25 Really Actionable Tips For Better Facebook Video Marketing

How Big Is Video On Facebook?

Video on social media has exploded. That last sentence might actually be a bit of an understatement. Why? Consider the data from a recent jaw-dropping study.

“By 2019, 80% of the world’s Internet traffic will be to video! Video content accounted for an impressive 64% of all the world’s internet traffic in 2014.”

But we haven’t seen ANYTHING yet!

“According to a new report from Cisco, by 2019, online video will be responsible for account for 80% of global Internet traffic. The stats for the U.S. are even more impressive, coming in at 85%.”

Do you do business in the United States? If so, if you aren’t producing videos you are going to pretty much be rendered irrelevant.

It seems that just about every social network is seeing video posts on the rise. On Facebook alone there are approximately 4 billion daily views of video.

Think about that for a second. While YouTube has been the big dog on the scene, Facebook, with it’s massive audience and great marketing options, is quickly becoming a more viable option for marketers.

Can You Compete With Facebook Video?

Yet, with it’s massive potential, there are still segments of business that have not embraced the sheer power of Facebook video marketing.

This provides great opportunity for brands and businesses to leap over their competitors.

The biggest obstacle to Facebook video marketing is the ever changing landscape. it scares many people because what works today may not work tomorrow.

This is not a “set it and forget it”, or “fake it till you make it” marketing tool. With Algorithmic changes constantly being made, you have to stay on top of what’s going on, adjust accordingly, and be fluid in your efforts to manage your Facebook video marketing.

However, if you commit to becoming a student of this amazing tool, you will find that you’re achieving great exposure that will keep you top of mind with your audience and produced correctly, you will have the potential to dominate your competitors.

I say that with complete confidence. I’ve worked with some pretty big brands and some very large advertising agencies and my videos often get more views and outrank theirs.

Here’s one I did for a Papa Johns social media promotion. It’s a mere one minute and seventeen seconds long.

But put “Papa Johns Social Media Promotion” in Google and see where this short video shows up.

It’s above articles by Forbes, CBS News, LinkedIn, AdWeek, and more.

Think this one, short, video, made over 2 years ago, has driven some business opportunities for me?

You got that right!

By the way, that’s the power of evergreen content. It’s always there working for you. Think about that for a moment.

Social media video works for ANY business. If I can rank and get views for my video for a national client, think about how you can dominate locally.

I have a ton of information for you, so let’s begin.

What Equipment Will You Need To Make Facebook Video?

I love Casey Niestat. He’s an amazing social video creator and has a great vlog. Simply by following and watching him, you’ll learn plenty.

Casey is a YouTuber but I had to use the picture above because I don’t want you to freak out. Finding the right camera isn’t hard at all.

Don’t Worry About Your Gear: Casey Neistat’s Guide to Getting Started

Don’t friggin worry about your gear. The reason being is it will just act as an excuse to keep you from actually taking action.

Jump in and begin making videos first and settle in to what gear you like best.

Tom Brady was a superstar quarterback long before he decided how much air he really liked in a football.

Get my point? Get comfortable making videos and begin enjoying what you do and maybe even making some money before you worry about buying a lot of expensive gear and making crazy changes.

There’s one tidbit of inspiration that Casey gave me. I read this on one of his vlogs:

“We all have the same starting point.”‘Nuff said!

How To Shoot, Edit and Publish Videos From Your Android Smartphone

This post from The Next Web will tell you what you need to know to create awesome videos with your phone.

“Dedicated point-and-shoot digital cameras and lower-end camcorders are surely facing a slow road to extinction, with many modern phones capable of shooting ridiculously high-quality photos and videos. But can your phone really do it all, from start to finish, without connecting up to your PC? Well of course it can.

Here, we take a look at some of the tools and techniques beginners can use to shoot, edit and upload videos from their Android smartphone.”

How to Create Social Videos With Your Smartphone

This post from the Social Media Examiner will give you some actionable information on how you can become a social media video pro in no time at all.

“Do you want to create videos without having costly equipment?

If you have a smartphone, you already have all of the tools you need to create fun and engaging social videos.”

Create Professional Videos with your Smartphone: Tips and Tricks from Award-Winning Filmmaker

This post from One Plus may seem a bit advanced, but that’s ok. You’ll want to hone your craft and trust me, once you begin making social videos you’ll get hooked.

I can tell you that it has become my most passionate hobby. So much so, that if I was in my twenties, making videos is all that I would do.

