One of the most important metrics for Facebook video is watch time. You don’t just want people to watch your video, you want them to watch the whole thing. In a busy world with a ton of competing content, that’s not always easy. But, there are ways you can increase the chances of your audience’s watch time.The good news is; it’s easy to do. The bad news is … wait, there is no bad news. Let’s get started, shall we? Here are 15 ways to increase watch time on your Facebook videos.
1. Upload Videos Directly to Facebook Instead of Sharing a Link
The subhead basically says it all. In retrospect, I guess I should’ve made it shorter and explained it more in depth here in the body of the post. Here are some statistics: A Quintly study from 2017 found that on average, videos uploaded straight to Facebook received a 477% higher share rate and generated 530% more comments than a shared YouTube link.If you’re currently cross posting on multiple sites by uploading to YouTube and then simply sharing the link, it’s worth the extra time to upload to Facebook separately.
2. Make Videos Square or Vertical
Garry Knight/FlickrPeople love convenience and hate putting effort in. That means even something like turning their phone from vertical to horizontal can be too much for them to do. You can take advantage of this innate human laziness by making videos that don’t require people to rotate their phones 90 degrees. Square Facebook videos get more shares, views and engagement and they reach more people — especially on mobile — than their horizontal counterparts, according to this comprehensive Buffer study on the subject. Facebook itself announced in early 2017 that it was improving the vertical video watching experience for users. Some experimentation is in order.
3. Make Shareable Videos Your Focus
Obviously, if it were up to a company, all their videos would be shared all the time. But, you can increase the chances of your videos being shared by focusing on content that is more likely to be shared. According to Buzzsumo, who analyzed 100 million Facebook videos, the ones with the most engagement are entertaining, humorous, professionally done and offer value. Also: food. Turns out the fastest way to your audience’s heart is through their stomach. Of particular interest to Facebook users is how-to videos and videos that offer any kind of useful tips. (And food.)Storytelling obviously plays a big role in shareable video. Try creating a story with your brand by supporting a cause or finding something your audience is passionate about and starting a conversation about that. Anything with some human interest and that’s uplifting is sure to get people clicking the “Share” button. (Also food.)
4. Focus on Intros and Thumbnails
There’s no room for slow starts with Facebook videos. You’ve gotta hit the viewer with something as soon as the video starts to keep them watching (no, not your logo). An interesting camera angle, bold imagery, anything that will grab their attention. If you’re telling a story, you don’t need to start at the start. You can start near the climax, go back and fill the rest of the story in, and then end off with the actual climax. Do what ya gotta do to keep interest piqued. And don’t forget an interesting thumbnail. Never forget the thumbnail.
5. Include Text
holytimeland/FlickrMost people watch videos without sound and prefer to not have sound on autoplaying videos, particularly ads. In addition to that, captioned videos have a 12% advantage in watch time over non-captioned videos. Include captions. That way, even if people are watching your video with the sound off (and they probably are), they’ll know exactly what’s going on and will be more likely to share the video. Also, you should just include captions to make your videos accessible to everyone.
6. Enhance the Copy
Every video upload comes with the opportunity to add some text.
Title: Make it descriptive, searchable and compelling.
Preview text: Use keywords to summarize what your video is about.
Description: Use more keywords to add information about your video and encourage shares and comments.
7. Get Your Timing Down
Finding the right time to share videos on Facebook is a fine art … just kidding. It’s kind of a guessing game. But, several outlets have tackled the question of when to post. CoSchedule compiled a bunch of these studies and found the quick answer to the question of when to post is:
1–4 p.m. late into the week and on weekends.
Saturday and Sunday at 12–1 pm
Thursday and Friday at 1–4 pm
Wednesday at 3 pm
If you want a schedule that is more pertinent to your audience, dig into your analytics and do a little experimenting and you’ll find the posting window that is best for you specifically.
8. Get Your Timing Dow — oh wait, I used that for the last one
Figuring out the optimum length of a Facebook video is another area where you’re basically just going to have to experiment and study your analytics to see what length of video gets the best engagement. Facebook’s internal analytics are extremely helpful here, telling you how long people watched your video for. If the majority of people watch up to the 30 second mark and then there is a steep drop off, you’ve got your answer. Common sense would say keep it short, but try some different lengths and see. As we’ve discussed before, for animated explainer videos, right around the one minute mark seems to work best, but you should always aim for clarity regardless of length.
