You’ve wisely chosen to enter the world of video marketing. You’ve made the right choice whether you’re employing video to create instructive material or product-focused marketing. After all, it is the year 2020, and any digital marketing strategy that does not include video is insufficient.
Now that you’re in the game, it’s time to get down to business: finding out how to get more Facebook video views. It’s difficult to get users to pay attention to your content, whether it’s purchased or organic. If you want potential prospects to avoid scrolling right past your videos, you’ll need to devise a strategy.
Image of individuals in front of camera from a Facebook video view
Let’s start with a refresher course on Facebook ad campaigns. Then I’ll go over my six recommendations for boosting your Facebook video views this year:
- Examine the competition.
- Provide users with a cause to return (i.e., provide value)
- Create content tailored to Facebook.
- Make audio a choice.
- Experiment with the look of a home video.
- Always be adaptable.
P.S. Don’t give up after the sixth tip; I’ve got some great examples for everyone!
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Views on Facebook Video Campaigns
This reminder is for you if you’re thinking about putting some money behind your Facebook videos, which I heartily encourage. Those of you who are solely interested in organic video can still benefit from the advice in the next part!
Advertisers can choose from 11 distinct sorts of campaigns, with video views being one of them. When you choose to run a video views campaign, you’re telling Facebook’s algorithms that getting people to watch your content is the most important thing to you. As a result, the platform will optimise the delivery of your adverts so that your videos are seen by users who are most likely to engage with them.
Setting up a Facebook video views campaign
I’m not going to go over audience and placement targeting in this piece because they’re significant considerations. For our purposes, I’d like to concentrate on budgeting (handled at the ad set level of the campaign creation process). When creating a budget, the first decision you must make is what you want to optimise for. You have two possibilities when it comes to a Facebook video views campaign:
ThruPlay (default setting): If your video is less than 15 seconds long, Facebook will show it to those who are likely to watch it all the way through. If it’s longer than 15 seconds, Facebook will show it to people who are likely to watch it for that long.
Continuous 2-Second Video Views: Facebook will show your video to users who are likely to watch it for at least two seconds.
Options for a Facebook video views campaign include: budgets and timetables
It’s critical that you consider this option carefully for two reasons. For starters, it will determine how Facebook will serve your video advertising (i.e., types of users, times of day, distribution across platforms, and so on). It will also impact your set of options when it comes to determining how much you want to pay. The following are your payment options if you optimise for ThruPlay:
Pay every time your video ad is sent to a user (default setting).
ThruPlay: You’ll be charged every time your video ad is seen all the way through (if it’s less than 15 seconds) or for more than 15 seconds.
The following are your payment choices if you choose 2-Second Continuous Video Views:
Pay every time your video ad is sent to a user (default setting).
2-Second Continuous Video View: You’ll be charged every time your video ad is played for at least two seconds in a row.
Whether or not you pay for each impression or optimization event is determined by your overall objectives. Remember that impressions are less expensive because they are (usually) less valuable.
This year, there are six techniques to obtain more Facebook video views.
Have you nailed down your campaign’s settings? Awesome. Let’s look at six strategies for increasing Facebook video views this year.
- Research your competitors.
March 2019: Facebook retires the enigmatic relevance score—basically a more perplexing version of Google’s Quality Score—in favour of three new alternatives, one of which is quality ranking. As the name implies, quality ranking evaluates the effectiveness of your ad in relation to those competing for the same audience.
I’ll say it again: in compared to others vying for the same audience.
If you get a high-quality rating, you’ll be rewarded in two ways: (1) your ad will be delivered more frequently and favourably than your competitors’ advertisements, and (2) you’ll receive lower pricing for impressions and optimization events. In terms of a video views campaign, a high-quality rating translates to more video views at a lesser cost.
You’re well aware of your rivals. Make some inquiries. Look into what they’re doing with video advertisements. Then improve on it. Just be careful not to plagiarise. (Duh.)
