Just because videos now auto-play in a user’s news feed does not mean that they watch them with the sound turned on. It is easy for a Facebook user to disable the sound with auto-play videos and a lot do this. This is especially true with mobile devices. So you will never know if a user has watched your video with sound or not.
So you need to help the user understand your video if they don’t have the sound on. If you don’t do this then you will lose them very fast. The most effective way to do this is to use captions with your videos.
When you natively upload your video to Facebook you will be provided with the option to upload an SRT file which contains your captions. You can also take advantage of the auto-captioning feature which is now working in Facebook.
Alternatively, you can add captions to your videos when you create them. This is easy to do using InVideo or Animoto for example. The advantage of using these video editing programs is that you can change font size and color to really make your captions stand out and engage your audience.
Create Videos with a Single Point
Another mistake that marketers make with Facebook videos is that they try to cram too much into them. The best videos on Facebook that get shared the most have a single point that is easy to understand.
Think about this for a minute – when someone shares a video with their friends they will normally add a sentence to explain what the video is about. If you cannot easily explain your video in a single sentence then it is too complicated. Facebook users are rarely looking for complicated videos. They can go to YouTube for that.
When you are creating your videos think about why a user would want to share it. The main reasons why people share Facebook videos are:
• They want to be sociable
• They want to express their feelings on a particular subject
• They want to brag or show off
• They want the credit for being the first to discover the video
• They want to make their friends laugh
If your videos will help your audience to achieve these things then you can expect a lot of shares.
Give your Video a Searchable Title
Did you know that there are over 2 billion searches a day in Facebook? Well there are, so it is a good idea that you give your video a descriptive title that is searchable. The title should contain your main keyword and then you can add video tags which will help people find it through search.
Use Good Copy with your Videos
When you are writing the copy for your videos it is a good idea to briefly describe what your video is about. It’s important that you provide this information so that users can determine if they want to spend the time watching your video. Facebook applauds this and goes a step further by recommending that add a key quote from the video in your copy.
So take your time when crafting your video copy. It is really important as it can literally mean the difference between a user watching your video or not watching it. Together with an attractive thumbnail your copy will attract attention.