Where You Should Point In A Video: A Platform-by-Platform Guide

Imagine you are scrolling through social media and see a video for a fancy new product that you immediately decide you must purchase, but at the end of the promo video, the big flashing arrows telling you to “BUY NOW” are pointing to…nothing?

Cue the cringes.

Adding arrows or having the video subject point to a button or link is good practice. It makes it crystal clear where the person on the other side of the screen needs to click to take action.

But only if that arrow or hand is pointing to the right place.

Since that varies, we created a guide that will help you decipher where to point on every platform.

Organic Newsfeed Post: Up.

Reels and Stories: Swipe Up. This goes for both organic videos and ads.

Paid: Down.

Organic: Up.

Paid: It depends. For video ads, up. For most other ad types, down. Take a look at the Twitter ad format options for more information.

Post: Nowhere. Since the only place Instagram allows links is in an account’s bio, it’s probably best to avoid any arrows. Just be sure to include “link in bio” in the post copy or say it in the video.

Reels and Stories: Swipe Up. This goes for both organic videos and ads.

Paid: Down.

Organic: Down.

Paid: Down. Specifically to the bottom left corner, since that’s where your ad button will appear on the screen.

Down…usually. The most common place you’ll see a button or link in an email is below the video. That said, you can put it just about anywhere. Just be sure to match the pointing to whatever direction you add the button.

Down. If you include a video or animated graphic in an MMS send, users typically receive the visual element before the text copy, so keep that arrow pointing down.

It depends. Typically, the video will appear at the top of the page or sandwiched between a few paragraphs of text, but that’s not a hard and fast rule. Wherever your video ends up on the page, just be sure to point toward the form you want them to fill out – be it a survey, petition, donation, or something else.

If you don’t want to navigate these directions on your own, let IMGE be your co-pilot. Reach out today and find out how we can optimize your videos.