FACEBOOK VIDEO MARKETING: 13 BEST TIPS FOR 2021

As of 2021, Facebook is the most popular social media platform, the second most downloaded app, and the 3rd most visited website on the internet.

And it’s a great platform for businesses. 2/3rds of Facebook users across the world say they visit a local business page at least once a week.

So whatever type of business you have, you need to be present on Facebook. And as video becomes increasingly favoured on the platform, video content can give your Facebook marketing strategy a much-needed boost.

In this post, you’ll learn just why Facebook video marketing is important, and receive 13 actionable tips for sharing videos on Facebook in 2021.

WHY DO VIDEO MARKETING ON FACEBOOK?

• Over half a billion people watch video on Facebook every day. That’s a large audience to tap into.
• Video posts have a higher engagement rate than other post types. If you want to get more views, likes, comments, clicks and shares, this is the content format for you.
• Facebook is the second most popular destination for videos on the internet (YouTube is first.) So if video marketing is important to your business, Facebook needs to be part of this.

TIPS FOR FACEBOOK VIDEO MARKETING:

1. DECIDING THE TYPE OF VIDEO YOU WANT TO SHARE…

Ever heard of the ‘80–20′ rule for social media marketing?

It’s the notion that 80% of your social content should provide value (educational or entertainment) to your audience. Only 20% should be directly about your business and self-promotion. This way, you won’t come across as too spammy or desperate, and your audience will want to stick around!

Try doing this with the video content you post to Facebook, too. Here are some ‘80–20′ video content ideas…

‘Value’ content ideas:

• Tutorial / How-To’s / Informational videos
• Listicles (e.g. tips, tricks, fun facts)
• Fun behind-the-scenes content
• Engaging and insightful case studies
• User-generated content

‘Self-promotional’ video content ideas:

• Product/service videos (e.g. launches, updates, promos)
• Brand videos
• Company news (e.g. milestones, awards, new hires)
• Promo videos featuring the latest discounts/offers

2. WHAT VIDEO LENGTH WORKS BEST?

There’s a bit of a misconception that social media videos should be as short as possible.

In fact, on Facebook, longer videos can perform just as well — if not better — than short videos. Videos that are between 60 seconds and 5 minutes long perform the best.

But the opening few seconds remain the most crucial part. After all, the average watch time of Facebook videos is ten seconds. Sounds short, right? Well, the first few seconds is what people use to decide whether the entire video is worth their time.

So however long you choose to make your Facebook video, make sure it starts with a strong hook that gets straight to the point.

3. MEETING FACEBOOK’S VIDEO QUALITY EXPECTATIONS

Facebook’s help centre recommends posting actual videos that make use of video’s storytelling abilities.

That means avoiding publishing videos that are really just slideshows or montages of still images and/or text. In other words, lazily-thrown-together videos are not going to cut it. If you’re going to do video marketing on Facebook — do it properly.

4. LINKED VERSUS NATIVE VIDEO CONTENT

Native video seems to perform better than linked video, getting 10x more shares than YouTube links.

This makes sense. After all, Facebook wants you to stay and watch content on their site instead of diverting traffic to other platforms like YouTube.

Facebook also rewards publishing native content by providing a range of metrics you can track. They include:

• Video Views
• Total Reach
• Average Engagement
• Post Clicks
• Likes, Comments and Shares
• 30-second Views
• Audience Retention

5. YOUR VIDEO SHOULD LOOK GOOD ON MOBILE

79.9% of Facebook users only access the social media platform on a mobile device. So for your videos to get the best performance on Facebook, put yourself in the shoes of a mobile user.

What does this mean? Well, assume that your content is being watched on a small screen. A screen that is most likely being held vertically. Try square or vertical videos over the standard horizontal format. These take up more space on the mobile newsfeed, so perform better.

Also make sure that any in-video text is easy to read on a small screen, and use close-in shots.

6. CAPTION YOUR VIDEO CONTENT

Want to give more people the chance to watch and engage with your content, wherever they are and whatever their hearing ability?

We know that people are mainly using Facebook from their mobiles. And mobiles are typically used while on the move, in public — situations where videos tend to be watched with the audio off. So adding captions is a no-brainer for improving your video’s accessibility and watchability.

