On Facebook  99% of people will ignore your Facebook ad, but target the 1% that don’t!

– Jon Loomer

Videos on Facebook are on the rise with nearly every second Facebook profile (48%) uploading a video to their timeline. -Quintly

Long gone are the days when the textual content was able to drive audience attention. Users have now become more demanding and there has been an increase in competition for News Feed Real Estate.

Even images are unable to perform as per the expectations of marketers as they are no longer able to capture audience attention like they once used it when Facebook was at its nascent stage.

Today, video ads are among the most powerful Facebook post formats and when executed correctly, can lead to a significant increase in conversions.

To stand out amongst the 8 billion daily Facebook videos views, the below 5 video tips will help you achieve maximum engagement:-

1. Upload Native Facebook Videos Instead of Links

As you know, there are two options – to either upload the video natively from your computer or to share a link to your video from YouTube or any other video platform. The primary question in your mind after reading this would be Why? Why should I not link a YouTube video on my Facebook post when it’s so much simpler to do?

 Putting it in simple words:-

• You can now play Facebook videos directly from the mobile news feed which is increasingly becoming a preferred way of social update consumption.
• With Facebook’s video AutoPlay feature the stage has been set for the introduction of more flashy video ads which can be clicked upon by expanding the player.
• Also, Facebook’s content-  recommendation algorithm gives preference to its own video player when determining what content to show in people’s news feeds. -AdAge

According to a study conducted by Quintly,  Facebook native videos had on average a 477% higher share rate compared to YouTube videos.

  2. 1 Minute Rule

We all can agree to first take a peek at the length of the video when it first pops up in our news feed, pondering whether it’s worth our time.

With the drastically reduced attention span of people, as a rule of thumb, all video on Facebook should be less than 1 minute in length in order to maximize user engagement. Facebook users like watching snappy videos that they can quickly like or share before scrolling down to the next piece of content.

Like-Share-Repeat is the Facebook mantra.

According to the data collected by Kinetic Social, almost half (or 44%) of 30- to 60-second video ads on Facebook were viewed to completion.

Viewers are more willing to watch hour-long videos on YouTube than on Facebook.

That being said, the ideal length would depend on the type of video, advertiser’s objective and industry.

3. Thumbnail

A video thumbnail is the equivalent of a book cover. It’s the first interaction viewers will experience before viewing a video. Also, it’s an asset which can be used to compel viewers to click through to your content. The video thumbnail is one of the most overlooked aspects of the video and is usually set as ‘default’. If users are not interested in your thumbnail, no matter how good the content of your video may be, you would fail in your task to capture the attention of your audience.

The above image is a screenshot of an excellent thumbnail design and placement by Zomato. Even before the video loads, a user is as inquisitive as your next-door neighbours, compelling them to at least take a quick peek at what the video has to offer them.

4. Capture Audience Attention in the First Few Seconds

A survey by the National Center for Biotechnological Information shows that the average human attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2013, which is allegedly lesser than that of a goldfish. No user in his right mind would sit through a long and arduous 10-minute long video advertisement just for the heck of it (an exception being a post-lunch Monday afternoon at the office).

In order to stand out amongst the millions of videos posted on Facebook each day, a marketer must pique the viewer’s interest within 2-3 seconds.

This is a typical image which shows a drop in audience viewership level after the prime 2-3 seconds.

A study by newswhip.com analyzed five publishers’ top ten shared videos for the average length of a successful video and found that average video lengths varied from 24 seconds to 90 seconds.

An interesting article by Animoto illustrates five ways to hook viewers in the first five seconds.

Don’t waste valuable time with your logo at the beginning of your video. Since you’ve only got only a few seconds to get your viewer invested in your video, skip the brand name and get straight to your content. Since your videos on Facebook will play in a post that includes your name and logo, people will still see your brand even if it’s not at the beginning of your video. -Animoto

5. Engaging Even When on Mute

But you may be thinking… How? How can I ensure my video is engaging without any audio effects, music or voice commentary? Well, the simplest way to workaround a silent Auto-Play is to include subtitles or captions. In that way, your viewers can follow your content without having to actually listen to it. Alternatively, a challenging but fruitful task for marketers is to curate the video in such a way that it is able to portray a story to its viewers even without having to actually listen to it.

Conclusion-

Facebook recently announced that people are posting 75% more videos on Facebook than they did a year ago.

Brands are now uploading more videos to Facebook than to YouTube- Socialbakers

Videos are now elemental in order to capture audience attention and drive engagement. Following these quick and useful tips will enable you to rise at the top of your video marketing game.

To sum up, the shorter the duration of the video, the better and make sure the first few seconds are relevant even without audio as the video will Auto-Play without sound by default!

To learn more about how to create maximum conversions, check out ‘8 Types of Facebook Content To Drive Engagement’.

Image Source: Google, Kinetic Social, SEJ, SocialMediaExaminer, BufferSocial