Not everyone is going to engage with your brand on Facebook. Some of them will do it on your website, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be privy to your Facebook video. The native Facebook video player makes it possible to like and share embedded Facebook videos right from your site.
10. Go Live
Facebook Live doesn’t just give you a more immediate and direct connection with your audience, it also gives your non-live content an engagement boost, too. Plus, since Facebook automatically records and publishes your Live streaming video after you’re done, you get the added benefit of that without having to do any extra work. If your brand doesn’t lend itself well to live video, you’ll just have to brainstorm, experiment, brainstorm some more, experiment and throw a few things at the wall to see what’s sticky. While spontaneity is great, you should put some planning into it and make sure you announce it so people know when you’re going live ahead of time.
11. Tag Intelligently
Steve Snodgrass/FlickrTag anyone who is related to your video in some way. If they worked on the video, if they’re mentioned in the video or even if they just inspired it. Let them know why you tagged them if it’s not obvious. People are more likely to share and like a video they’re tagged in. Don’t tag a bunch of people who weren’t involved in the video at all. That’s just tacky.
12. Specify a Featured and a Cover Video
You can specify a featured video for the top of your “Videos” tab, which you can find out how to do here, and some brands can now make a video their cover photo … which would make it a cover video, we guess. Since both of these types of video autoplay, they will help capture attention of visitors to your page.
13. Organize Playlists
An ideal video marketing strategy will see your brand uploading different types of videos on a regular basis. Maybe a how-to video on Mondays, an FAQ answer on Wednesdays and a short, live Q&A on Fridays, for example. In order to make your videos more organized and searchable, arrange them into playlists on your “Videos” tab. You can organize by subject, show type, week, month, however would make the most sense. An organized “Videos” tab looks better and helps visitors discover more of your content easily.
14. Promote Videos with Ads
You can boost video posts or create specific video ads that point people back to the videos you’re promoting. You’ll of course want to target these ads so they’re being seen by the right people. Facebook allows you to get extremely specific with your targeting.
15. Don’t Forget the Call-to-Action
Whether it’s in the form of copy in your description or a mid-roll CTA, which Wistia found to work best for converting, always include a strong CTA that tells viewers exactly what you’d like them to do next. Even if it’s sharing the video they’re watching, that’s an unambiguous action you’re asking them to take, so it counts. And, in fact, 48% of watch time for Facebook videos is the direct result of shares, so it’s a good CTA to include. Whatever your CTA is, don’t leave people guessing what the next step is. Let them know and encourage them to take that step. Follow along with these 15 steps to getting longer view times on your Facebook videos and you’ll increase your video view time on internet’s main social media platform. If you are looking for a killer Facebook ad ideas, just click here to download The Ultimate List of Facebook Video Ad Ideas and learn the same video ad secrets that businesses just like yours have used to generate 158+ MILLION views on autopilot with zero advertising costs.
As an intelligent business person, you already know you should be using video and have probably even looked into it by now or have already dipped your toes into the video pool with some initial forays.
But, if you’re still on the fence or you just don’t know how to spend your budget when it comes to video, this post is for you. Let’s look at how to do this whole video thing when it comes to online marketing.
360 Degree Video
nrkbeta/Flickr
In case you’ve not seen one yet, a 360 video lets the viewer be in control of where they are looking, so to speak. When viewed on a computer, the viewer can click and drag the mouse to move the viewpoint in any direction, thus allowing them to “look” up, down, left, right and all around, hence the name 360 (as in 360 degrees).
It gets even better when viewed on a phone because you simply move the phone around where you want to “look” in the video. They basically put the viewer right there in the spot where the video was taken and makes them feel like they’re just looking around.
Best uses for it
This type of video isn’t cheap to shoot and it really only works for certain things. Therefore, you need to be a bit discerning when considering its usage. 360 video is best suited for physical places that are truly awe-inspiring, like:
Really high end real estate where the cost would be worth shooting a 360 video.
