The days of video marketing meaning TV commercials only are over. Social media has changed the game on how your videos can get massive reach. Getting more specific, Facebook is a great platform for your videos to do work for your business. From paying to play or using your advocates to gain organic reach, there are many ways to use video and Facebook together. Three tips for using video on Facebook include creating share-worthy content, formatting your video post correctly, and understanding whether or not you need to put money behind your video through paid Facebook advertising or use your fans to reach out organically.
The first and I believe most important tip to using video on Facebook is to create share-worthy content. The goal for Facebook videos is to increase engagement and reach. The best way to do this is to create a video worth sharing. It’s not always easy to create videos worth sharing. My first suggestion is to create a video about why your business exists. Anytime you can connect on an emotional level, your videos are more likely to be shared. If you have an internal copywriter or you partner with a video company, research the type of videos your target audience are engaging with and write a script that relates to your audience. A bonus to creating a video about why your business does what it does is that your team members are typically proud to share videos about their company that relate emotionally. Another way to create a share-worthy video is to partner your business with a fundraiser, nonprofit, or good-cause. If it’s an event where there is a lot of community involvement, get your team involved by either sponsoring the event or helping manage it. Community event videos receive a lot of shares on Facebook because of the power of local communities. Use your stories to create share-worthy content.
Formatting your video post is one of the last steps to harnessing the power of video and Facebook. When we say formatting your video post, we are talking about making sure you fill out every relevant field. For instance, make sure you put a good attention-grabbing title and description for your video. Don’t forget to add relevant video tags to help people discover your video. Facebook allows for custom thumbnails so either create an eye-catching thumbnail or have your video partner help you with that. You can also choose a specific frame on your video to use as your thumbnail. And one of the most important steps to posting a video on Facebook is including subtitles or closed captions (remember that stat where 85% of Facebook users watch videos without sound?). Adding captions will allow your video to be understood without sound and if the story captures the audience correctly, many viewers will turn sound on to be fully immersed. Recently released, Facebook now offers you the ability to auto-generate subtitles. Or you can upload your own .srt file (to not get too technical, an .srt file is just a specific format file that helps embed subtitles). Since many of the videos we produce for clients live on YouTube, we use their subtitle generator to generate, edit, and download the .srt file to be used on Facebook. Finally, Facebook gives you the opportunity to add a poll, tracking information, and 360 video tools.
One of the biggest debates is when to pay-to-play on Facebook or when to use organic. For local businesses using video on Facebook, we often suggest organic to start out, unless the video is more of a one and done video with the hopes of getting a lot of reach. If your business has 50+ employees who are regularly active on Facebook and your Facebook business page has a strong following then organic can be a good bang for your buck. On the other hand, if you are looking to maximize or boost your reach a bit, adding just $20 to boost your video post can help you get the ball rolling and result in even greater organic reach once people start noticing your video.
To wrap this all up, being successful on Facebook with video takes some trial and error. You’ll need to discover what type of videos will your audience share, what you want your audience to do once they see your videos, and of course who is your audience to begin with. Like with most content marketing, consistency is key. The more consistent you are with your video posts on Facebook, the more likely your videos will gain traction and work for your business. Make a plan outlining why you believe you need to work with videos on Facebook and how Facebook videos fit into your overall sales funnel. And remember to create content that is worth it to your customers.
For more information on how your company can jump into the world of video marketing contact us today.
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