This post, which is an interview with Giacomo Mantovani, an Italian film director, screenwriter, and film producer based in London…is quite insightful.

7 Ways to Get Professional Quality Video from Your Smartphone

One thing I wanted to stress, is that you don’t need to become a Spielberg to make effective social video.

There’s nothing wrong if you want to take your craft to that level, I’m just saying that you don’t have to.

“Your video does not have to be perfect but following these seven tips, shooting great video with your smartphone will be easy and the footage will look fantastic!”

Eight Tips For Recording Better Video With Your Smartphone

One of my pet peeves is watching people record videos in the vertical mode. (portrait)…you’ve seen them. They’re the ones with the sides blacked out and all you see is this narrow up and down video.

People…PLEASE record in landscape mode!

“Everyone has a powerful video camera in their pocket: a smartphone. And with a little practice and access to a few key tips, even you – yes, you – can start recording great footage, vlogging, or even record an indie film or documentary using just your smartphone.“

However, you will more than likely turn your audience off by filming in portrait fashion.

Okay, now that we’ve covered some basics on how to get your gear and “studio” set up, let’s turn to the nuances of Facebook video and how to dominate there.

The Facebook Video Newsjack Hack

This is one of my favorite techniques. Everyone loves buzzworthy content! And Facebook users may be the most thirsty audience. for news, trends and gossip.

Why should you include news in your Facebook video strategy? Because YOU are the media! We are now all the media!

As Arianna Huffington so eloquently says, “relevance has a deadline…but not every deadline has relevance.”

The key to successful social video is an extremely simple tenet. The reason to jump into Facebook video and to make sure you’re adding value and possibly even newsjacking is because it’s what the audience wants.

So friggin give it to them!

“With the recent tweak to the Newsfeed to prioritize posts that match current events or trending news stories, this algorithm update has created an easy way for brands to boost their Facebook engagement via “newsjacking”, or creating video posts that revolve around trending stories.” via ReelSeo

Capture Leads with a Facebook Video Call To Action

Did you know that Facebook allows you a specific call to action right on your video? If you’ve done a good job in keeping the viewers attention (which in my opinion is the reason for keeping the video short), they will have the opportunity to click over to wherever you want them to.

From ReelSEO…

“While the call to action options are a bit limited, it is still a key feature for encouraging video viewers to further engage with the post or take the next step to “Shop now” or “Learn more” about a (brand or business).

A custom call to action, allow brands to have more control over what happens after the video finishes, making videos more effective in converting potential customers to actual customers.”

Video on Facebook is Good at Everything: Smart, Shareable & Personal

I think Gary Vaynerchuk nailed it with that one statement.

Above all things, what, in my opinion, sets Facebook video apart from other platforms is the ability to create consumable content that really hits home personally and is extremely shareable.

“Facebook video for my brand has become the best way to reach my fans at scale. Couple that with their new video ad products for sales and direct response and the fact that they’re the greatest data company of all time for marketers and you have some serious reasons to spend some real money on Facebook video ads and video content for Facebook. They are sitting on an enormous amount of targetable consumer data. It creates the ultimate marketing machine.”

This is the single biggest reason that I am advocating that business owners jump all over Facebook video.

No other medium provides the sheer amount of targetable data on an audience that Facebook does. Combine that with compelling content and the ability to pour gas on it with Facebook ads, and you have the ability to scale beyond anything we’ve ever seen in marketing.

It makes other marketing techniques look like slingshots compared to drones with laser sightings.

It’s not even close.

Why The First 3 Seconds Of A Facebook Video Are The Most Important

A video on Facebook has to grab the viewers attention with the sound off.

From the Wall Street Journal (I hope the dreaded pay wall hasn’t dropped on this article)

Ron Amram, senior media director, marketing, Heineken USA, said executives at top digital media companies like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are all consulting brands on this new reality, and why “you need to focus on that first three seconds” of a video, he said.

…on mobile phones, “you’ve got someone scrolling over the thing, and you’ve got to grab him by the throat quickly,” said Adam Wohl, executive creative director at the agency mcgarrybowen.

Fact: The only people who visit your Facebook business page…is you! In today’s scrolling economy, no one goes back to a Facebook fan page. If you’re not in the scroll and grab their attention, you’re dead.

Your video has mere seconds to get a user to stop their scrolling and watch. Think about your initial 3 seconds as being similar to when you write headlines for an article. It has to be eye-catchy.