- Provide users with a cause to return (i.e., provide value)
May 2019: Facebook releases an upgrade to their video ranking algorithm that emphasises the importance of three critical characteristics, one of which is loyalty. In their own words:
“When it comes to surfacing videos to users in News Feed, intent and repeat viewership are critical elements we examine. Going forward, we’ll give films that people seek out and watch week after week more weight in our rankings.”
Users who watch your material on a regular basis, search for it on a regular basis, and go out of their way to like and share it on a regular basis are all factors that Facebook considers when determining how devoted your viewers are. The formula is straightforward: the more committed your viewers are, the higher your organic video content will rank; the higher your organic video content ranks, the more video views you’ll get.
Popular videos on Facebook, for example, have a lot of views.
The hub for video content on Facebook is Facebook Watch.
The effectiveness of your video marketing depends on gaining user loyalty. Fortunately, earning loyalty can be summarised in just two words: deliver value. The likelihood of Facebook users returning to your videos grows dramatically if they gain something nice from them. As a result, you should ask yourself, “How can I provide my audience something valuable?” If you’re promoting an auto shop, you may add value by providing simple maintenance advice. You might provide value in the form of alumni testimonials if you’re selling a college or university. You may also add value in the form of easy recipe videos if you’re marketing a bakery.
Consider the overall value your company gives. Then make a video out of it.
- Create material that is tailored to Facebook.
Facebook stressed the value of creativity in the same blog post about video ranking algorithm elements. The social media network is more committed than ever to “controlling the circulation” of unoriginal or recycled content. You won’t get the results you want if your video marketing plan consists solely of (1) producing YouTube films and (2) recycling them as Facebook videos.
To put it another way, if you really want to get a lot of Facebook video views, you need to generate new material that’s tailored to the platform. A Facebook video marketing approach is required. It’s a more time-consuming technique, but it’s one that’s well worth the effort.
It’s not just about appeasing the video ranking algorithm when it comes to creating new content for Facebook; it’s also about delivering the finest films possible based on audience demand. I understand that it may appear that everyone with a smartphone is active on every platform imaginable, but this is just not the truth. Some people who watch your YouTube videos are completely uninterested in your Facebook activity, and vice versa.
To put it another way, the Facebook audience you’re targeting is distinct. As a result, the video material you create for them should be unique as well. Otherwise, you’ll be missing out on a slew of opportunities to boost engagement and video views.
What’s my recommendation? This is a short survey. Request that your Facebook fans describe the types of video content they enjoy seeing on the platform. Then give it your all to make it happen!
- Make audio a choice.
On Facebook, 85 percent of videos are watched without sound. Part of the reason for this is because Facebook mutes videos by default. More important, users are frequently browsing through their News Feeds in places where music would be distracting, such as the rear of a lecture hall, an eye doctor’s waiting area, and so on.
It’s critical that your content is accessible without sound in order to reach the largest possible audience—and to constantly maximise your Facebook video views. Viewers should be able to understand the message you’re trying to convey, whether you’re giving basic car maintenance advice or displaying a product. If someone in a waiting area sees the first few seconds of your video and discovers it’s unintelligible without sound, they’ll simply scroll down.
Subtitled video on Facebook
Subtitles are almost always required.
If you want to push yourself, try telling stories that are easily understood using only visual imagery. Subtitles are your new best buddy if you want to go the safer (and presumably smarter) approach.
P.S. If you’re a WordStream Advisor user looking for more clips for your video ad, try our Shutterstock integration to browse thousands of high-quality video clips.
- Play around with the look of a home video.
Producing videos without sound that are incomprehensible isn’t the only way to turn off potential viewers. Many Facebook users are wary of information that appears overly… commercial, as some of you may have discovered the hard way. Although it’s undeniable that an increasing number of individuals prefer to shop on social media, it’s important to remember that Facebook is mostly used to connect with friends and consume content.
What I’m getting at is that banner blindness isn’t just a problem with traditional display ads. Just because Facebook users are browsing through their News Feeds rather than reading a blog post doesn’t mean they can’t spot promotional content and ignore it.
