What are the parts of a good Meta video ad for a newsletter?
Short answer
Three: a person talking (UGC), moving background video, and text on top that doesn't move. The background stops the scroll, the speaker earns attention, and the fixed text carries the offer, so it works with the sound off. Keep that text short, centered and on screen from the start. Most of my own ads use just two parts.
"There's three components of an ad: the UGC, her talking; the background video, what's happening on the screen that's moving; and text on top that doesn't move."
Most of mine are two. For newsroom clients, I want all three.
What does each part do?
| Part | Its job |
|---|---|
| Background video | Stop the scroll with motion and something fun or interesting |
| Person talking | Earn attention once they've stopped; real energy and emotion |
| Fixed text on top | Say what it is and that it's free, even with the sound off |
The sequence matters. The video's job is to get them to stop. That's it. Background motion is interesting, then they start listening to the person, and they're invested.
How do you put the three together?
My recipe for a newsroom: someone from the newsroom sits in front of a camera and says something like "Our newsletter is the best in the city. It's free. We cover this. You really got to check it out." We put them in the corner on a green screen, put compelling video behind them, and lay fixed text on top so people don't have to listen to get it.
What should the fixed text say?
- "Subscribe for free" or "free weekly newsletter." Put it right above the captions so a fast scroller knows what it is before watching.
- The city name, so people think "this is for me."
- As few words as possible.
Captions go on every video ad too.
And say "free" more than feels natural. Tell someone something is free twice and they'll still ask later if it costs money. I aim for something like five times across the ad.
Should the text animate in word by word?
No. Keep the fixed text fully on screen from the first frame. Another publisher showed me an ad where the words appeared one at a time. It looked good, but the people you're trying to subscribe are scrolling as fast as they can.
"They only read the first two words or whatever that first line was. And they're already gone, right?"
Animated text can work once you already have someone's attention. That's the problem: a cold scroller hasn't given it to you yet. That style is a good ad for marketers like us, not for regular people.
Where should the text sit on screen?
Small, dead center, with lots of space above and below. Facebook and Instagram have so many placements and sizes that text near the edges gets cropped somewhere, and cut-off text is way worse than smaller text. Fewer words helps here too; I've seen ads so wordy that nobody would read them all.
Why do most of my ads skip the person?
Because I can make background-plus-text ads without help from anyone. The talking-head part needs the newsroom to film something, and I can't supply interesting local b-roll for cities I don't live in. That's why my events ads are the easiest for me.
Whether the talking head is worth it is its own question, covered in UGC talking-head ads for newsletters.
Answered by TJ Larkin. From newsroom ad setup and creative calls between March and October 2026. Last updated .