More and more people are uploading, viewing, discovering, and sharing videos on Facebook than ever before. The social media giant last reported in November of 2015 over 8 billion video views a day, and though they haven’t reported a new figure since, it’s more than likely that number has increased substantially.
Product video, particularly on mobile, is becoming more and more important. People are watching a lot of video content on social and eCommerce brands should be taking a piece of that pie. When you make product videos for Facebook you are creating experiences that are memorable, emotional and noteworthy. Organic Facebook video is ultimately a brand awareness play where eCommerce brands can establish mindshare and stay culturally relevant with their followers. It is also an opportunity to grow your brand reach organically and build an audience. It is an opportunity to get products in front of the right customers at the right time and bring them into your sales funnel.
Here are four tips to take advantage of Facebook’s video growth with your existing product video content:
1. Know The Format
Most of Facebook’s traffic is on mobile so you typically want to optimize your videos for best viewing on a mobile device like an iPhone. Facebook allows videos in a 1:1 aspect ratio which helps take up more real estate in the news feed on mobile and content looks more organic there. Facebook just started allowing brands to make ads in vertical 2:3 ratio as well. Knowing the format is very important. You want your product video to look good on mobile and on desktop.
2. Make It Eye-Catching
Everyone is competing for that moment where consumers will stop scrolling and give your content a look. You want something that engages quickly and gives the viewer an idea of exactly what they can expect from the video. Dollar Shave Club is an excellent example. Their thumbnails are interesting and their headlines catch your eye every time. You want to stay away from images and words that come off click-baity because your viewers will penalize you for it. You want to be authentic, but bold.
3. Keep It Short
Most Facebook content can be watched in under a minute. But consumers are really only giving your video :15 to :30 at most. To keep viewing rates up and to get people to watch all the way through keep video length as short as possible. Fifteen seconds is a great ballpark range for something advertising related. Keep it short and sweet.
4. Leave Something To Be Desired
For eCommerce your goal is to get people back to your site to buy. So use short Facebook videos as teasers to longer product videos. Give viewers a sense for what the product is and what it does, but lead them back to the site for the full thing. It is best to plan this strategy upfront when creating the original video, but it can be easy to make a quick :15 cut of an already completed video too.
Get in touch with us fine folks at Video Review Labs to discuss growing your eCommerce brand with social video content.
