Facebook is investing its considerable resources into showcasing its video content in an attempt to provide entertaining new features and services for its users – and to overtake YouTube as the go-to video resource on the Web.
Facebook’s emerging emphasis on video highlights the increasing importance of video for PR and marketing. Content marketers, especially B2C marketers on Facebook, may wish to shift their focus from text article with images to making video a priority.
New Video Features
Facebook has been introducing and testing a slew of video enhancements that provide viewers greater flexibility.
The world’s largest social marketing network is testing “a dedicated place” for exclusively watching videos. Users will be able to watch videos they’ve saved for later, videos from friends, Facebook Pages they follow and other video publishers. Facebook says the dedicated video hub will help people discover, watch and share videos.
Public figures can share live video with their fans via Mentions. Facebook’s 360 video enables users to view a video from all angles.
Suggested videos make it easier to find related videos. Facebook is testing showing videos on floating screens to allow uses to see videos while simultaneously multitasking. It is also testing a button to save a video to watch later.
Facebook now averages 8 billion video views a day, twice as many as this past April. Video will eventually dominate the network, some believe. “A year or two from now, we think Facebook will be mostly video,” Facebook ad product lead Ted Zagat said at Variety’s Entertainment and Technology Summit. Virtual reality, he added, will be the next frontier.
How to Produce Successful Facebook Videos
Here are some tips to producing successful PR and marketing videos for Facebook. Many of the tips are based on data that most viewers watch Facebook videos on mobile devices.
Go short. People prefer short and snappy videos on social media. The average length of videos shared by six top Facebook publishers in September ranged from 25 to 90 seconds, according to NewsWhip.
Be square. A BuzzFeed analysis found that 75% of their most shared videos in a month were in a square format. Viewers may be reluctant to go to full screen mode and rotate their phone to a watch a video less than a minute long.
Seek action. People tend to view and share video clips with action and stunning imagery – not talking heads.
Be silent. Many consumers prefer to watch videos without turning on the sound, possibly because they are waiting in a line or riding on a train when turning on the sound would be highly intrusive. Large, easy-to-read subtitles can help narrate the video.
Include a call to action, such as “sign up” or “learn more.” Go to the Edit Video option on your video and select the ‘Call to Action’ tab.
Immerse yourself. The network’s 360-video that provides views from all angles may be the next frontier for forward-thinking, tech-savvy brands, predicts the Content Standard. Desktop users drag the video with a mouse to see the video from new angles. Mobile users move the phone or tablet to change the view.
Differentiate. When posting on other networks, consider different lengths and formats. The one-size-fits-all video is dead. For instance, longer videos remain popular on YouTube.
Bottom Line: Video may soon dominate Facebook, as well as social media in general. That means savvy content marketers will place greater emphasis on producing and marketing videos.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
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