How to Go Viral With Facebook Video
Facebook videos – that is, videos that are posted directly onto a Facebook page as opposed to videos that are shared from YouTube or elsewhere – are relatively new. And yet, they have almost completely changed how marketing works on the leading social media platform. With more than 8 billion videos being viewed on Facebook every day, it’s no wonder that social media marketers have doubled down on the format over the last year.
By now, it’s safe to say that any good Facebook marketing campaign should absolutely include video marketing, but it can be tough to get your own videos to stand out from the crowd, especially if you’re still new to video marketing. After all, videos aren’t like a single photo or marketable logo that can be scanned in a second; they can demand anywhere from 10 seconds to five minutes of someone’s time. That doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but it can feel like an eternity for someone who is just idly scrolling through their Facebook feed to kill a few minutes. If you really want your first Facebook videos to become popular and make an impact on your potential consumers, consider these helpful tips.
Know What You Want Your Videos to Say
As with any marketing campaign, you need to have a plan in mind when you start to post videos to Facebook. You need to know what you want to accomplish, whether that’s driving more traffic to your website or just to get people interested in your brand. It’s possible that you just want to make the kind of clever commercial that you would see on TV, only one that is aimed at the social media crowd instead of a television audience. To do this, take a look at your existing marketing campaign and see what kind of video would fit in with it. The images, script, and everything else should complement your brand’s image even while you film an entertaining video that will be worth sharing.
Focus on Quality
Speaking of which, you should definitely focus on creating the best video that you can. If you’ve ever filmed a video for YouTube or any other format or website, you should know how to do this; there aren’t many special rules for Facebook videos. Make sure you use a camera that can take high-quality video and not just the kind of camera that is on every smartphone, and focus on a meaningful message instead of on your product or brand. At the same time, you need to keep things clear and concise; you won’t be doing you or your audience any favors if your video is too unclear. Finally, give your audience something that they’ll find useful. If you don’t want to create simple entertainment, make a how-to guide or answer some frequently asked questions about your brand.
Overall, content is king when creating a Facebook video. There are a lot of things that can mean the difference between a viral video that everyone will be sharing within a few days and one that gets forgotten, but quality is definitely the biggest.
Come Up with a Catchy Title
A catchy title can grab people’s attention and ensure that they will want to watch, which is particularly important if people are going to see it as they scroll through their Facebook feeds. If you’ve made an instructional video, come up with a title that will give viewers an idea of what they will be taught. If you’re making a video that’s meant to be entertaining, hint at what it’s about without giving it away.
It’s also a good idea to use certain keywords and phrases in your title if you want your video to show up on Google searches. Most of your viewers will probably come across your video on their Facebook feeds, but Facebook pages do show up on Google, so keep SEO in mind when you’re thinking of a title.
Add a Description
Even though a video’s title may be catchy and clever, it’s usually not as effective as a good description. Facebook allows you to include descriptions when you post a video, so take full advantage of it. You can include a quote from someone in the video, a description of the content, or just a good reason why someone would take the time to watch it. In any case, do not neglect this feature if you want people to remember your videos.
Grab People’s Attention Early
Just as people often don’t spend a lot of time on websites before clicking onto something else, they don’t spend a whole lot of time dwelling on what they see on their Facebook walls. This is why any Facebook video should grab a viewer’s attention within the first 10 seconds. That will most likely be all the average user will watch before they decide to watch the rest of the video or keep scrolling down their feed.
Keep It Short
Unless someone sits down with the intention of watching a video on YouTube, they probably won’t appreciate a lengthy video. This goes double for someone who might just stumble across a video while they’re killing time on Facebook. If you want your videos to be popular, try to keep them under five minutes long. Anything longer than five minutes tends to lose people’s interest.
If you don’t believe that shorter is better when it comes to videos, consider the average television commercial. Most of those are only 30 seconds long, and the best of them are memorable and can tell a good story. Anything longer than that feels too long.
Make Your Videos Shareable
Finally, make sure that people can share your video. This is perhaps the biggest factor of whether or not a video will go viral. The more your video is shared, the more people will see it. It will go across multiple Facebook profiles and even to other social media networks and blogs. Everyone who sees this video becomes aware of not just its content, but your brand and what you have to offer. Allow your videos to be shared, and don’t forget to include a call to action to encourage everyone to do exactly that.
Heather Hart
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