A Facebook video with a home-movie look
Most users would immediately recognise this as an advertisement.
In some circumstances, I believe that experimenting with a home video aesthetic—that is, creating videos with little to no budget—is the most efficient method to increase your Facebook video views. Why? Because ordinary people—those who aren’t using Facebook for marketing—constantly post videos that require little to no funding. When you’re going through your News Feed, a video that appears to have been recorded with a mobile smartphone doesn’t stand out. And, contrary to popular belief, making videos that do not stand out is often the most effective method.
Try to make stuff that feels like it belongs on Facebook; be (slightly) informal. If you can achieve that, your chances of being accused of being too promotional will be greatly reduced.
- Be adaptable at all times.
What is effective today may not be effective tomorrow. More particular, what attracts Facebook video views today may not attract Facebook video views tomorrow. As a result, your ability to adapt is critical to your long-term success. Whatever the case may be, you must be willing to assess the performance of your content and pivot in a new direction.
Enter Creator Studio, Facebook’s free, simple-to-use tool for uploading and evaluating all of your video content in one location. Creator Studio is yours to play with as long as you have administrative access to a Facebook page.
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graph of facebook video views
While you’re investigating, you’ll notice an option named Insights on the left-hand menu. You can get to Performance by clicking that tab, which will open a drop-down menu. You’ll find all kinds of useful information on the Performance page, such as total minutes viewed, one-minute video views, three-second video views, engagements, net followers, and so on. You’ll find a collection of your individual postings named Top Videos if you scroll down the page a little. As you may expect, the list classifies your content library from top to worst performers. When you click on a specific post, you’ll be taken to an advanced analytics box where you can assess anything from average view time to audience retention.
Stats on how many people have watched your videos on Facebook.
All of this is to say this: Take advantage of Creator Studio. Examine your most successful and least successful posts to see what works and what doesn’t. Your adaptability will be rewarded with increased performance over time, which means more video views, among other things.
Here are three examples to assist you get more video views.
Let’s take a look at three real-world examples of (what I perceive to be) effective Facebook videos before we part ways.
- Screenshot from HellthyJunkFood’s Facebook video
Here’s a link to the complete video.
This example from HellthyJunkFood—a unique web-based cooking show hosted by J.P. Lambiase and Julia Goolia (a real name, believe it or not)—satisfies two important criteria: It’s simple to enjoy without sound, and it offers apparent value to its audience. You don’t need to hear what they’re saying to comprehend what’s going on, thanks to the duo’s sparing use of subtitles. Furthermore, anyone who views the movie will have a lot better understanding of how to prepare homemade doughnuts. What a bargain!
- Screenshot from Sebastian Robeck’s Facebook video
Here’s a link to the complete video.
Sebastian Robeck, a digital marketer who helps agencies build their customer bases, has created this ad. He’s checked four of my boxes with this easy promo for his free training: It’s simple to understand without audio, it’s designed expressly for Facebook, it offers clear value to its audience, and it’s styled like a home film. Subtitles eliminate the necessity for audio once more. Robeck is able to communicate to a very specific target because it was created specifically for Facebook. Free knowledge provides value, and the video’s casual look helps it to fit smoothly into consumers’ News Feeds.
- An example of a Facebook video from the University of Massachusetts Amherst
Here’s a link to the complete video.
Finally, I’ll offer my alma mater, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, as an example. The university’s annual end-of-summer sale, New2U, allows returning students to stock up on secondhand dorm room staples at amazingly low prices. It checks many boxes, just like our two previous examples: It’s simple to grasp without audio, it’s tailored to Facebook, and it offers clear value to its audience. The value of subtitles is readily evident at this moment. The marketers at UMass, like Sebastian Robeck, recognise the value of content that is tailored to a specific audience. Value comes in the shape of cheap dorm room supplies, of course. If this was your first visit to the university’s Facebook page, you’d be compelled to return for additional information: This is where you’ll find out about upcoming events that you won’t want to miss!