You have probably heard that the Facebook success is going to end soon while the importance of the other social media and mobile apps is constantly growing. Even if the prediction is likely to happen at some undefined point in the future it is still a huge multifunctional social networking service that appeals to people at any age. The popularity of video is rising extremely fast so the video marketing on Facebook is an absolute must do.

From this article you will get to know:

• advantages of using Facebook for business purpose

• challenges you need to face

• what type of content is the most appreciated

• how to improve your Facebook video marketing strategy

• interesting facts and surprising statistics

Increasing brand awareness, creating a community, leads generation are the main obvious benefits of having a company’s fanpage but there is also a huge Facebook potential in B2B marketing? Well, it is estimated that people responsible for taking business decisions spend more time on Facebook than the others. And it is not a small difference. The 74% higher median of daily time spent on the platform speaks volumes. And the 60% of their Facebook activity happens with a use of mobile devices.

Business decision makers are also more engaged in the published content, networking and online communication with the employees. Obviously, they usually use the wide variety of social media channels and web platforms that have an impact on the decision making process so limiting yourself only to Facebook will be a bit risky. But it cannot be totally ignored.

Facebook in real numbers

Are you ready for more statistics?

1. The amount of monthly users on Facebook is reported to be bigger than 2 billion.
2. 88% people in the age of 18-29 have their own Facebook account, people who are above 65 years old are the least numerous group.
3. 79% of online active adults use Facebook and only 32% of them use Instagram.

4. Accoriding to the Audience Project that has examined the frequency of social media usage 53% of people in the United States claimedad to use Facebook several times a day that. That was the highest score that outclassed WhatsApp, YouTube, Snapchat and a few more platforms.

5. LinkedIn appears as the leading social media channel for a business purpose. Facebook is on the second place.

What are the most challenging issues in Facebook marketing?

• organic reach

• mobile optimization

Optimization seems to be a standard nowadays when the mobile content consumption is increasing rapidly. Mobile devices displace traditional desktops, even in case of business decision makers. Without a doubt, provided content should be valuable as well as adjusted to any Internet users needs.

The frequent changes of Facebook newsfeed algorithm are unavoidable obstacles for increasing the organic reach so the thoughtful strategy is necessary. Act effectively and take notice about the type of content that you can share. Traditional text posts, photos, videos and links to the external websites are allowed but their effectiveness is diversified.

Video causes 135% higher reach than photos that is the most meaningful reason why video marketing is a key factor of Facebook success and you need to take care of it.

Video marketing on Facebook – how to do it right

1. Native videos

Although you can share the video from YouTube, uploading it directly on your business page is far better because the native Facebook videos have 186% more engagement.

2. Autoplay

Automatically played video may be considered as annoying but in fact, many people tend to look it for a while. Or even stay a bit longer.

3. Thumbnail

An adequate thumbnail is the first thing that influences the viewer before he starts (or not!) watching your video. Furthermore, the thumbnail gives you an opportunity to create brand awareness so take care of choosing the featured image that is consistent with the overall marketing strategy.

4. Catch the attention

Don’t waste the chance to make people interested. The first few seconds are a key to grab the attention. Otherwise they tend to skip it. You have done it many times, haven’t you? So act extraordinarily and show a great sense or creativity or humor from the very beginning of your video.

5. Video lenght

There is no strict rule in that point but the longer videos are generally more appreciated in case of those which are based on a high-quality content with a particular value such as profesional tutorials or gripping storytelling. If you aimed at getting the audience really engaged try to keep it short and intensive – preferably theup to 2 minutes. That duration is said to be optimal and safe.

6. Keep it square

As you probably remember, 1:1 format dominates the daily newsfeed. Square-shaped videos are not complicated or expensive to make. You can use the blank space on the top and the bottom and put there brand name, logo, subtitles or any captions.

7. What type of content you can post

Generally, there is no clear answer what type of content you should provide. It depends on your business profile and communication strategy but keep in mind, what are the most engaging topics. Food, fashion and beauty, animals, DIY and funny videos are the most attractive areas with the highest level of interaction.

8. Live streams

Live streaming is one of the most effective ways of encouraging the audience to show the engagement and for you to interact with them. Events connected with your business profile, educational materials are just a few options that you can broadcast in the real time so don’t waste time to pretend being shy. Just be authentic and don’t hesitate to experiment with the live streaming.

9. The types of video you can use

Facebook service recommend using MPR or MOV but other formats are also allowed. Here is the full list:

3g2, 3gp, 3ggp, asf, avi, dat, divx, dv, f4v, flv, gif, m2ts, m4v, mkv, mod, mov, mp4,mpe, mpeg, mpeg4, mpg, mts, nsv, ogm, ogv, qt, tod, ts, vob, wmv

10. Description

About 85% of Facebook videos is watched with the sound off. In that case both description and captions are worth considering. Be smart and don’t prepare a long video summary. According to the Buzzsumo research, the median of text description is 61 characters, so it’s good keep it short and persuasive.

11. Call to action

Adding a call-to-action button is an easy way to drive traffic to your website. It is also useful from the visitors’ points of view to move directly to the particular content location.

You can choose the most appropriate button from the seven options provided by Facebook:

• Watch Video

• Shop Now

• Contact Us

• Sign Up

• Book Now

• Use Now

• Play Now

12. Targeting

Facebook Advertising is a complex topic that definitely deserves more than one paragraph. In this article we will focus on the matter that is very crucial for its effectiveness. Targeting is not only about reaching a lot of people. It is, essentially, about reaching people who are important to you from the business perspective and can bring the measurable benefits. Audience Insights gives you a possibility to define the audience profile and get to know them better from the info such as:

• demographic stats

• intrests

• preferences and buying behaviour

Specific targeting help you reach customers and prospects on the basis of previously gathered data.

With Advanced targeting options you can find Lookalike Audiences – people that have common features (location, interests etc.) with your existing clients.

13. Plan and analyse

Just to make sure, spontaneity would bring the excellent results at times. Especially if you are a part of a creative team with the overload of brilliant ideas. But there is no guarantee that the viewers find them at least good. That is unsafe and works short-term only.

Plan the content and use Facebook Anlytics and Insights to monitor the video statistics. Draw conclusions that help you improve your strategy and make decisions based on facts and numbers not on the predictions.

Effective video marketing is definitely not a piece of cake and in the beginning it can be really time-consuming. We hope that these 13 tips help you master your Facebook strategy. Let us know, which of them you find the most useful.