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These 6 Tricks Will Make You A Facebook Video Pro

A recent survey by Sensai discovered that almost 70% of small businesses aren’t confident when it comes to their social media marketing.

 

In fact, almost 50% of small businesses say that social media marketing is harder than filling out their income tax paperwork.

 

That’s why we put together some easy tricks to master the one type of social media content that marketers say gets the best ROI—video.

Image: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/2018-state-of-social-video-consumer-and-marketer-trends-report-infographi/540411/

Videos are a great way to engage with your customers, build brand awareness, and generate new leads.

And it isn’t just marketers and businesses that love video; a report from Animoto found that video is the average consumer’s favourite type of content to see from businesses on social.

So, here are 6 simple ways to up your Facebook video game:

 

1. Post natively.

 

In other words, upload your video directly to Facebook (as opposed to uploading your video to Youtube or Vimeo and then sharing that Youtube or Vimeo link on Facebook).

 

Image: https://www.quintly.com/blog/2017/03/facebook-video-study

 

Why post natively? Facebook’s algorithm favours content that keeps users within the Facebook platform. As seen below, when you share a video with a Youtube link on Facebook, you have to leave the Facebook platform and go to Youtube to watch it. 

Image: https://www.agorapulse.com/social-media-lab/facebook-videos-reach 

 

So, exactly how much better do native videos perform in comparison to their Youtube link counterparts?

Native Facebook videos have 2x as many views.

Native Facebook videos have 3x as many shares.

Native Facebook videos receive 530% more comments.

 

2. Add captions.

 

We hate to crush the dreams of any Morgan Freeman soundalikes out there, but 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound.

 

This means that videos without captions are less accessible and won’t reach as many people.

This step-by-step guide by IdeaRocket walks you through the process of how to add Facebook video captions (put simply, you can get Facebook to automatically generate captions for you, or you can manually add your own captions by uploading a .srt file.)

When it comes to best practice, make sure your captions are:

  • in sync with your visuals
  • short and digestible phrases
  • clearly punctuated

3. Keep it to under 2 minutes.

 

Now research does vary on this one.

One study recommends sticking to 1 minute or less.

Another suggests that 1-1.5 minutes is ideal.

A third shows that engagement starts to suffer after 2 minutes.

No need to stress. Start by keeping your video to under 2 minutes and go from there. Once you get into a video posting groove, analyze your data and see where your viewers appear to be dropping off.

Image source: https://wistia.com/learn/marketing/optimal-video-length

Pro tip: If you have a longer video to share, try breaking it into smaller 2-minute segments—people love a good series.

4. Shoot vertically.

 

Facebook videos with a vertical orientation get 50% more impressions than their horizontal or landscape counterparts.

 

This is because portrait videos make for a better mobile viewing experience.

Pro tip: If you’re planning on cross-promoting your video on platforms like Twitter and Linkedin, you’re better off shooting in landscape mode, as these platforms prefer a horizontal orientation. Put differently, only shoot vertically if you’re planning on exclusively sharing the video on Facebook.

5. Do it live.

 

We know, we know, video is intimidating. And editing, even more so. 

 

In one survey, “the tools are too complicated” was listed as one of the top 3 barriers to giving video a shot.

 

Enter Facebook Live—your rustic fix that gets great results.

 

Image result for do it live meme

Facebook Live is a feature on Facebook where you can broadcast a real-time video right from your mobile device.

 

It’s a simple and powerful way to create an engaging video, and bonus—they usually spark a lot of interaction.

How much more interaction?

 

Well, Facebook Live videos see on average 3X more engagement than traditional Facebook videos (in part due to the fact that users are notified when Facebook Live videos start).

Check out this comprehensive guide from Hubspot to learn more about how to go live from your phone and how to analyze your video’s performance.

 

Pro tip: The ideal length for a Facebook Live video is 15 minutes or more (engagement peaks at 15 minutes and then remains fairly stable after that, maxing at 4 hours).

6. Share how-to content.

 

Content that teaches your viewers a skill (even a skill they didn’t know they needed—like how to make a bee hotel) performs really well.

As seen below, DIY videos sit in the top 5 for topics generating the most Facebook engagement (behind delicious nom noms, beauty hacks, and adorable furry friends, of course).

Image: https://buzzsumo.com/blog/facebook-video-engagement-learned-analyzing-100-million-videos/ 

 

DIY videos are an awesome way to demonstrate your business’ expertise and build brand awareness. For some topic inspiration, explore your FAQs or think about your product’s knowledge barriers.

 

Pro Tip: Give value to your fan base then throw out the ask. Add a call-to-action to the end of your video that promotes your product or service (e.g. mention an upcoming event, a recent blog post, or your website URL).

Conclusion

You don’t need to be Martin Scorsese to make a quality video for Facebook. A few technical tricks + an engaging topic = the opportunity to reach new audiences, get new customers, and build your brand.

Now get going, you producer you.

 

RTOWN helps local businesses master their social media marketing. We specialize in Facebook and Instagram—not because we haven’t heard of other platforms, but because we love being really good at a few things (versus alright at a bunch).

  

Want one of our digital marketing experts to take a look at your company’s social media presence?

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