It’s the same with video. If you don’t compel them to watch, you’re done! Game over!

Now let’s talk about actually making a video. The number 1 tip I can give you in this area is to just do it.

Accept the fact that you’re probably going to make a mistake and that no one will probably even see your video.

So what? Just keep moving forward. I use professional video editing software now, but that’s because I’ve been making videos for years and I have just kept learning and trying to improve.

But don’t be daunted, there is a starting point that will help you make those first 3 seconds count.

The 6 Easiest Video-Editing Tools for Small Business Marketers

“To help you create compelling videos, BufferApp tested 5 of the best video production apps available for amateur video producers, as well as 1 beginner-friendly video editor for Macs.”

Using a simple app like Animoto can get you started.

If you have an iPhone, you can use the iMovie app.

I personally like injecting more personality into my videos and I want my audience to get used to seeing my face.

However, using these kinds of videos to get you started is a fast and easy way to start creating and posting social videos without the worry of intimidation.

So Now that you’ve created and posted a video, what do you do with it?

Answer: This is where the fun begins!

How To Market A Facebook Video

I’ve marketed and created a number of videos. And with each video I post, whether it be narrowly marketed to a very defined audience like the one above, or if it’s marketed to a mass national or international audience, I see very similar results.

That being a massive amount of views in a very short period of time for a very nominal cost.

Here’s the video that I posted on my Facebook page to coincide with the publication of this article.

Background: I run a side project wherein I buy and sell houses in the Fort Lauderdale area. (By the way, if you have a property in Fort Lauderdale that you need to sell, give me a call)

I market much differently than most real estate businesses do. I look to achieve ubiquity and be front of mind in the South Florida marketplace.

I’m not looking to sell anything with these kinds of videos. I just want to build an audience and when the viewer thinks about selling, I’m hoping to be on their mind or referred to them by a friend.

You really have to love word-of-mouth marketing. I’m looking for inbound inquiries wherein the prospect seeks me out.

So you’ve seen the video above. Nothing special, it’s a quick (and somewhat shaky) smartphone video shot outside of a local restaurant. It’s something ANYONE can do. You don’t even need a massive audience to make it work.

I chose to use this video for this article specifically for that reason. The barrier to entry is extremely low. The key is, in my opinion, is to produce content for the audience you’re trying to reach.

You don’t need to market a video to millions of people for it to be profitable. In fact, I didn’t even market this video to my general audience. I wanted to niche this way down so that you can see the sheer power of Facebook video targeting.

I wanted to show you how finite and specific that you can get with your targeting.

This video was targeted at an audience that:

• likes Sushi
• lives within 100 miles or so from Fort Lauderdale
• who are homeowners
• who are likely to move

That’s a very small audience segment. But in this regard, I’m only targeting a very small segment of the population.

For instance, I’ll make a video regarding this post, but my market audience will be international. Why? Because the information contained in this article can benefit anyone, anywhere. It has a much more broad-based appeal.

By the way, all of the targeting data I mentioned above was available to me on Facebook. So let’s look at the results of the video I posted above.

(click on the image above to see it enlarged)

As you can see, in just under 24 hours, that simple video garnered over 15,000 views (it’s over 19,000 now since the ad ended as you can see on the video above).

It cost me 1 cent per video view. I reached over 32,000 VERY targeted people. And Facebook deemed the content to be extremely relevant.

However the most important number for me is the number of clicks that this video generated in 24 hours.

I’m going to leave it at that. I believe that with the information contained herein, you now have everything that you need to create, produce, publish, and market Facebook video.

Jump in and test out Facebook video for yourself.

There are people publishing videos that are designed to reach both global and local audiences. With the right video you could reach tens of millions of people…if that’s who your audience is.

Or, you can target a very small local group of Sushi-loving homeowners in your local market. The only thing that matters is that you create videos that compel the audience to react. Whatever that audience may be.

This is just scratching the surface of what you can do with Facebook video. I haven’t even touched on utilizing dark posts and some other advanced techniques.

I’ll save that for part 2 of this series which I will post in a couple of weeks.

Stay Tuned for…

Part II Facebook Video Marketing & Advertising…Taking Content To The Next Level.

As GaryVee said:

“The single most important strategy in content marketing today is video. Whether it’s video on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat or Youtube, the content you need to be thinking about creating and marketing on social for your business is video. Period.”

What are you waiting for?