Marketers might hate Facebook for killing the organic reach of their Page posts, but there’s one area where there’s still hope.
Facebook treats video as the favored child when it comes to media you post on its platform. If you share a video directly through Facebook (and not just post a link to YouTube,) you’re more likely to show up high in the News Feed’s of your Page followers. When you show up higher, you’re more likely to get likes and comments, and conversely, this keeps your video at the top of the News Feeds.
Now, Facebook is releasing some hard numbers to show just how big it thinks video is going to get. In a blog post yesterday, Facebook laid down some impressive stats:
Globally, the amount of video from people and brands in News Feed has increased 3.6x year-over-year.
Since June 2014, Facebook has averaged more than 1 billion video views every day. On average, more than 50% of people who come back to Facebook every day in the US watch at least one video daily and 76% of people in the US who use Facebook say they tend to discover the videos they watch on Facebook.
Based on all that increase in activity, Facebook is urging video creators to make content that isn’t overly produced and fits right next to videos or pictures of friends and relatives. It’s also important to note that videos on Facebook play automatically, so while that may contribute an inflated number for views, it also means people are more likely to see the first few seconds of your video, so it’s important to make it as engaging as possible.
And here’s another pro tip. If you’re posting a branded video to your Facebook Page, you can now add a call-to-action button at the end of your video for free. Here’s how to do it. Button options include “Shop Now, “Learn More,” “Sign Up” and “Download.” It’s a list of some attractive options, especially for marketers looking to add bells and whistles to their videos on a budget. More importantly, it’s an option that YouTube has surprisingly yet to offer.
