supersedes that of TV. That is how the term “Content Creation" came to be. “Content Creation" is defined as sharing information; image, sound, graphic, text, music…etc., to build any digital medium with the intent of presenting it to the final viewer. This content could reach millions of viewers and Internet users daily, covering diverse fields such as informative, advertising, educational, entertainment...etc., at all times, places, and with the utmost ease. Most TV ads creators have started giving equal attention to presenting their work on social media platforms as they do on TV, believing in the power and reach of social media, which is no less than that of TV ads. As time passed, and social media's platforms presence rapidly increased, and therefore the number of its users, the prevalent tendency of marketers has become to display their motion ads on these platforms, to ensure it reaches the largest possible number of their target audience, which could be millions in a few days. Here, some considerations have emerged to which attention must be paid while preparing the production of a motion ad that is intended for display of social media that differ from those of TV display. For that, studying the social media ad production stages has become necessary, in order to elicit the necessary considerations to be taken into account while designing this type of art projects. Statement of the problem: Motion ads are of paramount importance when displayed on social media platforms, and the target problem of this research lies in the following question: what are the considerations to be taken when designing an motion ad for social media display, to fit the demands and characteristics of these platforms in terms of quality and visual consistency, and to the degree that suits the nature of the presented content? Objective: This research aims to study the considerations to be taken when designing a motion ad for social media display. Results: The ad design plan is considered the most important stage of producing the motion ad prepared for social media display. The plan consists of specific stages, none more important than the other does, but rather, they all integrate. Hence, we can deduce the considerations that must be taken into account in those stages. In the brainstorming stage, the target audience ad-marketing objective must be specified, while choosing the appropriate social media platform to display the ad. In the duration determination stage, the marketing message must be delivered in the least number of seconds, to avoid the scenario where the viewer skips the ad. While in the stages of initial and (planned) scenario, elements of attractiveness and excitement must be specified in order for the marketing message to be successful. And duration and range of the motion ad prepared for social media display influence the viewer positively if the ad is short, which makes the marketing message directly reach the viewer in an attractive way without uselessly dragging on, which makes the viewer likely to complete watching the ad without skipping, especially if the brand logo of the ad appeared alongside the attracting elements in the first 3 seconds. The duration of the motion ad prepared for social media display must be set from 10 to 30 seconds at most, in order for it to suit the different ad placements of social media platforms, and also to not bore the viewer. There are new aspect ratios that must be taken into consideration when producing a commercial for social media display, that differ from those of digitally televised ads. Browsing social media from cell phones has caused the emergence of new scales and aspect ratios that must be taken in to account, such as the vertical size of (9:16) or (4:5), and the square size of (1:1) The shooting and producing tools and equipment used for the motion ad prepared for social media display must be specified based on the ad budget, which varies between a non-existent, low, moderate, or high budget, according to the requirements of the marketing campaign. Some start-ups, small stores, and business owners seek to make a motion ad, yet the budget holds them back. The emergence of different social media channels has made it easier for them to produce and display their ads through them, making the ad production within budget, by using shooting equipment that are already available at the motion ad creator. The shooting could also be done using DSLR or Mirror Less cameras, or even using the HD cameras integrated in cell phones. There are some guidelines that the editor must be aware of when editing his motion ad that is prepared for social media display. Of those, utilizing the shots where the product name is shown properly throughout the ad, particularly in the third second. He must also be completely aware of how to deal with vertical or square video clips. The editor must also be highly aware of the design fundamentals, as he/she could be put in a position that necessitates cutting a horizontally shot video (9:16), to make a crop in a square version (1:1), or a vertical version (4:5). During the editing process, it must be noted that many ad viewers on social media do not turn on the sound of the ad. Therefore, subtitles must be added on the screen in case of the existence of a dialog in the ad, to draw the viewer's attention to it, causing him to raise the ad's voice in order to hear the dialog. Conclusion: Social media platforms have formed a cornerstone for marketing forces whose effectiveness and reach supersedes that of TV. That is how the term “Content Creation" came to be. This content could reach millions of viewers and Internet users daily at all times, places, and with the utmost ease. This has caused content creators and marketing agencies' owners to shift their focus toward displaying their ads on social medial platforms. Accordingly, there have arisen many considerations to be taken into account when producing this type of ads through all its stages, starting with putting the ad plan, and until it reaches the post production stage, and finally sees the light in new aspect ratios that were not previously present in the classical commercials' production that were displayed on TV screens.