In the ongoing battle of the social networking giants, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are gaining steam. But Facebook still remains the undisputed number one.
With almost 3 billion active users per month, Facebook is the most used social media platform around the world. Given its huge reach, no wonder marketers are increasingly using Facebook videos to tell their stories and connect with customers.
In this post, we’ll cover the different types of videos you can use on Facebook and some of the best practices for creating video content this 2023.
Facebook Live vs. Reels vs. Stories: What’s the difference?
Facebook offers various video content formats that marketers can use to engage with their target audiences. These include:
Facebook Live
Broadcast virtual events, Q&A sessions, or performances directly to your page, group, or profile in real time. Viewers can comment on and share the broadcast while it’s ongoing. The platform publishes a recording of the video to the profile, group, or page for later viewing.
Facebook Live videos are best for real-time engagement.
Facebook Reels
Short-term video content exploded with the release of TikTok in 2016. Then, Instagram featured Reels in 2020. More recently, Facebook Reels became globally available in 2022.
Facebook Reels are short vertical videos that can be up to 90 seconds long. They’re set to public by default and are available on or off Facebook. You can, however, change the settings as necessary.
Facebook Reels best suit video content you want a wider audience to discover.
Facebook Stories
Launched in 2017, Facebook Stories are collections of photos and videos designed to disappear after 24 hours. Much like Snapchat and Instagram Stories, they feature fun filters, text, and stickers. You can use Facebook Stories for a myriad of purposes. For example, sharing behind-the-scenes moments related to your business and short how-tos.
Facebook saves your Stories in a story archive that you can revisit later.
Since Meta owns both Facebook and Instagram, video marketers can use Facebook’s creator tools to cross-post Facebook videos to Instagram. Although this function is not yet universally available, it’s an exciting feature. One that will save you tons of time, as you no longer have to create a separate post for each platform.
Facebook video best practices: What experts are saying
To get the most value out of Facebook videos, Facebook provides creators with a video practices checklist. An optimized Facebook video is:
- An actual video.
- Within the recommended technical specifications.
- The appropriate length.
- Optimized for mobile.
- Not engagement bait. It’s authentic and doesn’t impersonate or mislead.
- Respectful of intellectual property.
- Playable/palatable with the sound on or off (features sound and captions).
- Discoverable with a fitting title, description, and thumbnail.
Aside from this basic checklist from Facebook, seasoned marketers also have video insights, tips, and strategies to share:
Shoot high-quality videos
High-quality videos will more likely stand out in users’ feeds.
They increase your chances of capturing viewers’ attention, them watching until the end, and even sharing your videos. Plus, high-quality videos convey professionalism, which is necessary for building trust and credibility.
This means investing in the best possible resources for your videos. However, that doesn’t mean buying an expensive camera. Nolan Molt of Think Media shares in this video how you can shoot high-quality videos with an iPhone.
Grab attention immediately
Brandi Zatorski from Lyfe Marketing emphasizes the importance of grabbing viewers’ attention right out of the gate. That’s because people’s attention spans are shrinking instead of growing. “Having a strong hook is important not just for your viewers but for the algorithm as well,” Brandi explains.
Facebook Reels’ algorithm works like this:
- When you post a video on Facebook, Facebook will initially show it to a handful of people to test the content’s performance.
- If those first few people engage with the video, Facebook will continuously show it to more people.
- Conversely, if engagement from the first few people is low, Facebook will not serve it to others.
Leverage Facebook Live tools
According to Facebook, videos that inspire person-to-person interactions tend to get more distribution.
To encourage a healthy dose of engagement, HubSpot recommends making use of Facebook Live features such as:
- Polls
- Featured Links
- Sharing Live videos directly to Facebook Stories
- Comment Moderation
- Badges
- Donations
- Front Row to highlight top fans
- Live Shopping
- Inviting multiple guests (or even audience members) to join your Live broadcast
For more Facebook Live tips, check out this dedicated tips page.
Use high-converting headlines and descriptions
Your headlines and descriptions play a crucial role in getting people to watch your Facebook videos. Spiel Creative recommends timeless tips for making them compelling and effective:
- Your headline should let the viewer know what the video is about.
- The headline and description should make a targeted, unique promise, explaining the benefits people can derive from watching the video.
- Use numbers. Generally, odd numbers perform better than even numbers.
- Test different headlines and descriptions. Optimize as necessary.
- Add a call-to-action telling viewers what to do next, such as sharing the video or signing up for an upcoming webinar.
Repost high-performing content from the past
“Good content is good content,” says online entrepreneur Vanessa Lau. She reposted a Reel from 1.5 years ago with the same sound and video but a different caption, and it performed better than her typical posts. Although the post was not necessarily a Facebook Reel, the same is true about Facebook Reels.
She recommends doing a content audit every six months to see if you can repurpose your previously performing content.
Making the most of your Facebook videos
As more and more videos make their way into Facebook, it’s becoming increasingly necessary for video content marketers to up their game. Not only should your video be high-quality, but it should also captivate audiences early. Even your Facebook video copy should be enticing, considering the big role it plays in getting people to click the Play button.
When done right, your Facebook videos can do a whole lot of good for your brand. Elevate brand awareness, boost engagement, and increase sales, among other things. So, make sure you’re making the most of them by following the pointers above.
Need help with your video content strategy? Speak to a ClearVoice specialist today.
