Facebook is all the rage this year…
There are 1.65 billion monthly users which in and of itself is a huge number, but it also defines an extremely diverse audience.
Love or hate the platform, there is no getting away from the power of Facebook, especially when you are trying to build your online presence. And if you want to do it properly, you need to leverage video marketing.
People want visuals, audio clips and colors which can trigger their imagination. And, as you probably know, videos are even more eye-catching than a regular text post.
Facebook have recognized this trend by prioritizing video content in their algorithm and releasing an auto play feature.
That’s why I spent some time researching the top tips for successful video marketing on Facebook.
Let’s take a closer look…
1. Keep your video short and sparky
Short, intriguing videos keep content fresh and entertaining for fans and have the potential of being shared virally. It’s best to create visual videos with little narration so that fans can watch in any location regardless of language and culture.
Facebook itself says that videos less than 2 minutes are more effective than those with long stories. Your video should be long enough to deliver the core message of your brand, but not try to explain everything in one single shot as this can distract the attention of the viewer.
When people hear information, they’re likely to remember only 10% of that information three days later. However, if a relevant image or video is paired with that same information, people retain 65% of the information three days later.
The below video is an award winning video for an insurance company and it’s still going viral on Facebook even though the language used is not understood globally. The message is so strong that it was able to capture the attention span of every single viewer anyway.
2. Educate your audience
Before educating your audience, educate yourself about your target audience. Try and dig into what they are they looking for and then meet their needs with a compelling video. People love to get instant solutions and if your video is what they are looking for, then just sit back and relax as your video may take only minutes to spread like wild fire.
Lately, I have observed those short cooking videos shared by Buzzfeed and Taste Made. One second I see them on their own personal pages and the next second those videos are all over my newsfeed. Ever wondered why? Because they know where their target audience is, what they want to see, and how the video can benefit the audience.
3. Make the first few seconds count
Trust me, you just have two seconds to grab the attention of the viewers and if your video is dry, or takes time to load, there are higher chances of people clicking the stop or cancel button. The best way to boost engagement is to create curiosity, ask a question or build up suspense, which are simple techniques that have become a rule of thumb.
Avoid rambling on about yourself or selling too aggressively, which fans find distasteful. Just posting a picture of your product with a link to the purchase is not exciting or engaging.
Showing new, exciting uses for your product and how it can benefit your fans is engaging and appealing to your audience and will motivate them more.
The best example I can give here is of the new campaign from Coca Cola where they have beautifully presented the idea of sharing feeling.
4. Choose a compelling thumbnail
When your video doesn’t play automatically, it will show a still image before someone clicks the play button. Like YouTube, Facebook calls this image, a video thumbnail, and Facebook’s ad creation tool allows you to choose from images in your video or upload your own image.
Facebook recommends, “Choose something interesting to draw your audience in. If your thumbnail image has text in it, keep in mind it’s also subject to our 20% text policy, so choose something with minimal text.”
The recommended text length is 90 characters of ad copy, which works since it will be displayed on smaller screens. When your marketing staff creates an ad, they’ll get a preview of what people will see in the newsfeed on desktop and mobile devices. This makes everything up to this point foolproof.
Image Source: Reelseo
5. Schedule your videos for maximum viewing
Unless you’re lucky enough to have a full time crew of social media managers, the ability to schedule and post ahead of time is a bonus, especially when your audience is in a different time zone.
Setting up a publishing schedule for your Facebook page will help you organize your videos according to your audience availability, and ensure that you can co-ordinate any campaign pushes across other distribution sites at the same time. Scheduling couldn’t be any easier, just choose the ‘Schedule Post’ option from the dropdown menu as you go through the upload process.
To be more productive and to increase your Facebook visibility, you can also schedule multiple posts on Hootsuite by maintaining a difference of a few hours. One golden tip I would like to provide here is do not keep bragging about yourself. Post videos related to your industry, but include other marketers and influencers which is a great way of building external social relationships.
6. Be entertaining
People go on Facebook to have fun. But that doesn’t mean you have to post over-rated videos or something completely off-topic just to get the attention of the audience. Entertain them with informal, behind-the-scenes interviews at your company or create something fun like an animated explainer video that has a business purpose. With so many production houses out there, it’s a piece of cake to get such videos made.
The coolest trend these days are those GIF animated videos which get noticed in no time.
Different popular pages on Facebook regularly post humorous videos that get lots of likes and shares, Buzzfeed is a great example of this.
7. Keep your online existence stable
If your goal is to release new video content continuously, but you’re not sure what is too much or not enough, try posting video content every other week, then polling your Facebook fans to see if they want to see more or less original content from your brand. This is a good way to determine the consistency of video content that works best for your audience.
Facebook video ads are certain to become a big part of how brands use Facebook and engage with users. These video ads will need to be high quality, and the shorter and more concise the content, the better.
If your brand is starting to think about how you can best benefit from video ads, start looking at the most successful Vine and Instagram videos and use these as examples of how to convey a short, concise message. The goal of your video content should be to get viewers to your Facebook business page and want to find out more.
8. Don’t forget the call-to-action tab
The Facebook Call-to-Action button allows you to draw attention to a video on your website from your Facebook cover image. CTA tabs can be a website traffic-driver for people who visit your page.
There are several options for the Call-to-Action button, including “Watch Video”. Therefore, the cover photo also has to focus on what is in the video behind the button.
HGTV teamed up with Ellen for a design challenge. The cover photo illustrates the promotion and the Call-to-Action button takes viewers to the video on their website.
Image Source: Social Media Examiner
Wrap
These eight tips are the most basic and necessary ideas which every online marketer should know about.
You’re about to get lucky as this is the year of Facebook Video Ads.
Facebook recently announced that people are posting 75% more videos to Facebook than they did a year ago. Overall, U.S. users are posting a whopping 94% more videos. Plus, Socialbakers reported that brands are now uploading more videos to Facebook than to YouTube. The same article states that Facebook videos are experiencing more engagement than YouTube videos posted to Facebook.
Every business can benefit from having a strategy to take advantage of the organic reach from posting videos. Use video to connect more deeply with your audience and drive more traffic to your website.
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