- October 18, 2016
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Five Best Practices for Leveraging Video on Facebook
It wasn’t long ago that video marketing required a significant investment for small and medium-sized business. But many of the barriers that formerly held integrated marketers back from fully embracing video have shrunk or disappeared completely.
How important is video for SMB marketers? Video service Animoto conducted a study to find out. Here are a few nuggets:
- 7 billion videos are watched every day on Facebook and YouTube.
- 80 percent say videos explaining how products and services work are important when learning about companies.
- 56 percent say customer testimonials are important when purchasing products or services.
- About one-half cited company videos as most helpful when making purchases.
According to Animoto CEO Brad Jefferson, “Today’s tools and platforms ensure that small and midsized businesses can reach their audiences where they hang out online. This represents one of the biggest marketing opportunities for small businesses in a long time.”
As the dominant social network for SMBs and a growing platform for native video, Facebook offers marketers five suggested best practices for leveraging video.
Speak Directly to Your Audience
For better results, customize your video content so it’s relevant to your audience. If you serve distinctly different audience groups, try creating different videos (or multiple versions) for each group.
Shoot to Win
Although production barriers are lower, you’ll still need the best possible tools and budget to create quality video content, whether you shoot with a phone or a full production team. People are more likely to watch well-shot videos that play on multiple device platforms.
Get to the Point Quickly
Your video ad or content will need to quickly grab viewer’s attention before they click away. Consider showing your brand or product in the first few seconds.
Tell a Compelling Story
Brevity matters, but video length is not as crucial as a concise, compelling story. Make your video only as long as it takes to tell your story and hold the audience’s interest throughout.
While one might assume that shorter video ads are better, that’s not always the case. According to a recent study, “video ads that were between 30 and 60 seconds long fared better than those of less than 30 seconds on Facebook.”
Don’t Depend On Sound to Tell Your Story
Facebook videos automatically play with sound off, so be sure your video content or ad pulls viewers in without being audible. Use on-screen text or titles to move the narrative along. Once the volume is up, the sound of your video should further enhance your story and images.
