More and more brands are seeing the value of video on Facebook. One big marketing aim for businesses this year is to increase watch time and video shares on the popular social media site. With Facebook confirming that 48% of watch time on the platform comes directly from shares brands are looking for more ways to make their videos go viral.
But, how do you create a video that gets viewers engaged, and ready to share your content with their followers? This is the question on every marketing team’s lips. That’s why we’ve got a few ways you can improve your watch time and create videos that get you noticed online…
1. Consider How You Upload Your Videos
It may seem an obvious place to start, but how you upload your videos actually has a great effect in show often they will be watched and shared. Ultimately, posting a video straight to Facebook will mean it gets more views. This may seem obvious, however, many companies post a link or embed a YouTube or Vimeo video instead of formatting the video size to Facebook.
A 2017 study found that Facebook videos tend to receive a 477% higher share rate than those in YouTube format. So, if you’re looking to create a video, you can still post to YouTube, however, ensure that you reformat your video to be Facebook “friendly” before uploading to the other platform.
2. Format Your Videos Correctly
So, now you know the video needs to be formatted correctly, what exactly is the format you should follow for Facebook?
Square or Vertical
Firstly, Consider the shape of your video content before you upload the video to the site. Facebook likes square videos it seems as these tend to get more shares, views and engagement, especially on mobile. Vertical videos are also effective as Facebook allows longer-form content in this format. So, if you’ve got a longer video to share optimise it by creating it in a vertical frame.
Subtitles
Another thing to consider is the addition of subtitles to your video. The majority of your viewers won’t play the video out loud or use headphones whilst on the app. So, make sure they stay engaged with your video and don’t miss your message by using subtitles.
Astonishingly 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound, so any voice over without captions is going to be lost on your viewers!
Length
Remember to optimise your videos by considering the length of time. Ultimately, there is no cheat length that will increase your video’s shareability, you need to experiment and vary your videos to find this out yourself. However, we do know what tends to work for different types of brands. Where two years ago a short video would have been ideal, this year we have been seeing longer videos (around 3 minutes) have been working well.
Use your facebook video analytics to see when viewers drop off of the video and use this information to optimise your next video campaign.
3. Post at the Right Time
Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how good your video is, if you post at a strange time it will never get that initial interaction. This may stop the ball from rolling, limiting its ability to go viral. Therefore, uploading a video to Facebook at a time when it’s most likely to receive views and shares is a simple way to improve your overall watch time.
However, when actually is that ideal window of opportunity? Think logically and then experiment with your uploads. sart by posting after work when people are home with time to watch videos on their phone. Also, consider weekends, as studies have shown that Saturdays and Sundays generally provide a 32% higher engagement rate for Facebook content.
Remember to track your engagement and relate back to your posting time so you know when the right time to post is, for your brand.
So, now you’ve got the information to create a viral Facebook video! Consider social media and how your video will be viewed on different platforms next time you start creating a video. This way, even before you pick up the camera to film, your video will be fully social media optimised!