Restaurants or retail stores that have a theme worth showing off to entice people in.
Places that sell “Experiences” like puzzle rooms or other similar novelty ideas where seeing the space would be beneficial for marketing.
Travel destinations that look amazing to let people know that seeing it in person is even better.
A business that has a really unique office space could use a 360 video for recruiting if that space was truly unique.
Animated Explainer Videos
Joe the Goat Farmer/Flickr
Yeah, you knew this would be on here. We can attest to the effectiveness of animated explainer videos because virtually all our clients have found them to be incredibly helpful for their marketing and promotion.
We’re not gonna sugar coat it (although we do love our sugar), animated videos can be costly, but if you treat them as an investment instead of a cost, you will see the ROI on them is incredible. The prices range from about $250 per minute to $900 per minute and that includes all kinds of animation from kinetic typography to a fully 3-D animated video.
Best uses for it
Any business that includes a process or product that is a little bit complicated and that has the budget for an animated video would benefit from having one. Sure, you could just have someone talking at the camera to explain something, but animation is much more dynamic and people will be a lot more willing to watch an animated video than a simple talking head video.
Another fantastic use for them is as training videos. Training videos can be mind-numbing at the best of times, but adding a little animation can perk up your lessons and make people want to learn.
Drone Video
Jeremy Keith/Flickr
They’re everywhere. Watching. Recording. Those little flyers known as drones are buzzing around, collecting video of all sorts of things and you can use them in your business if you have something that would look good from above.
Best uses for it
Real estate agents who have large properties to show off or even organizers who want to show the scale of the event could use drones to good effect. Since aerial shots are their forte, anything you think would benefit from having aerial footage would be good to shoot from a drone.
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Facebook threw its proverbial hat into the video ring a while ago and brands have already been putting it to good use. We bet you’ve already learned at least one recipe or life hack from a sped-up video while scrolling through your news feed.
The latest foray into video for Facebook is their Facebook Live Stream and like the name says, these videos are live and streamed as they happen, giving viewers the unedited view of them. Being that they’re live and unedited, you should use them with some caution. At least some semblance of a script and/or plan should be written up before you start rolling. Even if it’s a Q&A or an event that can’t be scripted, it’s a good idea to have some kind of scripted introduction to let people know what they’re watching.
And don’t forget to send out notifications ahead of time so people can tune in and share it later for those who couldn’t tune in live.
Best uses for it
Companies that have expertise to share and want to display their expertise can use Facebook Live to do that. This is where Q&As come in handy. For example, if the government implements some kind of new regulation or law and people aren’t sure how it will affect them, your company can host a live Q&A to answer questions if you are in that industry. An accounting firm could answer questions about a new tax coming into effect, for example.
The other obvious use for it is to teach. If your company hosts workshops or teaches classes, Facebook Live is a superb tool to share that teaching with people who can’t actually be there.
GoPro Video
Juanfran G/Flickr
At this point, there’s not a lot that you can do with GoPro that people haven’t already seen. GoPro cameras have been strapped onto people doing basically everything, they’ve been strapped onto animals and they’ve even been stolen by animals to create viral sensations. But, they’re still useful for the right business.
Best uses for it
GoPros work best when they’re strapped onto something that moves. If your company sells anything that people can wear while they move, you can show it off with one of these videos. Sports gear is probably the most obvious example, but as mentioned above, you’d have to really use your imagination to come up with something that hasn’t already been done.
YouTube Director for Business
Rego Korosi/Flickr
This iOS app was created by Google specifically for small business owners to help them make and upload their own inexpensive promotional videos. With more than 130 templates to use, the app walks you through the making of all kinds of different promotional videos using easy-to-follow instructions. It tells you what shots you’ll require and what each of those shots should contain.
On top of that, it has voice over capability, customized text animations and it provides you access to YouTube’s soundtrack library so you can have music in your video without violating any copyright laws. All of this works to give your promotional videos a professional look and feel.
Best uses for it
Small businesses that want to get into video marketing (ie any small business), but have tight budgets would benefit from using this app because all you need is an iPhone or an iPad to use it and the results will still look fairly good.
