Creating great videos and marketing them on Facebook should be integral to your overall content marketing strategy.
Video marketing on Facebook is a great way to get your message front and center with your target audience. However, video marketing can be challenging if you’re doing it for the first time.
This article will help you get started with tips for the types of videos you can create and then run them through the digital marketing campaigns to increase your conversions.
The first thing you need to establish is the objective of your Facebook video marketing strategy. Are you looking to create brand awareness, or are you looking to generate and convert leads?
Based on that, you can then craft suitable video content. Let’s start by looking at some commonly used videos you can create and use on Facebook to see positive results.
You may want to supplement your Facebook video marketing campaigns and your regular email marketing campaigns. Of course, to run an effective email campaign, you need to build your base of email addresses using email finder software.
What Types of Videos Can I Make for Facebook?
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User-generated content
If you want to convert leads, one of the best videos to use is those with user-generated content. Your leads are more likely to be influenced by reviews of your existing customers over the company’s marketing content.
Videos with user-generated content come off as more authentic than brand marketing content. If you have positive customer feedback, a simple request will help generate these videos.
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Product showcase
A video is a great medium to showcase the products you’re selling. The messaging here must be simple enough to break down the customer's purchase barriers.
A word of caution here. Don’t hard sell your products. Chances are, the potential customer will view that as hustling.
The number one reason people don’t buy a product online is that they can’t see it and hold it. Hence they can’t judge if it’s quality or not. A product showcase can address all of those concerns if done right.
There are other videos you can use, like behind-the-scenes videos and tutorials. You can even create video testimonials. The sky’s the limit for the videos you can use for your Facebook marketing.
6 Steps to Improve Your Facebook Video Marketing
- Optimize for mobile
- Prioritize the first 6 seconds
- Use a compelling CTA
- Ensure proper video length and remember captions
- Create video for each purchase funnel stage
- Build custom audiences for remarketing
1. Optimize for mobile
We live in a multi-device world, and each device represents a unique touchpoint between your customers and your brand. You’re likely already engaged with at least two to three different devices today.
Here are two critical stats for you as you develop your Facebook video marketing content:
- 65% of video views on Facebook come from mobile devices.
- Smartphone users hold their phones in vertical (portrait) orientation 94% of the time.
That means 61% of all videos watched on Facebook will likely be viewed in portrait mode, and mobile usage is only increasing. It’s a matter of open debate if the image above on the right is or isn’t a better visual than the one on the left.
We suggest creating the same video in both portrait and landscape and then leveraging the customization of your ads by placement to use the appropriate orientations. Take full advantage of the space in each orientation to give your customers a full-screen experience on their preferred devices.
2. Prioritize the first 6 seconds
As digital marketers, we’re all fighting the goldfish syndrome, the fact that the average attention span of a viewer is under eight seconds, which is less than that of even a goldfish.
Then there is a platform-centric issue on Facebook where the viewer constantly scrolls through their feed. So the first challenge is to stop them mid-scroll and then get them to view your video.
The first 4 to 6 seconds are crucial to captivating and retaining the viewers. Your opening needs to be your video’s hook.
It needs to be attention-grabbing and exciting.
You can accomplish this in several different ways. We are listing some ideas below:
- Ask an important question
- Address a common problem
- Show something unexpected
- Use comedy
The opening doesn’t have to be groundbreaking, but it needs to be powerful enough to cut through the clutter and monotony of the Facebook News Feed. It needs to grab the viewer's attention and is the most crucial component of your video campaign.
3. Use a compelling CTA
All marketing content must have a call to action button or link. The CTA enables the viewer to take action after consuming your content, whether you want them to buy now or learn more about your product:
For best results with Facebook video marketing, include your call to action button or link in the text surrounding your video or visual elements, as shown in the ad above.
You can also include your CTA in the video wherever possible. Some options are to have the narrator say it out loud in the video, use text on the screen, or combine both.
Get creative, try different options, and evaluate what works best for your audience.
4. Ensure proper video length and remember captions
According to statistics in this article, more than 92% of videos are watched on mute. To compensate for this, you need to add captions that help viewers understand what your video is about.
Of course, you need to start the video with an appealing opening. But you need to ensure that the appealing opening has text on the screen, so the user knows what your video is about.
The opening and the captions must work together to pique the viewer's interest and capture their attention. Check out this great example from A&W Canada:
We have already spoken about the goldfish syndrome, which should tell you something about the ideal length of your videos.
That’s not to say your videos should only be a few seconds long. More than that, they need to be concise and to the point.
Facebook accepts videos with a run time from 1 second to 240 minutes. While that is a considerable range, you need to figure out the shortest possible time to convey your message to the viewer.
Videos between 15 to 60 seconds work well for simple products and services. The optimal length can stretch to 2 to 3 minutes for more complex products and services.
5. Create videos for each purchase funnel stage
A marketing purchase funnel represents identifying potential leads and converting them into customers. Although there are five stages in total, these are the three primary stages of this funnel:
- Awareness: A lead learns about your brand and its products and services.
- Consideration: The prospect compares your products and services against the competition.
- Conversion: When the lead decides to purchase.
Creating videos helps improve sales by pushing the lead through each funnel stage. During each stage, your leads need different types of messaging to walk them through their decision-making process.
At the top of the funnel, high-level videos best introduce your brand and its products and services to your potential customers.
As you move the potential customer further down the funnel, the video content needs to be more product and service-centric, and it needs to spell out how you are different and better than your competition.
At the bottom of the funnel, the messaging needs a solid call to action that convinces the lead to a purchase.
The content must include purchase drivers like a “special introductory discount.” At this stage, your marketing focus is to convert the lead to a first-time customer.
You can create separate videos for each stage that speak to your audiences and address the different needs of each stage.
While making your videos, remember that each person is at a different stage in this funnel and hence, needs content that addresses the issues of their stage before you can move them to the next stage and closer to purchase.
6. Build custom audiences for remarketing
Remarketing is a powerful Facebook video marketing strategy to reconnect with potential customers who have already expressed interest in your products.
Using the Facebook Custom Audiences targeting option, you can select your audience as those who have recently viewed your website, sales pages, and even product pages.
You can also exclude people who recently purchased from you if you think they are unlikely to convert again soon. You will ensure a higher ROAS on your Facebook video marketing spend by getting your targeting and retargeting strategies right.
To use Facebook Custom Audiences for your website visits, you must first install the Facebook Pixel.
Wrapping Up
Facebook video marketing isn’t as intimidating as you may think. However, you should keep some basic things in mind to ensure you get the sustainable growth from Facebook video marketing ads you want.
You want the biggest bang for the marketing buck at the end of the day. By following these six strategies, you can create and market your videos with confidence on Facebook.
Author Bio
Owen Baker is a content marketer for Voila Norbert, an online Email verification tool. He has spent most of the last decade working online for various marketing companies. When he’s not busy writing, you can find him in the kitchen mastering new dishes.
