Just six years ago, video constituted approximately 5.5% of the brands’ Facebook content. By 2020, it nearly tripled to 15% of brand content and managed to reach and Increasing audience on Facebook.
This is just one of the results of a recent Facebook video study for which Socialinsider reviewed more than 10.5 million publications between 2014 and April 2020.
Of these videos, 71% were posted by accounts with more than 100,000 fans, while sites with less than 100 fans posted less than 1% of the video content.
However, regardless of the size of your page, research reveals some tips, tricks and ways to help your Facebook video content do more.
Tip 1: Listen to Facebook
Facebook tells you what it wants, watch out. Over a year ago, Facebook gave a tip when it launched its updated video algorithm. Among the highlights:
Several views, even from the same users, have priority over other videos in the user’s feed.
Videos should capture the viewer’s attention for at least one minute. Videos that last at least three minutes gain weight.
Distribution of “non original, restricted or intangible value-added videos” should be limited and could affect the rating of video sites.
While this information is publicly available, knowing and interpreting it for your Facebook video strategy will help your brand stay ahead of the game. You can focus on what has traction.
Tip 2: Turn the Power of Life
While live versions represent only 12% of the videos posted on Facebook, they generate significantly more engagement (Socialinsider’s study defines the ability to Increasing audience on Facebook as the total number of reactions, likes and comments).
According to the research, sites with fewer than 10,000 fans participated 73% more in live videos than recorded Facebook videos (1.59% versus 0.92%). Sites with between 10,000 and 100,000 fans had 54% more participation. Sites with more than 100,000 fans also found that live videos performed better, but not by much (0.10% vs. 0.09%).
Duration is also important. For 60-minute live videos, the participation rate for shorter videos nearly tripled by 0.86%. Videos between 10 and 20 minutes or less than five minutes long had a participation rate of about 0.29%.
Explore your options for streaming video and keep in mind that you don’t have to start from scratch. You can broadcast an event, conference, program, product launch or brainstorming session for small teams. Many of these formats are also great for longer videos, so you can make sure they are at least 60 minutes long.
(Want to learn more about what Facebook says about live streaming? See the solutions page for that topic.)
Tip 3: Go long and vertical
While the length of the performance affects participation, it also affects the length of the video description. Longer descriptions captivate the viewer. The average video engagement with descriptions over 300 characters was 0.39%, while the engagement with descriptions of 200 characters or less ranged from 0.19 to 0.21%.
If you are going to be on the road for a long time, you should also work vertically, as the Facebook audience is more receptive to vertical videos Increasing audience on Facebook. Verticals had an average participation rate of 40% better than horizontal videos and 100% better than square videos.
These results make sense because, according to Statista, in April 2020 more than 98% of active users worldwide were accessing the social network from any cell phone.
Tip 4: Upload your videos instead of sharing
Many companies overlook this important and proven data advice: sharing your video on your company’s YouTube channel is never as effective as uploading it.
Studies, including those by Agorapulse and Quintly, have shown that native Facebook videos receive greater reach and more feedback.
TIP: Don’t download other people’s videos to upload to your Facebook page and post “native videos” unless you have legal rights to do so.
TIP 5: Pay attention to your industry
While general research to Increasing audience on Facebook with video can work for your brand, your industry should also be researched.
For example, in the apparel industry, it’s helpful to know that live video had a big impact on participation. While the total Facebook video industry engagement was 0.32%, live video gained almost seven times the 2.17% engagement. (See if your industry was one of the 14 segmented in the overall research.)
Tip 6: Focus on the first 3 seconds
Although these statistics provided by Facebook are from a few years ago, they still resonate today. Nearly two-thirds of people who watch three seconds of video stay at least at the 10-second mark. And 45% of the first three seconds see it for 30 seconds.
You have to get your users’ attention in three seconds or you’ll lose them. Keep this in mind while writing the script and designing the video.
In total…
It is imperative to include video in your Facebook content marketing strategy. According to the Facebook guide and third-party research, consider best practices for achieving more participation: live video, over 60 minutes, portrait in horizontal formats, and longer descriptions.
This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)