Since someone in the company probably has an iPhone (it’s not available for Android) and the app and a YouTube account are both free, it’s a nice tool for small startups that don’t have a lot of budget to expend toward creating a professional video.
When real estate agencies think video marketing, they often just think of putting home tour videos on YouTube or possibly giving viewers a market update on YouTube. Aside from having a short shelf-life, these videos aren’t really compelling to watch and therefore many real estate agencies are left spinning their tires by making these kinds of videos.
Let’s take a look at some other types of videos, video tools and video tactics suggested by people in the industry that work well for building your leads list.
“Why not turn that into productive time?”
Owen Hemsath
Owen Hemsath
Video Marketing Consultant at VideoSpot
Owen suggests using Facebook Live or some other live video streaming service while showing a home for dual purposes:
Showing the home
Creating useful content
If you’re “stuck” in a home all day waiting for people to stop by, you can use any down time to do a Facebook Live showing of the home, taking people on a virtual tour of it. You can save this video for later to send to prospective buyers.
Also during your down time at the home, Owen suggests recording content for future videos using the strengths of that particular home. For example, if you are in a home with great antique doorknobs or great flooring, you can record some content for a future video on the best types of door knobs for your character home or the best type of flooring.
The recording shouldn’t take too long and if you have edited videos before, the editing likely won’t take you long either. You’ll be left with a nice tips video that you can use to attract clients.
“The drone has been a valuable piece of my kit for shooting real estate videos.”
Not everyone will be comfortable flying and recording with a drone, but if you are tech savvy and you sell big houses on big properties, these machines can come in handy (providing you put in the time and effort to use them effectively).
Grant suggests a variety of shots, but most of them involve flying along the property toward the house and revealing it in the shot while also giving an indication of the size of the property and where the home sits in relation to the property.
Even if the property isn’t big, a good aerial shot of a home can do wonders for showing it off. Grant is a professional videographer and obviously it would be nearly impossible to get the same quality of shots as him, but with some practice, you can add a drone to your real estate video kit.
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“The light bulb went on that this is a great great tool for real estate agents, not necessarily for giving virtual tours, but for allowing them to market their property to their buyer’s agents.”
Garrett is talking here about Facebook Live (it’s kind of a big deal in Real Estate in case you hadn’t noticed). His point is that Facebook Live allows a realtor to get a head start on the marketing of a property.
Even before you get the property on the listings or you hire your photographer or videographer, you can give people a sneak peak into the house and alert your buyer’s agents that it’s on the market.
While he was getting ready to shoot a video of a new listing for a client, Garrett says, he decided to shoot a Facebook Live video just to test it out since he had never used it before. Within a few minutes, another agent he knew was sending him questions about the house and checking her list of potential buyers to see if anyone would be interested in it. He had essentially gotten a head start on the marketing of this particular house with a simple Facebook Live video. You can tag people in the video to make sure they see it, so if you have any buyer’s agents in your Facebook friends list, this is a real time marketing trick that you can use even before you start the actual marketing of the property.
Switching gears a bit, another way you can use video for real estate marketing is with the Snapchat app, which is essentially like instant messaging except that it uses photos and short videos that disappear after 10 seconds instead of text.
It’s usefulness as a marketing tool stems from the fact that it’s a huge social network and engagement from followers is high.
Unfortunately, because there is no reliable way to search for followers on Snapchat, you have to find potential followers on other social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. That also means that if you don’t have a solid foundation set up on your website and your blog, plus a strong following on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, then Snapchat will largely be useless to you.
However, if you do have all set up and you already have strong followings, then Snapchat can be a nice addition to it.
Realtor Matt Leighton suggests using Snapchat to tell a story about the house you’re featuring. Resist the urge to just send a single photo or video of the home with no context about it.
Rather, send a series of photos or videos (he suggests not mixing the two) about the home to tell a story. For example, if the home inspector is at a house, you can create a story around the house being inspected. Anything that needs replacement, you can add a price tag to it to let your followers know how much it would cost to get replaced.
Leighton also recommends taking advantage of Snapchat’s geofilter feature.
"The video looks great, thank you!"
