You maybe asking yourself how or what is the best way to get my video distributed on Facebook?  This guide is here to help you get started in the right direction with your marketing video on Facebook.

  1. Upload your video to Facebook Vs. Embedding – While I normally recommend embedding your uploaded video from YouTube for SEO, after all it is the 2nd largest search engine, however if your goal is engagement Facebook’s auto play feature has a better reach. One thing Facebook does well with its auto play feature is maximize impressions giving you the opportunities to get your fresh marketing video out to the masses.  Keep in mind the way Facebook counts a “view” is much different than YouTube, at only 3 sec vs YouTube’s 30 seconds.  But ultimately if you have a compelling message to go along with your video and/or it gets shared by an internet influencer your exposure can sky rocket. Furthermore you can get 3x more impressions for your budget with Facebook advertising vs with YouTube and who know the opportunities additional like, shares and comments may bring.
  2. Use a Uniform Custom Thumbnail Image – Regardless of where your video is shown you want the control over how it is presented, right? Digital marketing is about branding, branding is about consistency. Clients need to trust you and feel confidant in you as an expert in your field. If your marketing content looks or sounds different from your brand and business it confuses and rejects clients.  Luckily an appropriate custom thumbnail image is created for all video projects but its up to you to use it when uploading to new online platforms.
  3. Create an Engagement Magnet – In this digital marketing age uploading your video and saying “Here it is.” is simply not enough. For effective Facebook engagement you need a message to go along with your marketing video.  Some methods I have used in the past are by posing a question or better yet offering a giveaway/sweepstakes.  I always recommend soliciting likes, comments and shares for the chance to win something. It doesn’t have to be Publishers Clearing House but a product or service from you you know your ideal client would want. You can use Woobox or other similar tools to select a random winner from the comments and likes. This approach has produced the best results with my past clients especially when they adopt the idea and engage on Facebook before production even starts. The best practice is to “prime to pump” with behind the scenes photos, stay tuned giveaway announcements and to follow it though with winner announcements and even a photo with the winner claiming their prize, etc. Be creative and social, include your audience in every step of the process.
  4. Timing – To get the maximum engagement out of your post you have to post when people are maximumly engaged (did I just make up a word?). According to the post from Hubspot the best time to post on Facebook is 12:00 -1:00 PM Saturdays & Sundays, 3:00 – 4:00 PM on Wednesdays and 1:00 – 4:00 on Thursday & Fridays.  They sourced this data from various sites on the matter and composed some handy charts and a planners to help you organize your social media campaign timing.
  5. Boost Your Post with FB Advertising – If you have had a Facebook business page for a while you may have noticed how a few years back your engagement dropped off a cliff. That’s because Facebook changed their algorithm that before showed 100% of your post to people that liked your business page to more around 15%. No to get the same reach you once had you now have to pay to “Boost the Post”  But with 18 Billion daily active users and highly targeted ad campaign opportunities its hard to ignore the marketing potential. If you utilize Facebook as a marketing tool Shelling out some cash once in a while maybe a necessary expense.  Although I recommend with my clients to first post, following these guidelines and let the engagement flow organically.  Make sure to spend extra time commenting and liking with your organic crowd and when that seems to slow maybe a week or so then “Boost the Post”. Select target criteria like location, gender, age, interests, etc. (know your customer, the more targeted the better) then set a budget and time frame.  A simple $20 budget over a 4-7 day period could go a long way in engaging new clients.
  6. Re – Post Often to Engage New Clients – A tool I recommend is Edgar. With Edgar you fill up a “library” of social posts whether for twitter, linkedin or Facebook. You set the schedule for the timing of your posts, optimized for maximum engagement per platform and Edgar delivers the content automatically. The best part about Edgar is that it saves your posts to be used again. If you have a busy week and don’t create any new content, no worries Edgar will re-post something for you automatically.  The benefit of this method is that with evergreen content you can re use posts through out the year which saves you time.