Should my brands be running video sales letter (VSL) funnels on YouTube or Facebook?

SCALERS Founder & CEO Alex Micol has a simple answer: both. As a decade-plus veteran of the affiliate marketing industry, Alex has found that VSL funnels are still consistent performers on both platforms, especially if you have a proven video and a supply of hooks to use.
Ads that work on YouTube & Facebook

But how do you create a winning VSL funnel? We’ll break down the four steps – scriptwriting, shooting, editing, and launching – in the guide below.

1. SCRIPTWRITING ✍️

Before you can start shooting video, you need a script for your VSL. These can vary depending on the vertical and offer, but every video should start with a hook and establish the problem prospects are facing before presenting the offer as a solution and capping the whole thing off with a compelling call to action.

Here’s Alex’s template for VSL scriptwriting:
Template for VSL scriptwriting

When your script is finished, have your legal team review it to prevent compliance worries, especially in financial or health verticals.

Also, establishing authority has been a key ingredient for Alex and his team. They have used celebrities and industry brand owners as on-camera talent to build brand trust and make ads ‘sticky’ for viewers.

Brands that aren’t equipped for on-camera authority can use a combination of AI-assisted voiceover and heavy doses of user generated content and social proof to generate a similar authoritative effect.

2. SHOOTING 🎬

Shooting video for VSLs and ads is easier than ever because of high-quality smartphone cameras and the accessibility of technology.

If you know you’re going to be shooting marketing videos often, for example, you can invest in equipment like lights and a teleprompter for reading scripts to handle everything in-house:
Key filming equipment needed

If you’re looking to outsource video production to someone else, however, you can hire talent on sites like Fiverr to shoot the scripts you’ve written so that you can edit them yourself. You can also work with a local production company to get the results you want.

3. EDITING 🎞️

Finding a perfect editor for your video marketing projects is basically an impossible task. Instead, Alex recommends finding someone who has a good sense of storytelling, basic motion graphics skills, and is coachable – the rest you can provide over time. The only thing you can’t provide, however, is creativity – either someone has that or they don’t.

4. LAUNCH 🚀

When you’ve created a strong VSL and a collection of swappable hooks for your ads, it’s time to launch your funnel on YouTube and Facebook.

As we mentioned at the top, these campaigns will work on both platforms, but there will be some unique elements to navigate through along the way. For example, long VSLs are not performing well on YouTube right now, but they’re still working on Facebook.

That said, Alex and his team have found that ads leading to VSLs are working at specific lengths for specific conversion goals:
Winning formats on YouTube

Finally, it’s important to note that YouTube has infrastructure in place now to optimize your ads for the platform. Further, if you run vertical ads, you’ll get more placements and exposure on YouTube Shorts.