Similar to YouTube, there are several options for adding captions:

• Use the new auto-generate feature: introduced in 2021
• Write your own by adding timeline segments and typing in the text for each
• Uploading captions (if you already created captions for your video on YouTube, you can generate a SubRip (.srt) file to use on Facebook)

7. ADD AN ACCURATE TITLE, DESCRIPTION & TAGS

With the number of videos uploaded to Facebook every day, you must make your content easy to search for and discover. For this, add an accurate title and description to every video you post. Facebook itself outlines the importance of this.

Use relevant keywords in your title and description. This will help it show up and rank in the right Facebook searches. Oh, and avoid clickbait — Facebook will demote content that does this.

Although they won’t be seen by users, tags help Facebook make your videos easier to discover. So remember to add those too.

8. PICK THE BEST VIDEO THUMBNAIL FOR FACEBOOK

When you post or edit a video on Facebook, you have the option to choose or add a thumbnail to your video. (Note: some content posting platforms like Hootsuite also let you do this.) But what’s the best approach to this?

Ranked from least time-consuming to most time-consuming, your thumbnail options are:

1. Pick a thumbnail from one of the auto-generated suggested images.
2. Manually choose a still frame from the video.
3. Upload a high-resolution custom thumbnail image.

9. WRITE STRONG FACEBOOK POST COPY

Okay, so you’ve got a great video ready for posting on Facebook. But how can you persuade people to watch it? Write compelling copy.

Your post copy should be short, easy to read and to the point. No one wants to stop and read a chunky paragraph on their timeline to decide whether your video is worth clicking on.

We suggest short sentences, using an emoji or two (but don’t go overboard), and including a compelling question that your video will answer.

10. CREATE PLAYLISTS FOR YOUR FACEBOOK VIDEOS

Similar to YouTube, you can create playlists for your posted video content on Facebook. Users can find your playlists on the video section of your Facebook page.

To create and manage Facebook playlists, on Creator Studio find the Content Library tab on the menu to the left, then click Playlists. As with individual videos, you can add a title, description and thumbnail for each playlist.

You can also change the video order, and view and compare the details, views and engagements of each video in that playlist.

11. MAKE USE OF FACEBOOK STORIES

You can upload the stories from the Facebook mobile app.

As for content, people tend to expect more informal content from Stories. So use it as a chance to showcase your culture, give viewers a look inside the business, and provide news and updates throughout the day. Maybe even try encouraging employees across your business to get involved!

Facebook also provides you with a lot of useful metrics for your Stories content:

• Unique Story Views
• Exits (how many people exited the story)
• Forward Taps (skips within your story)
• Backward Taps (rewatched a segment within your story)
• Skip Swipes (skipped your entire story)

12. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF FACEBOOK LIVE VIDEOS

Live videos are becoming increasingly popular.

You can use live videos to: host a Q&A, start a discussion, launch a product or service, provide a live tutorial/demonstration, interview a team member/customer/client, and more.

Unlike YouTube, Facebook automatically saves your live videos, allowing you to repurpose them. If you’re going to do this, take the time to edit them, cutting out repetitive parts or slip-ups and adding an introduction.

13. KEEP AN EYE ON FACEBOOK’S VIDEO METRICS

Annoyingly, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to success with video marketing on Facebook. After all, every business is unique.

The only way to definitively know what works best for your target audience is to follow the best practices, track what is (and isn’t) working, then change your approach accordingly.

We’ve already mentioned the metrics available for individual videos and stories. But Facebook also gives you insight into your overall performance.

Go to the ‘Videos’ section of the Insights tab on Creator Studio. From there, you can view performance, loyalty and retention metrics.

Performance shows you minutes viewed, 1-minute video views, 3-second video views, video engagement, and top videos. Loyalty shows your net followers, returning viewers and complete views. Retention details where your views are coming from, how long people are watching, and the average time people spent watching your content.

Take the time to explore these metrics and decide which are most significant to your business goals.

Stay tuned for more social media marketing tips. Remember to subscribe to our newsletter ✉️ to get our best content delivered straight to your inbox!

Enjoyed this article? 📚 Read our other social media guides:

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Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.